Empowering Schools: A Consultation on the Provision of Education (Scotland) Bill

November 9, 2017 · by · in ,

Please see the message below from John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Education & Skills

 

Today I have launched a consultation on the content of a new Education Bill which will empower schools and strengthen the role of parents. The reforms which the Bill will bring about will enable decisions about the education of those children to be taken by the people who know that child best – their parents, their teachers, their school and their community.

The Bill will give teachers and headteachers more power over decisions about learning and teaching, freeing them to make a real difference to the lives of children and young people. The Bill’s key aims are to:

 Establish a Headteachers’ Charter to define their responsibilities as leaders of learning in schools and set out the support they can expect.

 Provide the legislative underpinning for the establishment of Regional Improvement Collaboratives.

 Improve parental and community engagement in school life and learning.

 Strengthen the voice of children and young people, promoting and supporting pupil participation.

Establish an Education Workforce Council to take on the responsibilities of the General Teaching Council for Scotland and the Community Learning and Development Standards Council and to register other education professionals.

The consultation will run from 7th November 2017 to 30th January 2018 and a full version of the paper can be found here:

https://consult.gov.scot/learning-directorate/education-scotland-bill/

I would encourage you to draw this consultation to the attention of all parents of children at the school and I look forward to hearing their views on these proposals.

JOHN SWINNEY