skip to main content
Accessibility
help

Young people call on the new government to put youth voices at heart of policy-making, as The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award shares new research

25 Jul 2024

Young people from The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) are calling on the new government to back a Youth Pledge, committing to give young people a meaningful say on policies that affect them, as new research from the charity shows young people feel politicians don’t listen to their views or share their priorities.

Published on Tuesday, 23 July, the DofE Youth Voices 2024 study sought views on the political and personal issues that matter most to young people aged 14 to 24, and found that housing, the NHS, cost of living and mental health ranked highest among respondents.

However, young people also felt these areas are considered least important by political leaders, and 66% said they believe politicians in the UK are most likely to listen to those aged over 35.

And with just 22% of respondents agreeing with the phrase “politicians in the UK listen to people of my age”, DofE Award holders personally delivered a letter to 10 Downing Street to call on the new government and parliamentarians to respond to the disconnect and disillusion felt by many young people.

The letter called for MPs to back a Youth Pledge, which outlines a commitment to introduce a clear process to ensure that youth voices are factored into all levels of policy and decision-making over the coming years.

A diverse group of young people stand outside in a group, laughing and smiling together
L-R: Young people Yahya, Connor, Fiza, Jess, who are doing their DofE Award

Poppy, 19, a Bronze, Silver, and Gold DofE Award holder, who was among the group of young people delivering the letter to Number 10, said: “For too long, young people like me have been shut out of the conversation and having our views overlooked by adults who are making decisions that will affect the rest of our lives. Our views and experiences matter too, and politicians can learn from what we have to say.

“As a new government takes office, they have a fresh opportunity to reassure young people that they are listening to our hopes, concerns and priorities. Policy makers must consult us on decisions that affect us. We are the future of this country and we deserve a seat at the table.”

Ruth Marvel OBE, CEO of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, said: “Our findings clearly show that young people are ambitious for their own futures, but they continue to feel unheard and unsupported on the issues that will define their lives and careers.

“The new government must use this moment to acknowledge that disconnect and prove they’re listening by giving young people meaningful opportunities to be consulted on policy decisions that affect them, including through youth networks, youth-led organisations, the UK Youth Parliament and local youth partnerships and policy networks.

"Young people are this country’s future and should have a say on decisions that will fundamentally impact the rest of their lives.”

To read the Youth Voices 2024 report in full, click here to visit dofe.org/YouthVoices2024

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

Learn more about DofE and the Youth Voices 2024 report.

Click here for more

Our membership offer

Be part of the largest national children's sector membership organisation in Scotland

Click here for more

Enquire

Find out more about Enquire, the national advice and information service for additional support for learning

Visit the website

Reach

The website for young people offers advice and support on accessing their rights

Visit the website

Have your say - Consultation on funding approach for the third sector

18 Jul 2024

Children in Scotland invites members to contribute to its response to the consultation opened by the Social Justice and Social Security Committee at Scottish Parliament which examines Scottish Government's funding approaches for the third sector.

The Social Justice and Social Security Committee at the Scottish Parliament has opened a consultation to examine how the Scottish Government’s approach to fair and efficient funding can contribute to the continued effectiveness of the third sector. This is part of the Committee’s pre-budget scrutiny.

From speaking with our members, we know how recent challenges have made sustainable funding a priority area as so many third sector organisations struggle to build and maintain resilience.

Children in Scotland will be submitting a response to the consultation sharing our experience and learning from members and partners working across the children's sector.

We understand that some of our members may struggle to write a full response to the consultation due to pressure on staff capacity and the short turnaround. For this reason, we have created a short survey providing an opportunity for members to further contribute to Children in Scotland's response and help us to build our evidence base.

Questions in the survey ask members to consider the impact of different approaches to funding including a shift to longer-term, more flexible funding patterns, inflation-related uplifts, and the challenges of delivering the Real Living Wage and Fair Work for employees.

Respondents do not need to answer every question listed in the survey. You also have the option to ask us to anonymise any responses you submit.

The survey will close at 5pm on Monday 5 August 2024.

Click here to begin the survey

If you wish to respond to the Committee’s consultation directly, click here to visit Scottish Parliament’s website -> 

Contribute to our response

We invite members to complete our short survey providing your views on funding approaches for the third sector.

