The 2015/16 Programme for Government: FOI release

FOI reference: FOI/18/00840
Date received: 15 March 2018
Date responded: 11 April 2018

Information requested

• All copies of materials and resources provided to schools as part of the 'aspirations package' promised by the first minister.

• A list of the businesses/local employers that agreed to participate in this initiative.

• A list of the entrepreneurs who agreed to take part in this initiative.

• The number of visits that the Scottish government is aware of, by entrepreneurs or businesses/organisations to schools, which have taken place as a direct result of this initiative. Please include the dates of the visit, who visited the school and which school it involved.

Response

The 2015/16 Programme for Government included plans to implement a package of activity to better equip Scotland's children to learn and thrive, with specific focus on children from deprived backgrounds.

The "aspirations package" has been developed into a much wider programme of work intended to support every child/young person's successful learning journey from early years, through school and post-16 learning - including university and college - and on into positive destinations. There are many programmes which are incorporated at a local level to enable agencies and professionals to deploy the most appropriate interventions to allow young people to succeed. Because of the breadth of the activity we do not gather individual data on these areas. Some of these are delivered by organisations such as Winning Scotland Foundation and the Children's University, Includem, Prince's Trust, Columba 1400, as well as more locally based organisations. Further information on their projects, and materials and resources that they use, can be found on their websites and I have included hyperlinks above.

Through the National Improvement Hub, a learning and teaching toolkit is also available to support teachers to plan interventions which will help address the impact of poverty on children's attainment. This includes a summary of aspirations interventions and as before you can access these via the links provided.

Most businesses, local employers and entrepreneurs are involved with schools and young people through the Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) programme. More information about how DYW works through its network of 21 employer-led DYW regional groups across Scotland can be found on Education Scotland's website under Developing the Young Workforce.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses