Public Sector Equality Duty Reports 2023

Equality outcome 4: The educational attainment for children and young people with disabilities and/or additional support needs, Gypsy/ traveller children and young carers is improved (General Duty Advanced 1, 2 and 3)

• The number of Care Experienced children and young people achieving Scottish Qualification Awards (SQA) rewards via the Virtual School has increased from 55 to 84 in the last academic year;
• 94% of children with ASN have completed award bearing courses in 20/21 and 21/22;
• 84 ASN staff participated in de-escalation training in 21/22;
• Exclusion rates for ASN pupils has increased from 104.7/1000 in 2018/19 to 192/1000 in 20/21.However, it’s worth noting when comparing these 2 figures that during 20/21 saw periods of increased disruption due to Covid;
• Attendance rates for children assessed as disabled has decreased from 89.2% to 85.9% in the past 2 academic years. This included academic sessions affected by Covid, where Scottish Government advice outlined periods of school closures and children and adults with particular conditions advised to shield for periods and not to attend schools in-person.
• 89% of young people with ASN reached positive post-school destinations in 20/21; and
• 24% of young people with ASN participated in extra-curricular sport and physical activity in 21/22.

The Virtual School is an intensive service working across primary and secondary, highlighting and supporting the educational needs of care experienced children. The Virtual School provides tailored packages of support through a wide range of activities including well-being programmes, literacy and numeracy programmes, outdoor learning, transition supports, volunteering/mentoring opportunities, vocational learning opportunities and direct support for SQA qualifications. The Virtual School has continued to develop vocational opportunities with a wide range of partners that allow for formal and informal learning including the development of the workplace skills. Where possible, vocational learning is accredited, and young people achieve qualifications to support future career choices. The Virtual School works in partnership with the Pathways Team and provides budget to support a coordinator post which has a specific focus on care experienced participants. Through joint planning and regular review meetings, a significantly higher level of individualised support is provided ensuring the needs of this vulnerable group of learners are recognised and appropriate supports around transition are in place.

Virtual School Care Experienced Support Teachers continue to deliver one to one or small group tailored teaching support, prioritising S4 learners who are disengaged, or at risk of disengaging with formal education as often these learners are at significant risk of leaving school without any formal qualifications. Whilst the focus remains on achieving national qualifications in English and Mathematics, in session 2021/22 through staff CPD and partnership working with school subject specialists, teachers were able to enhance support for learners in other curricular areas including Biology, History, Drama and Practical Cookery. This resulted in an overall increase of 53% in SQA qualifications achieved, 25% increase in National 3 awards and 41% in National 4 awards.

Response to COVID-19: During the lockdown period January 2021-March 2021 children and young people accessing face to face learning was reduced in line with Covid-19 restrictions.  Guidance from the Scottish Government outlined which pupil groups should access face to face learning and during this second lockdown period this included ‘vulnerable’ children to ensure those who needed access in school/nursery were able to do so.  The definition of vulnerability was wide ranging and Heads of Establishments had the autonomy to review this regularly to support the changing needs of families during this period of exceptional school closures.  Over this period, a short-life working group was set up to co-ordinate processes, procedures and guidance for schools/nurseries whilst monitoring and tracking ‘vulnerable’ groups of pupils.  Numbers fluctuated on a weekly basis, given the ever-changing needs of children and families, however approximately 7000 pupils were identified and partnership working across different areas within NLC ensured wellbeing and educational needs continually addressed. 

Equality outcome 5: Our schools are safe, accessible and inclusive (General Duty Advanced 1, 2 and 3)

• Since April 2021 6 statutory school consultations have taken place for the reconfigured ASN estate;
• 3,170 young people accessed school-based counselling since April 2021;
• UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools in North Lanarkshire - 66 Bronze, 29 Silver, 9 Gold;
• LGBT Youth Charter Mark Schools in North Lanarkshire – 4 Bronze, 3 Silver and 1 Gold;
• Since April 2021 47 establishments have completed the Race Equality and Inclusion Audit and/or training;
• 68% of respondents to a pupil survey confirmed that they had participated in conversations about Black Lives Matter, mainly in schools;
• Most (75-90%) of referrals to the Support Around the School Team (SAST) result in a positive outcome for a child or young person; and
• Every mainstream secondary school has at least one Mentor in Violence Prevention trained member of staff with some schools now having 4 MVP trained staff. Work is ongoing to develop the MVP programme further aiming for at least 4 MVP trained staff in every mainstream secondary school.

A significant re-structure is ongoing across the Additional Support Needs (ASN) provision. Work has progressed through statutory consultations to relocate and refurbish existing premises to support the expansion of ASN. This has resulted in newly refurbished premises which better suit the needs of our learners across the service. Further consultations have progressed with the remaining ASN standalone provision. Inclusion, equality and the presumption of mainstream underpins all new processes.

As part of our leadership development programme a session entitled: Anti-Racist Education: The School Leader’s Role has been incorporated. This interactive workshop explores a school leader’s role in fostering an anti-racist culture, enacting an anti-racist curriculum and building racial literacy and confidence in anti-racist leadership and education.  This session is facilitated by the Lead Specialist (Race Equality) in Education Scotland.

By offering this session as part of the Principal Teacher, Depute Head Teacher and Head Teacher Leadership programmes continuity of understanding across all levels of school management is supported. 

The service has also continued to promote Education Scotland’s Building Racial Literacy programme, with one colleague completing the pilot programme and another enrolled to start in the next cohort.

Support Around the School Team (SAST): Based on teacher professional judgements requested through the cluster between October – December 2023, 525 children and young people were supported with 88% of these supports being marked as successful.
During the period August – October 402 supports were provided, with a success rate of 89%. This is based on Cluster Support Teacher and Cluster Improvement and Integration Lead (CIIL) supports.

