Included, engaged and involved part 2 guidance refresh working group minutes: June 2026

Attendees and apologies

• Scottish Government
• Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS)
• The Centre for Excellence for Children's Care and Protection/ VHTN
• Association of Headteachers and Deputes Scotland (AHDS)
• Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA)
• Education Scotland (Schools)
• Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA)
• Includem
• Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP)
• National Social, Emotional and Behavioural Needs Network (SEBN)

Apologies

• Glasgow University
• Society of Local Authority Lawyers and Administrators in Scotland (SOLAR)
• Education Scotland (Community Learning)
• School Leaders Scotland (SLS)
• Connect
• Association of Directors of Education Scotland (ADES)
• National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT)

Items and actions

Welcome and introductions

The chair welcomed members and noted apologies.

Draft of Included, engaged and involved part 2

Members were asked for feedback on the updated draft of the guidance. Some points raised included:

• some minor adjustments to wording were suggested to bring further clarity to the section on flexible learning and reduced learning hours
• it was suggested that there should be limited specific examples given in the responding to behaviour section, with signposting to Fostering a positive, inclusive and safe school environment guidance
• the section on hostings should include a reference to local authorities having individual arrangements for their use
• members confirmed they were content to retain the checklists as non-prescriptive consideration questions and that a section should be added before the management of an exclusion checklist to highlight that this checklist is based on legislation and therefore legally required
• it was suggested that a section be added to highlight the intersectionality between protected characteristics
• members agreed that the proposed flowchart should be removed to aid brevity
• some links to wider resources to support implementation were suggested including on behavioural analysis, Nurture and trauma informed approaches
• it was suggested that it would be helpful for communications to highlight the key updates to the guidance for partners and stakeholders

Next Steps

Members confirmed that subject to changes discussed, they were happy for the draft guidance to be presented to SAGRABIS at their upcoming meeting on 16 June.

Action points:

• members to review the note of the April meeting and provide any comments or feedback by 16 June
• members to provide any additional comments or feedback on the guidance draft by 9 June
• SG to update the guidance draft to reflect the changes agreed
• SG to circulate the updated guidance draft to SAGRABIS members