Complete the survey

Our membership offer

Be part of the largest national children's sector membership organisation in Scotland

Click here for more

One Parent Families Scotland invites supporters to “share your voice” ahead of milestone anniversary

17 Jul 2024

One Parent Families Scotland (OPFS) has invited supporters to help mark the charity’s 80th anniversary by sharing how its vital support services have made an impact.

Celebrating the incredible work that OPFS has accomplished over the past eight decades, single parents, staff members, volunteers and all other supporters who have worked with the charity are encouraged to share personal anecdotes, milestone moments, heartfelt messages, photographs and poems.

The charity, which has been changing lives and challenging poverty since 1944, said: “We warmly invite you to help us celebrate our legacy by sharing the stories that have shaped OPFS into the organisation it is today. We’d also love to hear stories from single parents of all ages, spanning as many decades as possible!

“By celebrating the incredible work that OPFS has accomplished over the years, your story can inspire others to join our mission for a Scotland where single parents and their children are valued and treated equally and fairly.”

Open for submissions until 31 July 2024, shared photos and stories will be used to build a brand-new page on the charity’s website, which will highlight the vast and varied work OPFS has done to empower single-parent families to reach their full potential.

To take part and share your story, click here to visit One Parent Families Scotland’s website

One Parent Families Scotland

Discover more about the leading organisation working with single parent families across Scotland

Click here for more

Our membership offer

Be part of the largest national children's sector membership organisation in Scotland

Click here for more

Enquire

Find out more about Enquire, the national advice and information service for additional support for learning

Visit the website

Reach

The website for young people offers advice and support on accessing their rights

Visit the website

Children in Scotland launches two new eLearning modules to support practitioners and young people through trauma

17 Jul 2024

Children in Scotland has today added two new courses to its dynamic eLearning Hub, providing innovative opportunities for both practitioners and children and young people to better understand trauma and its impacts.

Available for free as part of the charity’s commitment to supporting the children’s sector, the new programmes build upon the “More Than My Trauma” partnership and international conference, which was first delivered in 2021, and provide accessible information and guidance crafted by leading experts in the field.

Designed to support practitioners who work with children and young people experiencing trauma, the Recognising and supporting vicarious trauma course explores how working in the children's sector can impact mental health, and provides pratical advice and strategies to support workers with their own wellbeing while fulfilling their role.

From burnout to compassion fatigue, the course touches on a range of topics, and will be beneficial to professionals from a range of backgrounds.

Psychotherapist, consultant and coach Jan Montgomery, who helped to design the course, explained: “I was happy to provide the content for this eLearning module because it is important for everyone who provides support to understand how that work may be impacting them.

“If we understand this at a personal, professional and organisation level, we are less likely to be negatively impacted and more likely to be able to bring our best, most authentic self to work and thrive in our lives.”

An image of a pinboard with different pieces of paper and photographs pinned to it.
Let's talk trauma: preview of the module's learning pathway

Created specifically with children and young people in mind, Let's talk trauma: a guide for young people and professionals, is a vital resource for professionals and young people to work through together. The psychoeducation content for this module was developed by trauma experts from Kibble (click here for more), in collaboration with Children in Scotland, and explores how trauma can affect everyone's brains and bodies differently.

Dan Johnson, Clinical Director at Kibble, said: "We were really keen to develop this module as we knew there was a surprising lack of free and quality resources like it. Having something that can help explain what trauma is – and in a way that young people can respond to – can be invaluable. Hopefully it will increase understanding and be a small yet important part of young people recovering. It has been a pleasure to work alongside Children in Scotland and shows what can be achieved through collaboration".

Marie Harrison, Senior Policy Officer (Children’s Rights) for My Rights, My Say, said: “It has been a pleasure to be involved in the development of this eLearning course. Our Service teams work alongside children and young people who have experienced trauma, and we know how important it is for them to have relatable, clear, meaningful information and support available.

“With this module, we hope that children and young people who have experienced trauma will gain a sense that they are not alone, and that their feelings and emotions are valid. Trauma can be a difficult thing to talk about and many children tell us that ‘it isn’t a big deal’ or ‘I’ll get over it somehow’ or ‘it’s only what I deserve’, so we hope this amazing resource will allow children and young people to open up conversations and discuss their worries, fears and hopes for the future, supported by people close to them.”

