Launching a new way to support child rights and additional support for learning

19 January 2021

Children in Scotland's Head of Inclusion Sally Cavers on supporting child rights and additional support for learning with the launch of the My Rights, My Say eLearning module

Just less than a year ago, children and young people told Angela Morgan and the ASL (Additional Support for Learning) Review (click to read) that “meaningful relationships between young people and staff are important for learning”. They also said that all school staff “need to have more knowledge and understanding of additional support needs”.  

In October the Scottish Government, COSLA and ADES published their response to that review, the Additional Support for Learning: Action Plan (click to read). It pledged as its first priority that at “both local authority and school level we will seek to fully involve and listen to children and young people”. 

My Rights, My Say, a service that supports children to be involved in decisions about their support in school, was referenced right alongside that pledge. Funded by Scottish Government, the service helps children in Scotland aged 12-15 with additional support needs to exercise their rights – to have their say and be involved in decisions that will help them get the most out of school. 

My Rights, My Say is a partnership bringing together children’s views officers, advocacy workers and legal experts in child rights and ASL legislation to provide support to children. It’s free, confidential and in many cases, provides young people with support from someone who’s independent from their family,  school and  council to listen to them and represent them when and where they need it most. The service provides help to resolve disputes but the hope is that with the right support, those disputes won’t happen in the first place. 

The remit of the service is twofold: to support children, but also to reach out to schools and local councils, with a partnership approach focusing on listening to and engaging children with additional support needs. 

Responding to the findings of the ASL Review and what the service knows from its work with children, parents, carers and schools, My Rights, My Say has developed a brand new eLearning module. 

It’s a short (20-25 minute), free and practical eLearning resource designed to help teaching practitioners and support staff, in secondary schools particularly, think about children’s rights and pupils involvement in decisions, in the context of additional support for learning.  

Hosted on the new Children in Scotland eLearning hub, click here to access the module. 

The My Rights, My Say eLearning module is supported by new resources for teaching staff to start and support discussions in the classroom about the rights of children with additional support needs.  

These teaching resources have been developed by project staff in collaboration with children and young people. Click here to access the teaching resources   

Please get in touch with us if you have any questions for our team on the eLearning module, the teaching resources or ways that My Rights, My Say can support you and your next steps in supporting children and young people with additional support needs in schools.

Click here for more information about My Rights, My Say