The rolling average is 88.5% success rate. This can be tracked down to an individual pupil basis, with next steps identified for each. Interactive dashboards of data to support this have been produced and distributed in awareness sessions to Education & Family Managers, Cluster Improvement and Integration Leads (CIILs) and Cluster Chairs.

Next steps will be around refining the quality assurance around this, moderating professional judgements and ensuring the right support is targeted to the right people, at the right time.

HMIe halted school inspections during the Covid-19 pandemic.  This programme of inspections has now resumed at pace and early indications are showing positive results for both long and short models of inspections across primary and secondary establishments.  

Equality outcome 6: Increased opportunities for children and young people with protected characteristics to develop their employability skills to enable them to leave school with a positive destination (General duty advanced 2)

• The number of passes overall in STEM subjects for females in 2021/22 dropped by 31% in computing science, 14% in design and manufacture and 6% in physics;
• Over 450 young people from 85 establishments took part in a STEM Sustainability Conference early in 2023.
• All 12 young people on the No Limits programme received offers of paid employment with the host business after 12 months. No Limits 2 commenced in 2022 with funding for 15 young people;
• 7 Learning Assistant paid posts developed to provide career development opportunities for ASN learners who can’t access Modern Apprentice opportunities; and
• The 2021-2022 Pathway programme supported 145 young people on a full-time bespoke curriculum away from school. In addition to the core Pathways Programme a new 5-week ‘Introduction to Employability’ programme was introduced in all secondary schools as part of North Lanarkshire Councils Future Friday’s programme with the capacity to deliver to 230 young people.

A STEM/Sustainability Conference took place early in 2023 with primary, secondary and partners showcasing their work to promote STEM Sustainable education.  The conference was aimed at children and young people to share ideas and further promote STEM and Sustainability, with over 450 young people from 85 establishments taking part.

A STEM Leaders programme was developed and launched in Autumn 2022 session. The programme was attended by 21 of the 23 school clusters, and very positively received by participants. NL formally exited the Raising Aspirations in Science Education programme following 2 years of grant funding to support the delivery of STEM across primaries. Over the course of last session over 2,500 staff participated in 3,200 hours of CLPL linked to STEM. A very positive RAISE Impact Report highlighted the key successes of the programme, including 91% of practitioners increasing STEM and science activities through the ongoing work of Pedagogy Team Primary Science Development Officer.

A STEM Launch Event took place in September 2021 and was attended by 126 participants, representing almost every primary establishment in North Lanarkshire (NL). 84% of primaries were represented at training sessions last session, and increased engagement has been noted.

The dedicated Supported Enterprise team support the No Limits initiative which is a 12-month place and train concept for senior phased pupils leaving ASN (Additional Support Needs) schools who have a goal of achieving employment. The young people receive support in a paid work placement for up to 12 months, during this time the team support the young person, to achieve their Young Stem Leader Award, Youth Achievement Award, John Muir Environmental Award and take part in industry recognised qualification, this provides the young person with a fantastic opportunity to build an impressive CV.

The Pathways Programme provides a curriculum offer for young people at risk of labour market marginalisation, including statutory winter leavers (who are three time more likely to enter a negative post school destination than their summer leaving peers) care experienced young people and those with Additional Support Needs in the final six months of school The Pathways Programme curriculum is delivered outwith the school campus and is designed to develop key employability and life skills, focus on personal development and growth, and provide work-based learning in a range of sectors aligned to labour market intelligence with the ambition of supporting each young person into employment or other relevant postschool pathways leading to long term sustainable employment.

In October 2022, a Developing the Young Workforce networking event was attended by all secondary and ASN schools. The purpose of this event was to showcase and share excellent practice in Developing the Young Workforce and Employer Engagement. As part of Future Fridays a group of six young people attended the Concert Hall in the run up to the event on extended work placements and worked alongside the events management team to ensure smooth-running on the day. This experience will assist these young people to secure part-time, temporary employment within the concert hall during their busiest times of year. Already one young person has secured employment as a result of her involvement.

In addition from the 91 evaluations completed our new employer offer includes 222 commitments to improving outcomes for young people and employers. These include:

• Work related learning opportunities – 53;
• Apprenticeships / internships – 36;
• Training opportunities for staff and young people – 23;
• Enterprise and industry challenges – 11; and
• Supporting young people with barriers to their learning – 17.

To widen access for candidates of all abilities and work in line with the Inclusion team’s goal of recognising learning in all forms and finding creative solutions to education and abilities, a post has been modelled as part of a wider case study. The study centred around a young person highlighted by a Head Teacher who would be an excellent candidate for a school-based post in North Lanarkshire but who could not access this via a modern apprenticeship (MA) programme. As such, the development of a post was undertaken as part of the career development strategy. We are aware that for learners with ASN, access to MA programmes could still pose barriers due to the requirement to gain qualifications that are not accessible for some learners with ASN. As such, the new post of Learning Support Assistant (LSA) was established as part of our Inclusion transformational change programme. Job evaluation results placed this at a NLC2 grade.

Our CLD Youth Guarantee Programme came to an end on 31 March 2022 and a celebration event showcased the achievements and outcomes for the 19 CLD Assistant Support Workers (ASW) who were employed for a year.  Aged between 16 and 24, the participants gained skills to help support the CLD core functions of family learning, adult learning and youth work.  Their training programme enhanced existing skills and enabled them to gain new transferrable skills with staff providing support and mentoring.  Most have secured a positive destination of further and higher education or employment with some coming to us as new staff members.

Fifteen young people will be recruited for the Young Person’s Guarantee 2022/23.