Encouraging young people and practitioners to identify ways to cope with and recover from trauma, as part of the course, Children in Scotland’s Services team created “characters” from a composite of children and young people’s experiences, which were then voiced by actors from the Theatre School of Scotland (click here for more).

Marie added: “It was important for us to work on the character development for this module – we wanted the characters to be relatable and, as far as possible, representative of some of the different types of trauma children and young people can experience. We wanted to make sure that the characters amplify and highlight the truth about trauma – that all children and young people will react differently and there is no one right or wrong way to deal with it. What is important is to ensure that young people get the support they feel they need, not what others dictate should happen.”

Speaking about the development of the new training modules, Simon Massey, Children in Scotland’s Head of Engagement and Learning, said: “Our two new courses provide excellent learning opportunities, which fill gaps around supporting practitioners while providing clear information to young people. I’ve been impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm demonstrated by those developing them and would encourage anyone who is working in their field to access the modules for free on the Children in Scotland eLearning Hub.”

Launched in December 2020, Children in Scotland’s eLearning Hub provides a range of online programmes in collaboration with organisations and services across Scotland’s children’s sector, and the two new trauma courses will join a new module on Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) launched last month and a course on understanding visual impairment in preschool children which will launch later in 2024.

For more information on the new More Than My Trauma courses, click here to visit our eLearning Hub

Explore eLearning

Discover the range of free learning resources currently available on our eLearning Hub

Click here for more

Our services

We offer we offer a range of services that provide support, advice and representation for children and families

Click here for more

Our membership offer

Be part of the largest national children's sector membership organisation in Scotland

Click here for more

A momentous moment for children's rights in Scotland

16 Jul 2024

Today, as the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 comes into effect, we celebrate a monumental step forward for children’s rights in Scotland. While we all take a moment to celebrate the culmination of years of determination and hard work demonstrated by children, young people and their supporters, alongside a few of our members, we share our hopes for what incorporation will mean for children and young people across Scotland. 

Cathy McCulloch OBE, Director of Children’s Parliament:

“In 1992, children called for a “children’s parliament; a place where children are taken seriously and where we can talk about things that are important to us, not just to adults”. Thirty-two years later, Article 12 of the UNCRC is about to be embedded in the new Act. But our excitement is about much more than a child’s right to have a say.

What we will have at the heart of all we do with, and for children, is the right for every child to have their human dignity respected and their best interests served. For a country that often tolerates, rather than values, children, Scotland now has an opportunity to ensure environments around children are based on love, kindness and understanding; environments where children blossom, habits of a lifetime begin, and we begin to see the culture change to which we aspire.”

David Mackay, Head of Policy, Projects and Participation at Children in Scotland:

“This is an exciting week! So many children and young people (and their workforce allies!) have campaigned tirelessly for the incorporation of the UNCRC over the years. Unfortunately, we know that just because something is in law, it doesn’t mean it automatically happens, so the hard work starts here to ensure children’s rights are truly respected and upheld.

"I hope that UNCRC incorporation will be an important tool for protecting children and families and tackling the stark inequality we see across Scotland. I also hope it will raise the profile of children’s ‘voices’ and act as a guiding light for other parts of the UK. But before the hard work, we will allow ourselves a small celebration and, of course, some cake!”

Dr Judith Turbyne, Chief Executive of Children in Scotland:

“Time to get the party poppers out. Children and young people’s rights as outlined in the UNCRC will be made part of law in Scotland. This is truly a moment to stop, take a deep breath and smile. It has taken a lot of effort and energy from children, young people and adults to make this happen.

So yes, let’s celebrate, and then let’s roll up our sleeves and start the very important work to ensure that this really makes a positive difference for all children and young people across Scotland.”

Georgette Cobban, Senior Development Officer (The Promise) from ACVO TSI:

“As an organisation which supports the third sector, we are hopeful that incorporation of the UNCRC in Scots Law will focus the minds of decision makers on the delivery of The Promise for children across Scotland, and help communities in their ongoing fight for fairness.

"The third sector can only do so much with the limited resources it has, however, this Act presents an opportunity to force systemic change at a national level for some of the most serious issues facing society such as child poverty. At this stage we can only be hopeful. The record of successive local and national political administrations has failed to deliver the wholesale changes required to ensure that for every child, they have what they need to grow up loved, safe and respected.”

Marie Harrison, Senior Policy Officer (Children’s Rights), My Rights, My Say service, Children in Scotland:

“With UNCRC being incorporated into Scots law, it is our hope that children across Scotland will be more able than ever to exercise their rights.

