School attendance working group minutes: December 2025

Attendees and apologies

• Scottish Government (Chair)
• Education Scotland
• Connect
• NASUWT
• ASPEP
• Scottish Council of Independent Schools
• EIS
• Enquire 
• AHDS
• Quarriers
• ADES
• Spartans Community Foundation

Apologies

• HMIE
• COSLA
• SLS

 

Items and actions

Welcome and introductions  

The chair welcomed members and noted apologies.

Minutes and actions from previous meeting

Minutes from the previous meeting of the group on 25 November were circulated in advance of the meeting. Members confirmed that they were content to agree the minutes.

Action: SG to publish minutes on SG website.

Consideration of draft Included, Engaged and Involved, part 1

A draft of Included, engaged and involved part 1 was circulated in advance of the meeting for final consideration by members. The chair highlighted key changes to the guidance since the last meeting of the group which included:

• strengthening reference to safeguarding and the importance of a multi-agency approach throughout 
• revisions to the section on incentives 
• revisions to the flexible arrangements section to make a distinction between support for pupils and flexibility in the Senior Phase 

It was noted that ADES are gathering positive practice examples of flexible arrangements which will be added to the guidance in the coming weeks. It was also highlighted that advice has been sought from the Scottish Government Children’s Hearings Team to ensure the guidance on referral to the Children’s Reporter aligns with the planned redesign of children’s hearings. 

The group were asked for their feedback on the guidance. Some key points raised included:

• it was noted that concern has been raised about including guidance on flexi-schooling as there is no legal basis for this approach and therefore guidance could be open to misinterpretation
• members were asked to consider if guidance on flexi-schooling should be removed with further work to be considered in the future, aligned to home education guidance; it was proposed that reference be made to flexi-schooling, its distinction from home education and links and signposting be made to the home education guidance - members agreed that they were content with this approach
• members welcomed strengthened guidance on the use of incentives for school attendance – reference to more positive approaches to support attendance such as early transitions, breakfast clubs and adaptations to school environment were highlighted as positive additions
• it was suggested that the guidance notes that incentive approaches could lead to disability discrimination - it was noted that this links to the engagement work which highlighted that these approaches could be ableist and impact negatively on young people
• it was suggested that reference to ‘issues’ was replaced with ‘matters’ or ‘circumstances’

Members were asked if they had any outstanding concerns with the completed guidance draft. Members confirmed that they were content and no further points were raised. Members were content that the guidance goes forward to SAGRABIS. 

Action: SG to update guidance in response to comments from members.
Action: Members to provide any final feedback via correspondence by 15 December.

Next Steps

The chair confirmed that an updated version of the guidance would be circulated to members following the meeting with the suggested changes. The guidance will be presented to SAGRABIS on 14th January for agreement. Following the due diligence process, publication is scheduled for March.

Work is ongoing to establish the schedule and work plan for the guidance on education of children unable to attend due to ill health and members will be kept informed as work progresses.

AOB

• work on Emotionally Based School Non-Attendance through ABSAIL was highlighted - it was suggested that this work could be referenced within the guidance if available prior to publication of Included, engaged and involved part 1
• the update of Included, engaged and involved part 2 was noted with planned publication in June 2026
• updated resources to support attendance on Parent Club were highlighted to members – it was suggested that consideration is given to whether any additional resources for parents are needed