Schools - improving relationships and behaviour: progress report 2025

Theme 2: Supporting local application of national policy

Action 5: Implement framework of support to assist the local application of national policy.

A priority within the action plan is to ensure that actions do not simply result in the setting of guidance and expectations using national policy, but also to provide practical support to schools and school staff to support the implementation of policy in practice and to provide children and young people with the right support at the right time.

While examples of specific support for local authorities and schools are identified within relevant actions, including action 8 below, the approach to the publication of Respect for All provides an example of national policy being supported by a package of support for implementation. The launch of the updated guidance was accompanied by additional support including:

• an information session for relevant staff and stakeholders to highlight the main updates and changes to the guidance run by Education Scotland and respectme;
• a series of webinars for school staff on the SEEMiS bullying and equalities module; and
• the development of a template anti-bullying policy, aligned with new guidance, produced by respectme, Scotland’s Anti-Bullying Service.

Further support will be rolled out in phase 2, including information sessions specifically for local authority staff, and the provision of support to schools and local authorities to review and update their policies, provided by respectme.

Education Scotland support local authorities and schools with bespoke professional learning tailored to the needs of their staff. Since April 2024, 68 probationer teachers and 352 practitioners have completed in-person Being Restorative professional learning, 75 probationers and 243 practitioners have completed online professional learning on Expectations and Consequences, 243 practitioners have completed professional learning on Co-Regulation and De-escalation, and 289 practitioners have completed professional learning on Relationships Matter and relational Approaches. The practitioners have included educational leads, teachers, pupil support staff, and staff in other supporting roles.

Education Scotland has published an online suite of professional learning resources for education settings to use themselves to support relationship building, nurturing approaches and to support self-regulation and positive behaviour, which it has been supporting at both local and national level. This is detailed further in action 13.

Further opportunities to support the implementation of guidance published during phase 1, or to support the publication of forthcoming guidance, will be taken forward during phases 2 and 3.

Action 6: Identify examples of current/ developing practice that can be shared with schools.

This action is at an early stage of development with most activity scheduled for phases 2 and 3 and will be taken forward in conjunction with professional associations.

Work completed during phase 1 related to attendance, with a short-life working group established to create resources to support tracking and monitoring attendance. These resources have been developed and published on the Education Scotland website. Further information on action to support improved attendance is detailed under action 8.

Action 7: Develop mechanisms to provide schools with individualised feedback on relationships and behaviour approaches and areas for development.

From February 2024, HM Inspectors set out that they would enhance the evidence gathered and the commentary made about relationships and behaviour. As part of school inspections they are:

• Listening to staff, learners, parents, and partners to understand current priorities and challenges related to relationships and behaviour in their school.
• Asking the school to reflect on the effectiveness of their approaches to promoting positive relationships and behaviour, as well as how they record and respond to incidents. This is captured in an updated Child Protection and Safeguarding Self-Evaluation Form
• Gathering and evaluating evidence as part of usual inspection processes, ensuring approaches align with the school’s context.
• Exploring in more depth how the school promotes positive relationships and behaviour through:
  • Self-evaluation discussions with the school and local authority representative on the effectiveness of current approaches and the support provided by the local authority.
  • Focus group discussions to gather views from staff, pupils, parents, and partners.
  • Reviewing how behavioural incidents are recorded and the strategies used to support those involved.

During the inspection, inspectors gather and evaluate evidence from discussions, observations, focus groups, and documentation reviews. This evidence is explored through professional dialogue with school leaders, where strengths and areas for development are discussed alongside the school’s own self-evaluation and reflections. At the end of the inspection, behaviour and relationships are considered as part of the overall evaluative feedback shared with the school’s leadership team and, where appropriate, the local authority representative. This feedback highlights key strengths and areas for improvement, supporting the school to reflect on and enhance its approaches to promoting positive relationships and managing behaviour.

Going forward, HM Inspectors will synthesise evidence gathered across inspections to produce national insights, identifying emerging trends, highlighting effective practice, and pinpointing areas requiring further support. These insights will not only inform national conversations about behaviour and relationships but also support improvement by sharing learning and helping schools, local authorities, and partners to reflect on and strengthen their approaches.

Action 8: Implement the recommendations of Education Scotland's report ‘Improving Attendance: Understanding the issues’.

Education Scotland has provided a package of support to local authorities to support improvements in attendance.

An Improving Attendance Quality Improvement Programme has been established to provide bespoke support for areas where improving levels of attendance remains a challenge. A package of support has been designed, focussing on the use of Quality Improvement (QI) methodology. The first cohort of schools, from six local authorities, completed the programme in March 2025. Most schools involved in the programme have made good progress with small tests of change. Learning from this will be collated and shared by Education Scotland in early 2025-26. A second cohort of the programme is being delivered from early March 2025 to 14 local authorities, 3 of which have been involved in the first cohort.

A Scotland-wide conference was held in February 2025 for all leads in local authorities with a focus on 'strategic approaches to improving attendance'. This, together with a National Attendance Network that has been set up, is ensuring opportunities for collaboration, networking and sharing between local authority leads. Four sessions aimed at school leaders, designed by school leaders, took place in February and March 2025.

New Education Scotland webpages were published in August 2024 with materials on policy, use of attendance data, partnership working and effective practice. A second package of online support, focused on case studies and exemplification, was published in March 2025.

We have also strengthened our understanding of attendance through increased analysis of attendance data. In December 2024 we changed the publication of the national attendance statistics from biennial to annual, and also included a new measure on persistent absence first published in March 2024.

In addition, from 2024/25, the methodology for publication of the fortnightly management information on school absences was improved by moving away from a once a fortnight point in time “snapshot” to reporting on absences over the entire fortnightly period, producing “academic year to date” measures and a new measure of persistent absence in line with the annual measure.

HM Inspectors will also consider attendance during inspection. They will consider attendance trends, including for specific cohorts what actions are being taken to address any challenges. They will also explore the extent of persistent absence and approaches to improving attendance including interventions and strategies to support improvement.

In March 2025, the Scottish Government published new resources to help support parents and carers of children struggling with school attendance. The resources help parents better understand the support available from schools, and provide practical steps they can take to support their child.