"As a network, My Rights, My Say supports children aged 12-15 with additional support needs to share their views and experiences related to their education and the support they receive in school. The limited reach of the Additional Support for Learning Act, however, means that only children aged 12-15 or 16 and over have specific rights. For example, to request assessments or make a reference to the tribunal, children outwith these age groups cannot access statutory advocacy and support to share their views in formal processes.

"It is our hope that the UNCRC Incorporation Act will facilitate a change in this and ensure that all children, regardless of their age, and regardless of how they communicate, will be able to access services like the ones My Rights, My Say currently provide. We realise this will not happen overnight but My Rights, My Say provides evidence that a structural support mechanism must be in place if rights are to be actioned in practice, and not just remain a theoretical concept.”

 

Participation and engagement work

Find out more about how we embed the inclusion and participation of children and young people in our work

Click here for more

Our services

We offer a range of services that provide support, advice and representation for children and families

Click here for more

The benefits of spending time outdoors this summer

9 Jul 2024

The National Trust for Scotland is a charity that cares for over 100 places across Scotland. Its aim is to ensure that people of all ages have the opportunity – both now and in the future – to discover new places, make memories and learn more about Scotland’s natural and cultural heritage, all while experiencing the positive wellbeing impact of the outdoors. In this blog, Sarah Cowie highlights the importance of spending time outdoors this summer.

During the month of June, my role took me across the country to meet different school groups as they explored our amazing places. From measuring the age of a tree at Crathes Castle, to mimicking a seal’s banana balance in Brodick Country Park, each visit sparked laughter, questions, and huge enthusiasm for outdoor learning. One class teacher told me that working with our staff to learn more about how we care for the outdoors had developed her pupils mentally and physically and had given them a stronger connection to their local area.

The benefit of the being outdoors extends well beyond children and young people. A survey carried out for the National Trust for Scotland showed that 97% of Scots believe access to the outdoors is important for their mental health. The research also found that 95% of those surveyed said spending time outdoors was effective at reducing their stress levels, with 89% stating that it enhances their quality of life.

The Scottish coast topped the polls as the preferred place to spend time outdoors (58%), followed by 50% who favoured woodland spaces and 48% choosing country parks or gardens. The popularity of a wide range of landscapes, and their value to people’s wellbeing, has highlighted the importance of our charity’s work to care for, protect and share Scotland’s outdoor places.

My role is about extending and enhancing our work with schools across the many special places cared for by the Trust. That includes developing and promoting the huge range of outdoor learning experiences we offer, which are often led by our knowledgeable Ranger teams. I recently learned from our Rangers that we care for over 1 million seabirds! By engaging children in schools, we can establish that connection with our outdoor places at a young age. We can also encourage pupils to return with their families and we’re hoping many of them do that this summer.

This year, the National Trust for Scotland has launched Our Big Scottish Summer to showcase the incredible experiences available at its places across the country. From breathtaking beaches and iconic mountains to gorgeous gardens and super-fun play parks, there is something for all members of the family to enjoy over the school holidays! Click here for ways to experience and enjoy the best of what Scotland has to offer this year.

My top five places to spend time outdoors as a family this summer are:

  • Drum Castle, Aberdeenshire – crawl, slide and swing through our new Little Oaks natural playpark
  • Greenbank Garden, Glasgow – escape Glasgow city centre and explore family-friendly woodland walks
  • St Abbs Head, Borders - experience ‘seabird city’, with Coldingham Bay beach nearby
  • Robert Burns Birthplace Museum, Ayr – children’s trails, a Poet’s path, and a Scots Language themed playpark mean this is a full day visit!
  • Brodie Castle and Estate, Moray – everyone can get involved in the fun in our Playful Garden, before exploring the wider estate.

Click here to find out more information on the National Trust for Scotland website.

Click here to find out more about the National Trust for Scotland's work with schools including information for teachers.

About the Author

Sarah Cowie is Senior Heritage Learning Advisor at the National Trust for Scotland.

Click here for more

Participation and engagement work

Find out more about how we embed the inclusion and participation of children and young people in our work

Click here for more

Our membership offer

Be part of the largest national children's sector membership organisation in Scotland

Click here for more

Five child-friendly nature activities for the summer holidays

27 Jun 2024

With the school holidays fast approaching, many parents, families and caregivers will be on the hunt for summer activities that are not only purse-friendly but engaging and educational, too – and luckily, leading wildlife charity Butterfly Conservation is on hand to help.

