Attainment Scotland Fund (ASF) evaluation: children and young people's research briefing

Research findings

Awareness of Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) and development of approaches

The focus of discussion with pupils in most schools was on specific activities/ groups they had been involved in, so there was limited feedback about the ASF specifically. However, a small number of pupils had heard of PEF funding.

Most of the case study schools provided examples of children and young people inputting into the development of ASF approaches, including pupils helping to develop ideas for how to use PEF funding (e.g. providing ideas via pupil councils/student parliaments which led to specific resources being provided, such as a primary school providing a ‘support box’ with equipment (fidget toys and ear defenders), and a secondary school installing CCTV in response to student feedback). Another example of involvement in developing approaches was provided by pupils at one school who had been involved in a ‘cost of the school day’ group looking at ways to address financial barriers to education, which led to the school stocking specific locations throughout the building with resources available for pupils.

Readiness to learn

Children and young people who took part in the research were able to identify a range of factors that can help them to be ready to learn at school, including both physical and wellbeing aspects that had an impact on their ability to learn. This included not being hungry/having a good breakfast, having access to transport in order to get to school, having physical resources and equipment such as stationery, and elements of family/home life meaning that pupils were not coming into school stressed. For example:

“I think a good breakfast in the morning, because obviously you can't really work and concentrate if you've not had a nice substantial breakfast”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2^[4])

“I think like having a stable household, so like in the morning you're not leaving to go to school having just had an argument or witnessed someone in your household arguing”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2)

“Kind of like resources, like stationery and stuff like that”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2)

“Probably like a reliable mode of transport, so you're not like stressing out in the morning about how you're going to get to school”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2)

As well as identifying a range of aspects needed to be ready to learn, feedback from pupils indicates that they were aware they had access to such resources – children and young people who took part in the case studies were familiar with where/how to access support and resources at school, spontaneously noting that there were places they could go if they need anything:

“There's [resources] around the school in different classrooms, so there's like one classroom with like stationery, there's classrooms with just food in them, and there's classrooms with hygiene products that you can go and take, if you don't have them at your home.” (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2)

“Another good thing about the [wellbeing space] is that… let’s say you don't have enough money for lunch, there’s sometimes stuff there leftover from break. So therefore, people who don't have enough money or anything at all, so they can come here, and they can get one of them.” (Secondary pupil, Other urban, <25% SIMD 1&2)

“I come to breakfast club because, like…I have a lot of chores in the morning, and I don't really have time for breakfast”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, <25% SIMD 1&2)

Addressing financial barriers/cost of the school day

All of the case study schools mentioned approaches to address financial barriers to education, with respondents emphasising that efforts were made to ensure all pupils had access to the resources they need in order to engage with school. This included using ASF funding to provide pupils with access to things like school uniform and other clothing, food/snacks, breakfast clubs, school bags and starter packs for S1s, access to resource hubs stocked with equipment and a range of other resources, and funding school trips and activities.

Feedback from pupils suggests that they were aware of this type of support being available at school and knew how to access it. As noted earlier, one secondary school had established a ‘cost of the school day’ group involving pupils, allowing children and young people to raise awareness of the support available and help provide resources for those who need them. Pupils at this school recognised that there were costs associated with school and that support was available.

“I think going back to like not being hungry and stuff, the staff run a free breakfast club so you can go and get breakfast in the morning, before starting for the day”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2)

These pupils had also been involved in ensuring everyone was aware they could access the resources available to help with the cost of the school day – for example, they had helped run the breakfast club when it was set up, were involved in making sure resource hubs were stocked, and had helped administer the distribution of winter clothing packs.

“They've promoted it in assemblies and stuff as to where you can go – and it's confidential, so like nobody would know, because obviously there's a stigma against it… and there's like a fear of embarrassment as well.” (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2)

“I helped with the winter clothing packs, I think people submitted forms so they got exactly what they wanted, that was for uniforms so if they needed like any new jumpers or anything, and all the stuff was brand new, so.” (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2)

“We kind of helped with the breakfast club when that was first starting, and then with the [resource hubs] just making sure that everyone knew about them, and that they were also stocked with resources”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2)

Impacts of the ASF on health and wellbeing

A key focus for the use of ASF funding across the case study schools was health and wellbeing, engagement in school and readiness to learn. School staff highlighted that a key barrier for pupils affected by poverty is simply not being ready to learn, and a range of supports were needed to build the foundations for learning before schools could consider improving attainment.

