Parents, young people and all those involved with schools and families are being asked for their views on the Scottish Government’s strategies to improve educational attainment for those from poorer backgrounds.

The Education and Skills Committee would like to know what is working and what isn’t working and to explore the reasons why. The questions have a different emphasis depending on your focus.

The closing date is 22nd March 2018.

In particular they would like parents/carers/guardians living in poverty to answer the following:

1. How your children have been supported (in school or outside school)?
2. What was good about it and what could have been better?
3. How has this impacted on what the children in your family have achieved?
4. What other things might support your children in achieving at school?

Questions for young people living in poverty are:

1. How have you been supported (in school or outside school)?
2. What was good about it? What could have been better?
3. How has this impacted on how you get on at school including achievements?
4. What other things would support you to achieve at school?

For those employed in schools:

1. What has your school done to support children from families affected by poverty? What has worked well and what barriers have there been to success?
2. Are there any services that your school has not been able to provide that you believe would work? 
3. How do services provided outside of school support families who are affected by poverty help with educational attainment? 
4. What else could be done to support the attainment of children and young people from families affected by poverty?

For those working with other organisations or groups:

1. How has your work supported the educational attainment of children and young people? What has worked well and what barriers have there been to success? 
2. Are there any services that you / your organisation has not been able to provide that you believe would work? 
3. If you work with schools/local authorities/others to address school attainment and wider achievement, what makes collaboration on this issue easy/difficult? 
4. What else could be done to support the attainment /achievement of children and young people from families affected by poverty?

Committee Convener, James Dornan MSP said:

“There is little doubt about the difference education can make to the lives of our children and young people. But for all too many, the chance to fully reach their potential can be affected by the poverty they experience.

“We know that there will be huge amounts of work happening across the country to give Scotland’s children and young people the best chance to achieve. We want to hear about this work and the practical impact that this has. We also want to hear about the barriers that are faced in this work every day and how these could be overcome.

“It is clear that there will be no easy answers to how we mitigate the effects of poverty. It is important that we listen to the people affected and hard-working professionals to find out how we can make it easier for the valuable work that takes place across the country to succeed and for effective approaches to be shared nationally.”

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You can send in your views by email to:  es.submissions@parliament.scot.

No longer than 4 sides of A4.

Or by post to : Education and Skills Committee, Scottish Parliament ,Holyrood, Edinburgh, EH99 1SP