First meeting of new Inclusion Ambassadors

30 June 2021

The newest cohort of Scotland’s Inclusion Ambassadors has met for the first time as they prepare to highlight their priorities and calls to action for the year ahead.

The group, made up of 22 school-aged young people from across Scotland with a range of additional support needs, represent 16 local authority areas.

The first meeting, held earlier this month,  provided an opportunity for the Ambassadors to share a bit about themselves, why they want to join the group and highlight any support required in order to fully participate and ensure an inclusive and valuable experience.

Detailed priorities and actions will be announced shortly. In the mean time, work will continue over the summer to finalise a new ASL resource for Scottish schools. The co-produced resource will be available for the 2021-22 academic year.

Chris Ross, Children in Scotland’s Senior Policy, Projects and Participation Officer, leads the group. He said:

“We are delighted to welcome on board all our new and continuing Inclusion Ambassadors for the next term.

“We have some really exciting work on the horizon with our Inclusion Ambassadors hoping to meet with key decision-makers in the new Scottish Cabinet, as well as plans to progress work around the Scottish Government’s Additional Support for Learning Action Plan.

"Over the next six weeks we will be finalising a new resource for schools, and from August we hope to work directly with educational establishments across the country to encourage adoption of more inclusive practice using a series of resources developed by the Ambassadors this term.

“I look forward to working with all of our Inclusion Ambassadors and their schools  to guide, influence and progress change with relation to additional support for learning.”

The Inclusion Ambassadors, which has been managed by Children in Scotland since 2019, bring together young people from across Scotland to speak openly and freely about what works and what doesn’t as pupils with additional support needs.

The next meeting of the group will take place in September.