There was also a strong focus on nurture across the case study schools, including the introduction of nurture spaces to address dysregulated behaviour and encourage attendance. Some use of these spaces was for pupils who needed specific support all the time (e.g. those unable to attend the classroom for a full day), and others were used as a drop-in space as and when needed.

Some case study schools had introduced specific programmes focused on emotional and mental health using the ASF funding, with a range of emotional literacy and wellbeing resources/programmes mentioned, including Relax Kids^[5], Emotion Works^[6] and use of Boxall Profiles.^[7] One secondary school had also involved pupils in peer-support training with Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH)^[8] and pupils had started running drop-in sessions to support younger pupils:

“It was someone from SAMH that came in and taught us about methods of supporting people, active listening and stuff like that, so we're able to listen to other pupils in the school, about their struggles.” (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2).

School staff reported that ASF-funded initiatives related to emotional and mental health have had a considerable impact on pupils’ ability to regulate their emotions. Pupils who had been involved in these activities also recognised the benefits for them:

“It just gives you time to think about things you sometimes don’t have time to at school and also speak to [name] about how you have been feeling.” (Primary pupil, Remote rural, <25% SIMD 1&2)

“’Cause sometimes when, like… just general life is just too hard, you can just, you know, come here and then it’s, like, push it away. Like, pause it. And then when you've calmed down a bit, you can play…you can start playing again and it’ll be a bit better.” (Secondary pupil, Other urban, <25% SIMD 1&2)

“It’s also better…after you have a talk with [name] because then you can go to class feeling a bit better ‘cause you know that you talked to someone about it”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, <25% SIMD 1&2)

Pupils who had been involved in the peer support training with SAMH were also positive about the impacts of this. These S6 pupils were now running drop-in sessions at lunchtime, mainly accessed by younger pupils, and highlighted the benefits of having a space for people to get support and chat if they have any worries:

“Pupils can just drop in, we usually do little fun activities and we can just talk about mental health in a really like light, and just comfortable way. And I think that does help a lot of people with stress and stuff… I think it like lets people know that, ’cause we do a lot of like advertisement of it, like we speak about it at assemblies, and it's just nice for pupils to know that there is an option to go for support. Sometimes people don't want to go to adults and stuff, so to know that they can come and talk to other pupils is probably, you know, puts their mind at ease and stuff.” (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2)

In one case study school, the specific needs of minority ethnic pupils led to the development of an anti-racism club.^[9] At this school, pupils reported that this had helped them feel more safe and secure at school – which teachers hoped would translate into improved self-esteem and aspiration.

“There’s a lot of people who are like me in this club, who understand me, who I can talk to freely, because in my old school… there was barely any diversity in that school, any people of colour, so I just felt always out of place, but now that I’ve came here, I’ve came to this room and I’m part of this club, I just feel a lot more secure and safe.” (Secondary pupil, Large urban, 75%+ SIMD 1&2)

Impacts of the ASF on attainment

Some pupils who took part in the case study research reported that the support they had received had improved their educational attainment, for example highlighting the value of the intensive support received in a dedicated space for those with the highest levels of need:

“[Wellbeing space] has helped me a lot with like Maths, English and that – because I used to never go to classes, but now I go to every one because [name] has taught me what to do in situations, he’s sat with me and done it with me, so I know what I’m doing now. He helps me with my spelling, my Maths – everything really. I do learning here and in class. I feel better now.” (Secondary pupil, Large urban, 75%+ SIMD 1&2)

“Last year [name] helped me a lot… it’s good because instead of just getting forced to learn about something he lets you pick what you want to learn about, he gives you options and you get right into it. See because it’s a smaller class size it’s easier to focus and he’s not like any other teachers that will just moan at you, he’ll have a laugh with you and that, help you to do your work.” (Secondary pupil, Large urban, 75%+ SIMD 1&2)

“He’s not one of they teachers that’ll say something to you and you’ll have a bit of bickering and they’ll send you home. He can take a joke. He’s great to have a around in a learning environment because it’s not one of those things where you’re scared to ask a question in case you get made out like a dafty and all that.” (Secondary pupil, Large urban, 75%+ SIMD 1&2)

Three of the secondary case study schools had used PEF funding to provide out-of-hours study support for pupils. Some support was year-round (e.g. homework clubs after school) and some was more focused, e.g. Easter and Saturday sessions in the run-up to exams; one school also ran PEF-funded study weekends which included academic study and outdoor activities. Staff at these schools highlighted the importance of being able to provide additional learning and teaching support out of school hours, as their pupils would not be able to access private tutoring as other families might provide.

