Schools - improving relationships and behaviour: progress report 2025

Theme 4: Supporting the workforce

Action 12: Support all education settings to have a planned and ongoing programme to promote staff wellbeing.

The Education workforce – health and wellbeing support: report, was published in November 2024. The report was the result of a five-month project overseen by the Association of Directors of Education in Scotland (ADES) and the Scottish Government, examining existing provisions of support in local authorities. The report outlines key findings and recommendations, including the formation of a National Health and Wellbeing (HWB) Group. This group will be responsible for developing a strategic approach to implement the report's recommendations and establish a comprehensive and consistent wellbeing offer. The Scottish Government is currently working to establish this HWB Group, aiming to hold its first meeting in Spring 2025.

Action 13: Empower staff through provision of relevant professional learning to support relationships and behaviour approaches and practice and to respond to emerging trends in behaviour.

In response to findings in BISSR that support staff would welcome more training, in March 2024 the Scottish Government provided local authorities with £900k funding to procure and provide professional learning for the support staff workforce to improve skill levels in responding to distressed behaviour in schools.

To respond to ongoing concerns about the effects on online hate on relationships and behaviours such as misogyny, in January 2025 Time for Inclusive Education launched the new ‘Digital Discourse Initiative’ created with ISD Global. This is a bespoke professional learning course providing teachers and educators in Scotland with tools to counter the effects of online hate and disinformation and to teach core critical and digital media literacy skills.

Education Scotland has delivered a number of relevant strands of work to support professional learning including:

• identifying and promoting resources and professional learning available to staff and schools on relationships and behaviour in schools. These resources are freely available online for schools to use as part of collegiate learning or practitioners can use as self-directed learning. To promote the resources and support implementation Education Scotland delivered a series of seven online webinars between January and March 2025 under the theme of ‘It’s all about relationships.’
• continuing to develop professional learning opportunities to support educators’ understanding and practice of inclusive pedagogy and approaches required to support all learners including those who require additional support. This is linked to the ASL Action Plan.
• Further promoting Keeping Trauma in Mind (KTiM) professional learning as a sustainable train the trainer model, by delivering national on-line delivery during September / October 2024. There are plans for further national online delivery during May 2025.
• Supporting the publication of Respect for All by running an information session for staff on the new guidance, involving contributions from Scottish Government and respectme. There was additional training on the bullying and equalities module delivered by SEEMiS.
• Supporting the publication of the Gender-Based Violence in Schools Framework by running an information session for staff.

During phase 2, opportunities for implementation of appropriate professional learning will be identified.

Action 14: Identify and promote the approaches to curriculum design, pedagogy, and assessment to facilitate learner engagement of all children and young people.

Education Scotland is working with school leaders and practitioners to develop exemplification of curriculum design having a positive impact on both attendance and engagement. Six school leaders are undertaking short-life enquiries on the correlation between the curriculum and improved attendance and/or engagement.

As a next step, in phase 2 the Education Scotland Pupil Support Staff professional learning framework will be refreshed to reflect the Education Scotland Inclusion Wellbeing and Equalities professional learning themes.