Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools minutes: November 2025

Attendees and apologies

Attendees

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills (Chair)

Education Scotland

Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists (RCSLT)

CELCIS

Connect

Children & Young People’s Centre for Justice (CYCJ)

Scottish Council of Deans of Education (SCDE)

National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers (NASUWT)

Scottish Secondary Teachers Association (SSTA)

General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS)

COSLA

Association of Directors in Education (ADES)

School Leaders Scotland (SLS)

Health and Wellbeing Unit, Scottish Government (Secretariat)

Apologies

COSLA Spokesperson on Children and Young People

respectme

Scottish Violence Reduction Unit

UNISON

Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP)

Items and actions

Welcome and Apologies

The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills (chair) welcomed attendees and noted apologies.

Minutes of Meeting on 11 September 2025

The Chair invited comments on the minutes from the previous meeting.  Members confirmed they were content for the minutes to be published on the Scottish Government website.

Action: SG to publish minutes from 11 September on SG website.

NASUWT noted that, during discussion on in-service provision, members raised the question of where Initial Teacher Education (ITE) sits within this work. Members agreed this was an important issue and suggested returning to it at a future meeting, with a possible invitation to the Council of Deans to provide input.

Update on action plan including update report

An update was provided on progress since the last meeting in September. Given the volume of material, members were invited to submit any questions by correspondence.

The Chair highlighted that the pre-election period will affect the timing of publications planned for Phase 2 of the Relationships and Behaviour in Schools Action Plan 2024-27. A number of publications would be brought to the January meeting for discussion and approval, enabling publication  before the end of March.

Actions:

• SAGRABIS members were invited to submit any questions they have on the action plan or update report via correspondence.
• SG to provide drafts and updates in December to enable consideration by SAGRABIS in advance of the January meeting.

Update on review of Included, Engaged and Involved Part 3 (restraint and seclusion guidance)

The Cabinet Secretary introduced this item, noting that the review is taking place alongside Daniel Johnson MSP’s Restraint and Seclusion in Schools Member’s Bill. It is anticipated that review findings will be available by March 2026.

Officials outlined next steps for the review, including:

• Engagement with former members of the Physical Intervention Working Group on draft review questions.
• Ongoing work by local authorities to update policies and gather supporting evidence.
• The importance of evidence on parental engagement, staff training and support.
• An intention to engage all 32 local authorities, with one return per authority.
• Engagement with HMIE and the Care Inspectorate, with further suggestions welcomed.

Members raised points including:

• Evidence of impact in early primary stages and during transition to secondary.
• Emerging evidence of reduced use of restraint following professional learning.
• Challenges around data quality, interpretation and unintended consequences.
• Questions about how statutory and non-statutory guidance aligns with wider child protection frameworks.
• GTCS highlighted recurring themes in relation to seclusion and fitness to teach.

Actions:

• SG to circulate draft review questions and invite feedback by Friday 21 November.
• ADES offered support with data collection and will follow up with SG.

Update on review of Included, Engaged and Involved Part 1 (national attendance guidance)

The Chair noted that a working group has been established to support the review.

SG provided an update, focusing on new draft sections, particularly those covering flexible arrangements andreduced learning hours. .

Members raised points including:

• The need for a stronger focus on meeting pupils’ needs as the primary driver for success.
• Examples of effective practice, including blended approaches such as work experience and volunteering, though there could be practical constraints around adaptive timetables.
• Concerns about persistent non-attendance.
• Complexity relating to ASN, parental expectations and local authority provision.

Actions:

• Members to provide feedback on the draft sections and suggestions for further engagement by 17 November.

WHO Violence Prevention Framework: a framework for Scottish schools (paper 6)

Education Scotland introduced a paper exploring how the WHO school-based violence prevention toolkit could provide a framework to support prevention and response at school level.

Members discussed the value of the framework as a way to bring coherence across existing guidance, support whole-school approaches and strengthen multi-agency working, while avoiding duplication. Points raised included the importance of language, the role of justice and policing partners, the school estate, and the need to highlight existing good practice.

Overall, members were broadly supportive of the toolkit as a high-level framework rather than a replacement for existing guidance.

Draft progress report 

The Chair noted SG’S commitment to annual reporting on delivery of the action plan. Members were content with the proposed structure and approach of the draft progress report.

Action: Scottish Government to proceed with the draft progress report.

AOB

The Chair highlighted respectme’s anti-bullying campaign running from 10–14 November and noted positive feedback from the film launch event.

The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 14 January 2026, 9:30–11:30. 

The Chair thanked members for their contributions and closed the meeting.