From venturing outdoors to learn about insects to improving maths skills through butterfly spotting, discover the environmental charity's top recommendations for free and fun nature-led activities the whole family will love.

1. Join the Big Butterfly Count

Take part in the world’s biggest butterfly survey this July and August.  It only takes 15 minutes, it's fun and free, and also helps scientists understand how butterflies are doing across the UK.

Last year, for the first time ever, the most counted butterfly was the Red Admiral, with a whopping 248,077 recorded! Will it keep the top spot? Help the charity find out by taking part in the Big Butterfly Count as many times as you like, wherever you like, between July 12 and August 4 2024.

For more information, visit bigbutterflycount.org (click here for more) or download the free app.

2. Make and fly a butterfly kite

Not only will a fun craft project get your little ones outside in the fresh air, the charity's simple but effective butterfly kite-making activity is easy and requires few materials. No breeze? No problem! Try running with the kite behind you to get it to soar... Or should that be flutter?

Click here to access the template as well as a handy video guide.

3. Learn about butterfly body parts 

Ever wondered how many legs a butterfly has? Or if they can smell? Spark little ones’ curiosity this summer holidays with some fun facts about butterflies before heading out to see what you can spot.

Click here to watch Butterfly Conservation’s video all about butterfly body parts, learn more and plan your fun lesson.

A small pink and yellow moth sits on a child's finger.

4. Grow a wild home for butterflies and moths

Growing plants in pots can provide valuable food for butterflies and moths in any outdoor space, whether it be a patio, balcony, rented garden, or even a front doorstep! There are lots of plants to choose from that are child-friendly, liked by butterflies, and will thrive in a pot – as long as you remember to water them!

Here are a few of Butterfly Conservation’s top picks:

Nasturtium – this edible plant produces bright, colourful flowers and the leaves are irresistible to the caterpillars of the Large and Small White butterfly. They are really easy to grow from seed and the seeds are a good size for small hands to handle too.

Herbs – herbs make fantastic pot plants and can be enjoyed by humans and wildlife alike. Chives, Marjoram, Thyme, and Bergamot all produce flowers that insects love and are usually easy to find as seeds or plants from a garden centre, supermarket or online.

Salvia – this attractive plant grows well in containers,and there are lots of different sizes and colours to choose from. The flowers are loved by pollinators and their bushy leaves provide shelter for many other insects.

For more ideas, visit wild-spaces.co.uk (click here for more).

5. Look out for caterpillar clues

Spotting caterpillars can be tricky. While a few bright and colourful ones stand out, most are the masters of disguise! From looking for munched leaves to heading out under the cover of darkness, Butterfly Conservation has lots of top tips for spotting caterpillars, as well as resources to plan an educational caterpillar hunt with children of all ages.

Click here for a step-by-step guide and free downloadable worksheets.

Our membership offer

Be part of the largest national children's sector membership organisation in Scotland

Click here for more

Participation and engagement work

Find out more about how we embed the inclusion and participation of children and young people in our work

Click here for more

Enquire

Find out more about Enquire, the national advice and information service for additional support for learning

Visit the website

Reach

The website for young people offers advice and support on accessing their rights

Visit the website

Scottish Government seeks views on charity regulation review

19 Jun 2024

Scottish Government has launched a 12-week consultation to gather views on whether current charity regulation needs to be reviewed.

As 2025 marks 20 years since the first Scottish charities Act was passed by Parliament, Scottish Government is considering whether regulation is still working for everyone by asking the charity sector if change is needed.

Looking to hear from the organisations, networks and people that make up the 25,000 charities currently registered in Scotland, the consultation is comprised of 10 short questions which explore the need for a review, as well as what the purpose and parameters of a future review should be.

Those interested in learning more about the consultation, will have the opportunity to attend a webinar hosted by the Scottish Government on Wednesday 26 June (3-4pm) which will provide further information on the questions and allow space for a discussion on the issue. To sign up for the webinar, please email charityreview@gov.scot

Scottish Government’s Charity Law Team Leader, Caroline Monk says:

“Next year will be 20 years since the Scottish Parliament passed the first Scottish charities Act, the Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005. That year saw the then Prince Charles’ marriage to Camila Parker-Bowles, Angela Merkel becoming the first female Chancellor of Germany and Pope John-Paul II’s death. A lot has changed since then. So, we’re asking you if charity regulation in Scotland needs to change as well.

