An official report published today looks at how Scottish schools are using their allocations from the Pupil Equity Fund (PEF) - awarded on the basis of the number of pupils claiming free school meals - to improve the educational outcomes of children impacted by poverty.
From residential study weekends, Easter revision and Saturday classes to a school-university partnership that is allowing secondary students to complete a dissertation, the Scottish government officials and Education Scotland attainment advisors behind the report found that schools were introducing a wide range of interventions in a bid to drive up attainment.
However, the report - informed by visits to 129 schools in 32 local authorities - also says that challenges remain, including the ongoing impact from the Covid pandemic, council budget cuts, deepening poverty and the increasing number of children with additional needs.
Innovative use of the Pupil Equity Fund
The report also follows accusations that the government has watered down its ambitions in relation to closing the disadvantage-related attainment gap - and in the wake of first minister John Swinney being taken to task by the UK Statistics Authority for making big claims about progress based on limited evidence.
Nevertheless, the report flags up a wide-range of interventions across the 129 schools that were highlighted for ”using PEF innovatively and impactfully to improve the outcomes of children and young people impacted by poverty”.
Here are the eight areas they have focused their efforts on:
1. Attendance, behaviour and curriculum
The schools, the report says, were using the PEF to improve attendance through employing additional staff with a family engagement focus, through nurture spaces to improve engagement and relationships, and through personalised curriculum pathways to increase engagement.
St Machar Academy in Aberdeen works with Aberdeen Football Club on the “alternative academy project”, providing pupils with an alternative curriculum offer focusing on health, wellbeing, communication and confidence-building
Woodmill High in Dunfermline, Fife, meanwhile, is one of a number of schools using family-link workers and mentors to drive up attendance.
2. Leadership
Additional promoted posts, with a specific focus on delivering equity and closing poverty-related gaps, have been funded through the PEF. The report estimates that up to 3,000 additional teaching and support staff have been employed via the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC), including the equivalent of approximately 700 full-time teachers.
The Nicolson Institute in the Western Isles has used its funding to recruit additional staff and form “a PEF team” - as Matt Francombe, depute headteacher, puts it - including a principal teacher of raising attainment specialising in data analysis; a teacher of literacy and numeracy delivering targeted support; and pupil mentors.
3. Learning and teaching
Staff in the targeted schools, the report finds, are being upskilled in approaches that ensure all pupils experienced high-quality learning - with pupils also being offered opportunities for extra tuition and support.
Strathmore Primary in Forfar, Angus, partners with a family-run, outdoor education business to inspire learners not thriving in class.
Meanwhile, Castlemilk High in Glasgow provides a wide range of studying opportunities, including residential study weekends, Saturday classes, Easter holiday revision sessions and tuition.
4. Robust use of evidence and data
Several schools are flagged in the report for using evidence to tailor interventions based on children’s needs.
The report says “precision teaching” in literacy and numeracy at Letham Primary in Perth, targeted at pupils who were behind, has led to a 33 per cent improvement in literacy and a 53 per cent improvement in numeracy for the pupils from the most deprived areas between 2017 and 2023.
5. Health and wellbeing and additional support needs
The PEF helps in providing professional training for staff, as well as in recruiting counsellors and health and wellbeing officers, says the report.
At St Catherine’s Primary in Paisley, Renfrewshire, children’s mental health charity Place2Be provides a counselling service in the school. Every child also participates in an extracurricular activity.
6. Child poverty
Education secretary Jenny Gilruth recently said that Scottish Attainment Challenge funding was being used to plug gaps in the welfare state, and the report seems to support this. For example, it finds PEF money being used to provide income support services and food larders.
At Easter Carmuirs Primary in Falkirk, staff start the day by eating a family-style breakfast with pupils after a survey found that 78 per cent of children were not having a healthy breakfast. The school has seen an increase in attendance and a significant reduction in late coming since free breakfasts were introduced - as well as improved relationships between pupils and staff.
7. Rural and island schools
Cumbrae Primary is an island school in North Ayrshire. It uses its PEF money to provide opportunities for pupils to go to the mainland for trips, and the P7s go to a cluster residential trip to allow pupils to meet those who they will attend high school with and to attend transition events.
8. Positive destinations
Schools are using their PEF funding to develop young people’s skills and readiness for work or further study through the development of personalised curriculum offers supported by partnerships with colleges, universities and businesses.
Ross High in Tranent, East Lothian, uses its PEF allocation to support the “Brilliant Club”, in partnership with Queen Margaret University. It provides 12 pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, or whose families didn’t attend university, with an opportunity to work towards completing a dissertation. The programme includes a graduation ceremony, with the goal of raising expectations for students and their families.
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