Pupils who had attended these study support sessions or residential study weekends reported the positive benefits of having additional one-to-one support from teachers, and a structured approach to studying which they would not otherwise have.

“I think the study weekend’s actually really good because we’re actually able to talk to the teachers, because teachers come with us, we’re actually having one-on-one with them, if we weren’t going we’d be by ourselves, going in blind and studying by ourselves”. (Secondary pupil, Large urban, 75%+ SIMD 1&2)

“If I don’t go on these study weekends or Easter schools I wouldn’t even study at all because I know myself, if I actually don’t get told to study or get supervised whilst studying, I won’t study because – I don’t know why, it’s just my brain’s like that. Also, if I’m studying myself… I’m going to find any excuse to finish the studying but if I actually do it with the school there’s teachers to help me out even if I’m struggling with anything, and that will just rule out every excuse.” (Secondary pupil, Large urban, 75%+ SIMD 1&2)

Impacts of the ASF on wider achievements/opportunities

There was strong evidence across the case studies as a whole that the ASF has provided pupils with access to wider opportunities, with a variety of examples given – this included access to educational trips, residentials, cultural experiences such as visits to the theatre, access to outdoor learning and programmes such as Columba 1400, the Duke of Edinburgh award, and other clubs and team building activities.

For many case study respondents, crucial impacts of these activities were the softer outcomes for those taking part such as increased confidence, resilience and self-esteem, development of skills like leadership, teamwork, communication etc., as well as achieving qualifications and positive destinations. Pupils who had taken part in such activities reported increased confidence and development of soft skills as a result:

“For the [study weekend including outdoor activities] you had to do climbing up high, so it takes a lot of confidence… It also helps you in an exam… you need to be confident, if you’re all nervous and all of that your brain isn’t going to work well… That really helped me this year.” (Secondary pupil, Large urban, 75%+ SIMD 1&2)

“Apart from, like, participating more in class, it’s taught me to persevere through more things. Like, if work gets hard, you just have to get through it, no matter what”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 25-49% SIMD 1&2)

Feedback from pupils who had taken part in the Columba 1400 programme in particular highlighted the impact this had on them in terms of confidence and leadership:

“I think [Columba 1400 has] given me the confidence to do stuff around school more, like, volunteer for doing awards nights and the dementia when people from the care homes came up. I helped with that. I also think it did help me talk to people better, ’cause I would never talk first before Columba. I would be really nervous. But now I just talk.” (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 25-49% SIMD 1&2)

“It was, like, a leadership project thing, teaching us how to be our own leaders, how to be more confident in… public speaking, communication, a lot of stuff like that. And helping us realise what our values and skills were”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 25-49% SIMD 1&2)

“I think some of the stuff that… I learned at Columba I use on, like, a daily basis now… Like, teamwork. I never really used to talk to people in groups, I usually just do it myself, but now I actually try and cooperate with people a bit better”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 25-49% SIMD 1&2)

“I never used to…I always hated being, like, the leader of a group or class projects but now I'm quite confident in that role because Columba’s helped me with that”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 25-49% SIMD 1&2)

Culture and ethos

When asked about their school’s culture and ethos in terms of supporting children affected by poverty, staff tended to focus on their school being supportive, nurturing, inclusive, aspirational for all, and ensuring there was no stigma associated with seeking support. Action to address potential stigma included not making it obvious when support is provided and ensuring pupils do not feel judged if they ask for help. For much PEF-funded support, school staff explained that pupils were not aware they were being targeted on the basis of deprivation/need.

Feedback from the children and young people who took part in the research supports this finding. For example, pupils at one secondary school were very aware of the financial support available to all pupils, and knew that anyone could ask for help confidentially:

“Our year group recently went to London and the teachers just said if you couldn’t afford it, it wasn't that much of an issue, like it would be sorted. And you could just go to them and just say, say you're having troubles with it and it would again be completely confidential, and it would get sorted out.” (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2)

“But we do always get help with like being able to afford school trips, they always kinda say if you need help with the payment, you know, contact a member of staff”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2)

Comments also indicated that pupils were aware of the potential for young people to feel embarrassment and stigma associated with accessing support, and that their school making resources available for all pupils helped address this issue:

“It makes [people] feel less embarrassed, like ’cause obviously there a huge stigma around not having enough money, and there's like a fear of embarrassment as well”. (Secondary pupil, Other urban, 50-74% SIMD 1&2)