“We know that finding the time and the energy to respond to consultations can be challenging but we hope that by including some quick questions, more people will be able to respond.”

Children in Scotland’s Chief Executive, Dr Judith Turbyne says:

“A lot of our members, and many other organisations working with and for children and young people across Scotland are charities. Even if your organisation is not a charity, you may well work closely with one. Although the regulation of charities might not seem like the most exciting topic, it is fundamental to the way charities operate so should be of interest to us all.”

The consultation is open until midnight on 22 July 2024 and responses will help the Scottish Government to decide the next steps in its commitment to strengthening charity law.

Click here to find out more and read a short consultation paper.

Click here to share your views and complete the consultation. 

Review of charity regulation

Find out more about the consultation on the charity regulation review.

Click here for more

Participation and engagement work

Find out more about how we embed the inclusion and participation of children and young people in our work

Click here for more

Our services

We offer we offer a range of services that provide support, advice and representation for children and families

Click here for more

The road to safer journeys for children and young people

19 Jun 2024

With responsibility for road safety learning and publicity, Road Safety Scotland’s (RSS) learning resources have always been ‘child-centric’, co-produced with teachers and pupils, and linked to Curriculum for Excellence.

Aiming to ensure all learning resources are of a high quality and fully fit-for-purpose, RSS recently commissioned The Leith Agency to create new educational material for several of its online resources. Working with Children in Scotland's Policy, Projects and Participation Team, RSS also sought the voices and opinions of children and young people to ensure the information would engage learners in a way that was appropriate, relevant and challenging to them. Here, we find out more.

RSS believes road safety learning should be accessible for all children and young people in Scotland, with access to key learning made available at every stage on their journey towards becoming safe, independent road users.

The foundation for all RSS activity is a commitment to the use of analysis and evidence, and RSS has been at the forefront of driving an evidence-informed approach to road safety learning and publicity in Scotland for many years.

RSS sees road safety as a lifelong-learning process and, therefore, the knowledge, skills and attitudes which will be required when young people become independent road users – across all modes, including as pedestrians, cyclists, passengers and drivers – need to be embedded from the start.

When it came to creating new digital resources, RSS knew children's voices would be vital, and asked the Participation Team at Children in Scotland (click here for more) to help support the involvement of young people to share their views on the review and re-design.

Parisa Shirazi, Children in Scotland’s Senior Policy, Projects and Participation Officer, who helped lead recent in-person sessions explained: “Our approach to engagement is framed around the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) with a focus on Article 12, which states children and young people have the right to have their views heard on the issues that affect their lives.

“Young people have invaluable perspectives, views and voices, and it is our job to create the spaces and opportunities for them to be involved. From our own experience, involving children and young people not only enriches the process of creating new resources or policy ideas, but also makes the end result so much better than it would have been.”

A hand-drawn map details a local town centre, including road markings and pavements, buildings, cars, and traffic lights
Artwork created by children and young people during the RSS workshops

In the first phase of the project, Children in Scotland worked with secondary school pupils, delivering sessions at King’s Park Secondary School in Glasgow, and Marr College in Troon.

Parisa continued: “We spent time with pupils to see what they think young people should learn about in road safety, find out their views on the current resources available, and give them the chance to come up with their own prototypes of fun resources to share their ‘top tips’ with the designers.

“We were really impressed with the thoughtfulness and insight of the young people, who came up with ideas such as a future-proofing ‘cringe check’ of the new resources carried out by young people before they go out.

“We are currently involving more children and young people across Scotland in this work, through delivering sessions in primary schools and specialist support settings, and sharing an engagement pack that education staff can use with pupils. We look forward to hearing their ideas.”

RSS is currently undertaking a review of all its road safety learning resources to ensure they are accessible for children and young people with mild-moderate additional support needs, while also developing a new road safety resource for children with complex additional support needs, which will be ready by spring 2025.

With resources spanning the 3-18 curriculum, RSS says it is imperative learners are engaged in experiential and active learning, helping them prepare to make safer choices to protect themselves and others in the road environment.

