Our consultation work with children and young people

Participation of children and young people is at the heart of our work and shapes our core policy positions. Here are some of our recent projects and related reports.

Professional Standards and Professional Code: Consultation with Children and Young People

Towards the end of 2019 the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) held a public consultation on its drafted refreshed Professional Standards for Teaching and the new Professional Code.

As part of the process GTCS commissioned Children in Scotland to engage with children and young people across Scotland in November-December 2019. The aim of the consultation process was to gather the views of children and young people on the draft suite of documents.

Children in Scotland heard from children and young people in nine different settings across Scotland through five direct sessions and four partner schools that used a Children in Scotland resource pack.

Both the direct sessions and resource pack focused on the consultation process and children’s right to be heard, the role and demands of teaching and the suite of five draft documents, mirroring GTCS consultation questions where appropriate.

Read our report (PDF download)

Children and Young People Consultation on the Incorporation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

In April 2019, the First Minister committed to incorporate the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) within the current parliamentary session.

The exploration of UNCRC incorporation into domestic law was stated in both the 2017-18 and 2018-2019 Programme for Government.

A formal consultation on incorporating the UNCRC into domestic law in Scotland was launched by the Scottish Government in May 2019 and closed on 28 August 2019.

To help support the engagement work surrounding the Scottish Government’s consultation on Incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, Children in Scotland hosted a children’s rights discussion day in July 2019 with 20 children and young people from across Scotland.

This report was used to inform our formal consultation response.

Read our report (PDF download)