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Count Us In: A sense of belonging: Meeting the needs of children and young people newly arrived in Scotland

4. Are staff, children and young people actively involved in improving the school community?

Aspects for improvement

• Ensuring effective approaches are being used to evaluate the impact of learning and teaching on the achievements of newly-arrived children and young people.
• Having in place arrangements for monitoring the English language development of bilingual children.
• Actively engaging children and young people in giving their views on how to improve learning and teaching and approaches to meeting their needs.

Schools are committed to improving the learning experiences of newly-arrived children and young people. However, approaches for evaluating learners’ successes and achievements do not focus sufficiently on the impact of learning and teaching on the achievements of newly-arrived children and young people. Few schools have procedures in place for monitoring the English language development of bilingual children. In many schools, staff from EAL services support class teachers in devising individualised educational programmes and in setting up profiles and other forms of record keeping to track progress. Staff need to analyse tracking information and attainment data more rigorously to evaluate progress and identify areas for improvement.

EAL/bilingual services are key partners in providing appropriate learning experiences to ensure positive outcomes for newly-arrived children and young people. In a number of schools, senior managers do not consistently evaluate the quality and subsequent impact of the additional support provided by the specialist services. Schools do not always have appropriate arrangements in place to help class teachers and those from EAL/bilingual services evaluate the effectiveness of their collaborative work.

There are some good examples of schools gathering the views of newly-arrived children and young people. This has enabled staff to get a better understanding of the challenges facing young people and how to improve their experiences. In one authority, staff from EAL services have supported schools in giving newly-arrived young people a voice. EAL teachers visited the schools and involved young people in focused discussions on their educational experiences and how they could be improved. The teachers then produced a report on young people’s views and provided school staff with helpful advice on how to take action to improve provision. This initiative was also designed to encourage schools to gather and respond to young people’s views on a regular basis. Information from visits made as part of this task and the general inspection programme, show that there are few schools who actively and regularly involve children and young people in making suggestions for school improvements.

Improving education for newly-arrived children and young people

Leaders create activities and systems which signal to every child his or her worth as a learner and as a person, enabling all to experience success. They emphasise the capacity of young people to support each other. They set high expectations and lead by example. Leaders give high priority to the pupil voice within a context of rights and responsibilities. They promote equality of opportunity and encourage the celebration of diversity.

The Journey to Excellence, Part 2, Page 60

Children and young people should be encouraged to contribute to the life and work of the school and, from the earliest stages, to exercise their responsibilities as members of a community. This includes opportunities to participate responsibly in decision making, to contribute as leaders and role models, offer support and service to others and play an active part in putting the values of the school community into practice.

Building the Curriculum 3

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