School attendance working group minutes: September 2025

Attendees and apologies

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

Apologies

• ADES
• Quarriers

Items and actions

Welcome and introductions 

The chair welcomed members and noted apologies.

Minutes and actions from previous meeting   

Members were content to approve minutes from the previous meeting.

Action: SG to publish minutes on the Scottish Government website.

Update on engagement with children and young people 

The chair updated members that this item would be postponed until the next meeting of the group due to the availability of the representative from Quarriers.

The chair drew attention to a recent policy briefing from Children in Scotland on additional support for learning and attendance which includes evidence on the use of part-time timetables.

Discussion on flexible provision, part-time timetables and flexi-schooling 

Draft guidance on part-time timetables, flexible provision and flexi-schooling and a paper with discussion questions were circulated to members in advance of the meeting for consideration. Some concern was raised about the time members had to consider these papers. 

The group discussed the papers. Some key points raised included:

Part-time timetables and flexible provision

• it was suggested that reference to a specific number of learning hours should be carefully considered as this can vary between local authorities
• it was noted that legislation states that the legal basis for reduced learning hours should be on the basis of wellbeing only and therefore the language of reduced learning hours may be helpful to link with legislation
• it was suggested that not all schools not use SEEMiS so this should be reflected in the guidance
• it was suggested that it would be helpful to link with the working group on recording and monitoring – however, it was also highlighted that the main focus of the work on recording and monitoring relates to relationships and behaviour
• it was suggested that the guidance should reflect that when used as short-term, tightly reviewed measure, part-time timetables can be part of a positive and supportive approach to help children build success in school. However, it was also noted that in some instances part-time timetables can exclude children and reduce their access to the curriculum. It was suggested that the guidance should highlight that a fuller review should be considered where children and young people have been on a part-time timetable for a prolonged period
• when considering a reduction in learning hours for care experienced children, it was suggested that consideration should be given to the role of the corporate parent and whether the head of service should be required to give approval 
• it was suggested that parents or carers can view part-time timetables negatively and guidance on next steps if parents or carers refuse the implementation of a part time timetable should be considered 
• review points following the implementation of reduced learning hours were discussed with a suggestion that early review points may be helpful and supportive – e.g. at the end of the first week
• it was suggested that over the longer term, schools and local authorities may build in other agencies and learning providers to a bespoke timetable and at this stage, reviews may be less frequent
• it was suggested that consideration should be given to whether a child is on the child protection register prior to any decision to reduce learning hours
• it was noted that a part-time timetable is a bespoke package which can be used in a variety of circumstances which must meet the needs of the child linked to staged intervention
• it was highlighted that in some circumstances, it may be that the reduction of learning hours may not be a last resort – e.g. bereavement or another traumatic event
• it was suggested that challenge or reflection questions regarding reductions in learning hours may be helpful to include in an appendix

Flexi schooling

• it was highlighted that some local authorities receive more requests for flexi-schooling than others and already have a policy for flexi-schooling requests. It was suggested that seeking input from these authorities may be helpful to inform the guidance
• some concern was raised that flexi-schooling raises challenges with attainment and achievement in the curriculum as some parents or carers may choose a weekly structure based on the curriculum offering on particular days
• it was highlighted that the use of flexi-schooling appears to be increasing and there may be variation between local authorities in how much home education is permitted across the week
• some concern was raised about implications for the child and the school in attainment and therefore roles, responsibilities and expectations for different aspects of education should be made very clear in the guidance, e.g. in a table
• it was highlighted that flexi-schooling has increased since the Covid-19 pandemic and may be more prevalent among children who may struggle in the school environment, for example with children with ASN
• it was highlighted that the original guidance on flexi-schooling was linked to pupils in the senior phase attending school to complete exams 
• it was suggested that links to the home education guidance should be made and that it may be helpful to have key aspects of home education and flexi-schooling side by side to highlight the differences

Next steps 

Action: Group members to give any additional feedback and comments via correspondence by 25 September. Where possible, group members were asked to share the draft guidance with stakeholders for their feedback. 

Action: SG to consider terminology of part-time timetables and reduced learning hours, how this section is structured and circulate updated draft guidance to members for comment and consideration prior to the next meeting of the group.

Any other business

No other business was raised.