School attendance working group minutes: November 2025

Attendees and apologies

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

Apologies

• Spartans Community Foundation

• COSLA

Items and actions

Welcome and introductions  

The chair welcomed members, noted apologies and introduced colleagues who were deputising on their behalf.

Minutes and actions from previous meeting

Minutes from the previous meeting of the group on 23 October were circulated in advance of the meeting and members confirmed that they were content to agree the minutes.

Action: SG to publish minutes on SG website.

Review of guidance of education of children unable to attend due to ill health

The Scottish Government gave a brief update of planned work to review the guidance of education of children unable to attend due to ill health. Some initial key areas for review include alignment with the current legislative and policy landscape, a simplified layout and updates to guidance for independent schools and the use of hospital education services. Members were asked to consider any additional areas for review. Some key points raised included:

• it was highlighted that that there are currently no fixed timescales for education provision during absence and that continued consideration should be given to individual circumstances and needs
• it was suggested that the COVID pandemic has changed the systems available for remote education provision and highlighting some best practice may be helpful - however digital access should also be considered
• it was suggested that further consideration should be given to chronic or fluctuating conditions with differentiation between long and short term illness, mental health conditions and neurodivergence
• consideration should be given to transition and continuity between hospital education and school education including the provision for liaison with class teachers; however, consideration should also be given to teacher workload and the emotional impact of reconnecting with pupils with life changing illness or injury
• it was suggested that further clarity of the responsibility for oversight of a pupil’s education would be helpful
• it was noted that the provision of education during periods of ill-health has the potential of having a significant impact on teacher workload
• while some learning materials, such as worksheets or textbook pages, can be shared relatively easily, converting interactive classroom activities into resources for absent pupils often requires considerable additional effort - representatives of the group highlighted that any proposals should not add to teacher workload
• consistency between other guidance documents was highlighted and reference to the updated policy and legislative context including UNCRC, GIRFEC and The Promise
• there is an opportunity to develop guidance related to mental health conditions
• the opportunities to use digital technology to share classroom learning were discussed; however, it was noted that this may be more challenging in certain circumstances such as the early years where much of the learning is active and digital learning cannot be an equal substitute for interactions with the class teacher
• it was noted that there are significant contractual, legislative and pedagogical concerns about any proposals to roll out online learning - the Rapid Review of Online Working Group is currently considering these issues, and it is important that the refreshed guidance is cognisant of the challenges in this area and must be considered in the appropriate governance fora in the first instance
• members, including HMIE, offered support as the guidance refresh progresses  

Discussion on draft Included, Engaged and Involved, part 1

An updated draft of the guidance was circulated in advance of the meeting for consideration. It was highlighted that the section on flexible arrangements is under review and will be circulated over the next few days. Some key updates to the guidance included:

• engagement work by Quarriers and Connect is highlighted more prominently in a new section to bring attention to the views of children, young people, parents and carers which have underpinned the guidance 
• guidance on children and young people at risk of non-attendance has been streamlined
• guidance on supporting gypsy and traveller communities at risk of non-attendance has been informed by engagement work with the STEP network 
• the section on measures of compulsory compliance has been streamlined
• consideration has been given to include information on SEEMiS coding as a supporting document which will allow for updates to be made as required

Member feedback included:

• inclusion of the engagement with children, young people, parents and carers was welcomed 
• flexible approaches, outreach work and flexible timetables were highlighted as examples of positive approaches to support Gypsy Traveller communities - it was highlighted that STEP is also developing a resource for schools which could be signposted from the guidance alongside TENET for bespoke advice
• it was suggested that more prominent reference to the guidance on education of children unable to attend due to ill health could be made as it is closely interlinked with Included, engaged and involved part 1
• when considering attendance thresholds, it was suggested that consideration should be given to disability and the Equality Act as well as risk and resilience factors such as safeguarding concerns or risk in the community
• pupils in school but not attending classes were discussed with a suggestion that pace and engagement with the curriculum could be considered as a factor leading to disengagement
• further differentiation should be made for pupils who may not attend classes due to additional support needs highlighting the importance of interventions and support
• it was suggested that links can be made with Education Scotland to share good practice examples on re-engaging children and young people in learning
• it was suggested that the guidance should strengthen reference to GIRFEC and the importance of a multi-agency approach to supporting attendance 
• it was noted that implementation of guidance requires resourcing, and a concern was noted that unless the guidance is underpinned by resources, then it will not be impactful

Action: SG to update final draft of guidance in response to feedback from members.

Action: Members to provide any further feedback via correspondence by 3 December.

AOB

No other business was raised.

Next Steps

The next meeting of the group is on 11 December during which a completed draft will be shared for approval by members. The guidance will then be presented to SAGRABIS in January. Members were content with this approach.