Debbie Nicol, from Road Safety Scotland, added: “Many children and young people don’t have the ability to make good judgements about safe road use, and a lack of experience means they are at greater risk.

“These days, children and young people enjoy more freedom and travel further from home to school, college or social events and, although their road safety knowledge is high, it’s often not used. They may know what they should do – but they often make mistakes or are unsure of how to use their road safety knowledge.

“Updating our resources has been vital to ensure children and young people’s learning about road safety is not only age-appropriate, but a lifelong practice that is both accessible and engaging.”

To find out more about the road safety engagement work with children and young people, click here read the full report or visit roadsafety.scot

Road Safety Scotland

Discover learning resources and advice for helping everyone stay safe on roads.

Click here for more

Our membership offer

Be part of the largest national children's sector membership organisation in Scotland

Click here for more

Participation and engagement work

Find out more about how we embed the inclusion and participation of children and young people in our work

Click here for more

Enquire

Find out more about Enquire, the national advice and information service for additional support for learning

Visit the website

Reach

The website for young people offers advice and support on accessing their rights

Visit the website

Put children's views at the heart of Additional Support for Learning reform

18 Jun 2024

Following the publication of the Additional Support for Learning Inquiry report, Billy Anderson, Head of Services at Children in Scotland, reflects on Children In Scotland's involvement the inquiry and the next steps required to improve the experiences of children and young people accessing additional support for learning.

After receiving 620 responses to a call for views, facilitating five evidence sessions involving key witnesses, receiving written evidence from 25 local authorities across Scotland and meeting with young people, parents and carers and teachers at informal participation sessions, the Education, Children and Young People Committee (ECYP) Additional Support for Learning (ASL) Inquiry report was published on May 15th 2024.

We were pleased to see the recognition of the positive work of Children in Scotland’s ASL services and the important contribution to policy development and implementation supported by the activity of the Inclusion Ambassadors. We also strongly advocate for the commitment to reviewing certain aspects of the ASL Act including placement request refusal grounds, access to Tribunal and independent adjudication, and criteria for CSPs and suggest timescales for this work to be committed to.

The ECYP Committee report highlights the ongoing challenges of delivering ASL in Scotland and poses questions around the scale and scope of the current ASL Action Plan which was implemented following the Morgan review. Children in Scotland fully supports the plan and the urgent need to consider the recommendations contained within it, but also the additional activity that is required to improve the experiences of children and young people accessing additional support for learning.

When I first read the Inquiry report, the first thing that struck me was this sentence, “The Committee was alarmed to hear there was strong evidence to suggest that the majority of ASN pupils are not having their needs met.” The issues surrounding the delivery of additional support for learning have been evident to us and our services for the best part of a decade. There have been many key reviews and inquiries regarding ASL over the years and the evidence gathered from each one of them points towards an immediate need for change. As the years roll by, it is clear that children and families are still facing the same issues they were ten years ago and no significant and sustained change has emerged over that time.

There are broader challenges related to resourcing of the recommendations made in the report and we would strongly suggest that the Inclusion Ambassador’s vision statement continues to be the driving force of decision making and policy change.

Inclusion Ambassadors - Reach

Our ASL services and those of our members and the wider third sector play a vital role in supporting the delivery of ASL. We do so in collaboration and partnership but the limitations on what we can deliver are severely restricted by funding, which in some cases has remained static for a number of years. As the ASL population curve increases, it feels like we are watching it disappear into the distance and out of reach. There is such a strong will to make a difference, and we do in many situations, but the scale of the challenges that we are facing needs significant investment to catch up with the curve.

We are fully committed to continuing our contribution towards improving the educational experiences of children and young people who require additional support for learning. We do this through our existing Enquire, Reach, My Rights, My Say and Resolve services. We do this to ensure that every child in Scotland has an equal chance to flourish. When the numbers have now reached 37% of all children in our schools then there is an urgent need for Scotland to ensure that wider education policy and reform truly reflect the views and experiences of children who require ASL. We can and must do better.

Children in Scotland’s Response to the Inquiry

Enquire & My Rights, My Say joint response to the Inquiry

All published responses

About the Author

Billy Anderson is Head of Services at Children in Scotland.

Click here for more

Enquire

Find out more about Enquire, the national advice and information service for additional support for learning

Visit the website

Reach

The website for young people offers advice and support on accessing their rights

Visit the website