Additional Support Needs (ASN) was firmly in the spotlight at a special parliamentary event at the Scottish Parliament on Tuesday, 10 December.

Organised by the EIS and co-hosted by MSPs Pam Duncan-Glancy (Scottish Labour) and Willie Rennie (Scottish Liberal Democrats), the event focused on the compelling need to fully implement the promise of inclusive education made to all children, young people and their families over twenty years ago – a promise which is now a fundamental right under the UNCRC.

The event brought together MSPs of all parties with teachers, school support staff and parent representatives, as well as with allied professionals and colleagues from sister trade unions, to raise awareness of their experiences in seeking to support pupils with additional support needs, against a backdrop of dwindling resources and rising levels and complexities of need.

Background

In June 2024, as part of the EIS Stand Up for Quality Education campaign, teacher, support staff and parent representatives released a joint statement, expressing their growing concern over the inadequacy of current ASN provision in Scotland’s schools. With around 4 in every 10 young people now having an identified additional support need, the funding and resourcing of ASN provision in schools is increasingly falling far short of what is required.

The joint statement calls on the Scottish Government and education authorities to ‘face up to the challenge and invest in Scottish Education to deliver the promises of inclusive practice made to young people and their families’. It calls on them ‘to put in place the requisite additional staffing and resources to fully implement the relevant legal duties and commitments in practice for all pupils with additional support needs, and in so doing, improve the quality of education provision and wellbeing for those children and young people, and improve the working conditions, health, safety and wellbeing of the teachers and support staff who work with them.’

Supporting Education to open opportunities for all…

As guests arrived, they were entertained by the piano skills of Luke Teasdale, an S5 pupil with a visual impairment. Luke delighted all in attendance with his playing and provided an excellent start to the evening.

Welcoming guests, Pam Duncan-Glancy said, “I’m proud to host this event because we have to do all we can to ensure education opens opportunity for all. And right now, in Scotland, it is failing too many. The Education Committee found that the situation for pupils with ASN is intolerable. This reflects the experience of my constituents and of parents and pupils across Scotland and I won’t tolerate that.

Scotland’s young people deserve a world-class education system that provides opportunity for all and gives every single child the best start in life. We need a genuine change in direction for our education system, and a real workforce plan to support staff to open opportunity for all.”

The Call to Action…

A panel discussion, chaired by EIS Education Convener Susan Quinn, provided the space for key education stakeholders to raise awareness of their experiences, providing compelling and moving evidence to urge those MSPs present to take action.

Far too many young people are not having their support needs met adequately

Andrene Bamford (EIS) and Alyson Forbes (AHDS) spoke eloquently of their experiences as teachers and of seeing colleagues struggling to meet the range and complexity of additional support needs, in the context of large class sizes and high levels of class contact time. They emphasised the importance of early intervention, particularly in the Early Years where so many of our learners have no meaningful access to a GTCS registered teacher.

Their contribution was mirrored with an impassioned plea for investment in education by Keir Greenaway (GMB), speaking on behalf of support staff and by Leanne McGuire of the Glasgow City Parents Group. They spoke of the impact which systemic underinvestment in education is having on the whole school community – pupils, parents, teachers and support staff but also the transformational impact made by committed and trained school staff when they have access to support and proper resources.

Glenn Carter, Head of the Royal Association of Speech and Language Therapists in Scotland, highlighted the importance of investment in allied professions too, speaking of the challenges and frustrations which Speech and Language Therapists across the country are facing every day. Where once they would have attended nurseries and schools to provide direct support to pupils and advice to teachers and families on implementation of key strategies, they now find themselves confined to remote consultancy services, with little to no direct contact with learners.

In concluding the panel session, Susan Quinn thanked the panellists and summarised the contributions, saying, “Far too many young people are not having their support needs met adequately, with serious implications for them as well as wider implications for the entire school community.

“Put simply, Scotland is currently letting down young people with additional support needs, despite the best efforts of teachers and support staff in our schools.” The plea – urgent additional investment for our most vulnerable learners, their families and the staff supporting them.

The panel session was followed by an inspiring presentation from Laurie Goldie of Who Cares? Scotland who gave all in attendance food for thought as she outlined a whole-school approach to supporting care experienced learners. She stressed the need to view Care Experience through an ASN lens and provided practical resources and suggestions to help schools create empathetic learning communities, where all children feel safe, respected and included.

A word from the Cabinet Secretary

Jenny Gilruth, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, opened her remarks by thanking the EIS for arranging the event and all the contributors for the open and informative discussion on ASN. She acknowledged the concerns that had been raised and the challenges outlined in many of the contributions, indicating that she understood the urgency for action. In responding, she referenced the announcement she had made in the Scottish Parliament that day, outlining the Scottish Government’s commitment to provide an additional £28 million to local authorities to develop the ASL workforce, with an extra £1 million for national initiatives to support the recruitment and training of additional ASL teachers.

Whilst this was welcome news to those in attendance, the EIS was clear that we now need to see this commitment implemented in practice. And there is only one question to the forefront of minds – will we finally see inclusive education move from ambition to impact? Only time will tell…

A parting thought…

But one thing is clear – as Pam Duncan Glancy reminded everyone in closing the event – “We can’t build quality education from an unequal starting point”.