What pupil support staff said

Following the delivery of Children in Scotland’s #KeepThePromise Pupil Support Staff Learning Programme, Sophie Elliott reflects on what we heard from pupil support staff and why Scotland must support the workforce to Keep The Promise. 

In 2020, The Promise said “Schools in Scotland must be ambitious for care experienced children and ensure they have all they need to thrive”. The Promise Plan 24-30 makes clear that all those working with care experienced children and young people should be supported to play their role in creating education settings which provide a sense of belonging and respect children’s rights. However, we understand that support and learning opportunities for pupil support staff can sometimes be limited. 

In 2023, Children in Scotland received funding from The Promise Partnership’s Keep The Promise Fund and aimed to address the limitation in learning and development opportunities for pupil support staff by co-producing and delivering a support and learning programme for pupil support staff in Scotland. 

To do this, we carried out a period of engagement work with school-based groups of care experienced children and young people and a new Pupil Support Staff Advisory Group. This informed the development of the #KeepThePromise Pupil Support Staff Learning Programme, which consisted of a blend of in-person events, online practice sharing sessions and a series of eLearning modules. You can find out more about the programme and access the eLearning modules on our website.  

In our engagement with the Pupil Support Staff Advisory Group and delivery of in-person events, the team at Children in Scotland heard the views and perspectives of pupil support staff relating to their access to learning and development opportunities. To share this learning more widely, we have produced a paper sharing What Pupil Support Staff Said.  

When reflecting on all we heard in our conversations with pupil support staff, we were surprised by how often we heard staff share they did not feel they had been well supported in their role. Many of the pupil support staff we engaged with said that a lack of support through training opportunities, supervision and access to key information and relevant policy, has continued throughout their time in the profession.  

“In my seventeen years in the role, I have not once been given an opportunity for my development” – attendee at in-person event 

Despite hearing that pupil support staff have felt this way, we also heard in our engagement with care experienced children and young people that pupil support staff often have the strongest impact on their school experience. We were told by several young people that just one positive relationship with a member of pupil support staff has helped them improve their attendance and made them feel more positive about school. The value of pupil support staff to care experienced children and young people must not be underestimated. 

While the pupil support staff we engaged with felt there was a significant gap in support, learning and development opportunities available to them, we observed that their motivation has been persistent. The pupil support staff workforce has continued to drive support for Scotland’s children and young people; however, we must recognise the importance of their role. To Keep The Promise, it is time for Scotland to invest in making improvements to the support, learning and development opportunities available for the workforce supporting children and young people in schools. 

Read more about What Pupil Support Staff Said, and our recommendations for the future of learning and development for the workforce, in the paper here.