I was clear in my statement to Parliament on 29 November that I encourage, in the strongest possible terms, more accurate recording of all incidents of inappropriate, abusive or violent behaviour in our schools. Recording and monitoring plays an essential role in helping schools identify recurring patterns of behaviour and ensuring early intervention and appropriate support.

Our national guidance on monitoring and recording incidents of bullying in schools makes clear that all schools and local authorities are expected to record all incidents of abusive or violent behaviour. The Scottish Government is currently considering this guidance as part of the review into the national anti-bullying guidance, ‘Respect for All’. In particular, updates to this guidance will be informed by the forthcoming second phase of Education Scotland’s thematic inspection looking at good practice in responding to bullying. Updated Respect for All Guidance will be published in 2024.

The Scottish Government is currently considering the findings of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research and outputs from the relationships and behaviour summits which, will inform the actions that are included in the national action plan. This will include consideration of what further support local authorities may require. The national action plan will be developed in collaboration with the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools and we expect it to be published early in the new year.

I set out in my statement my expectations for how this funding should be used, which reflected key themes from the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research. We are currently in discussions with COSLA regarding the distribution of this funding and we will write out to local authorities in due course.

In my statement to Parliament on 29 November, I confirmed that we will develop a multi-year plan to tackle instances of challenging behaviour, working with local authorities, trade unions and others.

We are committed to working with trade union partners on developing this national action plan. I hosted a productive roundtable meeting with trade unions on 6 December 2023, with a focus on behaviour. The national action plan will be developed in collaboration with the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools (SAGRABIS), which includes representatives from all the main teaching unions. My aim is to publish the plan as soon as possible in the new year.

Education Scotland engaged with a wide variety of stakeholders including teachers to develop the practical materials which form part of the behaviours and relationships theme of its professional learning framework. Engagement and evaluation with our teacher networks and partners as well as previous participants in Education Scotland’s professional learning programmes have shaped the current offer over a two to three year period. The resources will undergo further evaluation from now until March 2024.

Education Scotland will continue to develop practical materials to support teachers’ professional learning needs and practice, including those which form part of the behaviours and relationships theme of its professional learning framework. These resources have been developed using the core funding received from the Scottish Government for the functions of Education Scotland.

We are currently working with the Scottish Advisory Group for Relationships and Behaviour in Schools to develop a national action plan which we expect to be published early in the new year.

We will update parliament on the action plan in due course.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-23491 on 19 December 2023. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government is currently considering the findings of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research and outputs from the relationships and behaviour summits, which will inform the actions that are included in the national action plan. This will include consideration of what further support local authorities may require. The national action plan will be developed in collaboration with the Scottish Advisory Group on Relationships and Behaviour in Schools and we expect it to be published early in the new year.

Education Scotland have already published a suite of practical materials to support schools and authorities, developed with teachers, on areas such as expectations and consequences, available at: Promoting positive relationships and behaviour in educational settings | Resources | Education Scotland

We published guidance in 2017, ‘ Developing a positive whole school ethos and culture: relationships, learning and behaviour’ to support local authorities, education settings, practitioners and partners to further improve the ethos and culture, and relationships and behaviour, in Scottish schools. This is in addition to national guidance on the prevention and management of exclusion from school that was published in 2017, ‘ Included, Engaged and Involved – Part 2 – preventing and managing school exclusions’.

Education Scotland also provide guidance on developing a local relationship and behaviour policies https://education.gov.scot/media/ycofs2fq/national-relationships-policy-guidance-for-schools.pdf

Following the publication of the Behaviour in Scottish Schools Research 2023, we are currently working with the Scottish Advisory Group for Relationships and Behaviour in Schools to develop a national action plan and as part of this development we will consider whether any additional guidance is required.