Resources

Our response to this call for views will draw on our work on Public Service Reform to date, highlighting learning from across our work in local systems, as well as our ongoing engagement with the children’s sector. This will include learning from our recent Children in Scotland Member’s Forum on the proposed Third Sector Partnership and the wider Public Service Reform agenda.

This briefing is the third in a series highlighting key policy issues in the additional support for learning in Scotland, building on previous editions on school attendance and placing request processes. Following the 2026 Scottish parliamentary election, our briefing is taking a more holistic policy approach, reflecting on progress in previous years and examining the broader system delivering additional support for learning. It closely considers a range of issues and challenges in the additional support for learning system as presented in the 2026 McManus Review, foregrounding the views, voices and experiences of the children, young people and families we work with to demonstrate how these issues affect the educational experience of learners with additional support needs.

Learning & Events Officer, Monica Sellers, has provided several events-planning resources as part of the ‘Event planning in the third sector’ programme. Participants will learn key questions to ask: planning, marketing, delivery, evaluation, reporting. This planner will be your monthly map to ensure you’re keeping on track and ready for delivery. It should contain high level notes, but not granular tasks.

Children in Scotland provides many inclusive, engaging and meaningful participation opportunities for children and young people to share their views on issues they care about and impact them. Across many strands of our work, the topic of social media and young people being online has been raised by children, young people and staff who work directly with them. Our response to this consultation makes use of the depth of our evidence.

This report brings together learning from across the Inclusion Ambassadors’ different workstreams between 2020 and March 2026, reflecting on progress made, challenges encountered and what children and young people’s experiences tell us about additional support for learning in Scotland.

Report from the Inclusion Ambassadors reflecting on their work and achievements from 2020 to 2026. Originally formed in 2016 by Education Scotland, the group was established to ensure the views of young people with additional support needs are heard in discussions about education policy. Children in Scotland have been involved in supporting the network since 2016 and formally running the group since November 2019.

This document brings together key themes and discussion from across My Rights, My Say Young Advisors meetings, and represents individual views, experiences, and priorities of the Young Advisors.

In 2023, the Inclusion Ambassadors presented a host of new schools and nurseries with Success Looks Different Awards. First launched in 2022, the awards recognise how schools and nurseries support, celebrate, and include pupils with additional support needs. This document is intended to highlight recurring themes, share observations and celebrate good practice from the winning schools and nurseries and the other applications. We hope this will in turn stimulate conversations within schools and other learning environments about inclusive practice.

In 2022, the Inclusion Ambassadors presented three schools with the first ever Success Looks Different Awards in recognition of how they support, celebrate and include pupils with additional support needs. This document brings together case studies from our winning schools as well as examples from other entries we received. It is intended to demonstrate good practice, highlight recurring themes, share observations and celebrate good practice. We hope this will in turn stimulate discussion and conversation within schools and other learning environments about inclusive practice.

This report shares the work of the Inclusion Ambassadors over the last year. It covers what they have said about the impact of coronavirus on their education and their views on other key issues affecting their lives. It highlights what is working well and, importantly, what needs to change to make sure additional support for learning provision is as good as it can be.