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The recently re-established Headteacher Recruitment and Retention Working Group works jointly with education stakeholders to develop, agree and take forward actions to help improve the recruitment and retention of headteachers in Scotland. The group has been meeting on a quarterly basis since January 2022 with the last meeting taking place on 7 September 2022.

Since the answers to S6W-10436 and S6W-10437 on‎ 21 September 2022 were published, a small number of local authorities informed us that their elected members would not be able to meet to ratify their draft short-term let policies until after 1 October 2022. In these cases local authorities have ensured their websites have supported prospective applicants by having information about their licensing scheme including the draft policy, draft application forms, and an email address to submit enquiries to.

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

I refer the member to answer to question S6W-08832 on 7 June 2022. 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

We continue to work with local authorities on plans to ensure every school-aged child has access to a device and connectivity by the end of this parliamentary term in 2026.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11301 on‎ 21 October 2022. 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
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Scottish Enterprise (SE) and Scottish Development International (SDI) are continuing to work closely in partnership with Scottish Power, owners of the former Longannet Power Station in Fife, as they formalise their strategy for future use of the site. SE and SDI will continue to introduce enquiries to the company where they fit with the site’s attributes and potential for development.

At present, free school lunches are available during school term-time for all 281,856 children in primaries 1 to 5 and special schools, as well as eligible pupils from primary 6 to secondary 6. We are working with our partners in local government to plan for the expansion of free school meal provision to primaries 6 and 7, and this work is being supported by £30 million of capital funding in this financial year to support expansion of catering and dining facilities to prepare for the anticipated increase in uptake.

I recognise the current cost of living crisis is having an adverse impact on many household budgets, therefore we will be offering further support to low income families through an increase in the Scottish Child Payment to £25 per eligible child, per week starting from 14 November. On this date, the Scottish Child Payment will be extended to include families with older children aged 6 to 15. This support is not available anywhere else within the United Kingdom and I would urge all eligible families to apply for it in the coming weeks in order to start receiving it.

The Scottish Government is committed to making universal free school lunches available for all primary school children during the course of this parliamentary term. In addition, we are committed to a pilot of free school meals in secondary schools to support our consideration of further expansion.

I refer the member to the answer to question S6W-11288 on‎ 19 October 2022. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility of which can be found at Written questions and answers | Scottish Parliament Website

The effect of the provisions in The Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 (Licensing of Short-term Lets) Order 2022 are that new hosts cannot operate without a licence after 1 October 2022. The effect of this is that it placed a statutory duty on local authorities to have licence schemes opened in their areas by 1 October.

As set out in my letter to local authorities, dated 21 September, I explained that while there are no penalties under legislation for local authorities that failed to meet this deadline, there is of course a risk that local authorities could be challenged by new hosts, or anybody acting on their behalf, if they are unable to submit an application for a licence due to their local authority’s scheme not being open.

The grant to the Scottish Maritime Cluster Limited was made in line with set objectives none of which have any impact on (a) piers and (b) harbours on the Clyde and Hebrides ferry services contract.

Education Scotland recognises the effects of the pandemic on learning and those who work in education. This is why Education Scotland continues to undertake a wide range of programmes to provide additional support for learners and educators alongside all the other work being done by Education Scotland.

HM Inspectors of Education resumed the routine programme of early learning and childcare settings and school inspections in August 2022. The programme had been paused since March 2020 due to the pandemic. HM Inspectors of Education have provided advice to schools and settings outlining how they will reflect the COVID-19 context during inspections.

Education Scotland’s regional improvement teams worked with Regional Improvement Collaboratives (RICs) and local authorities to provide bespoke support throughout the pandemic and continue to do so. An example of this is the ongoing work of Attainment Advisors to support effective use of Pupil Equity Funding and a range of professional learning activities to support schools to close the poverty related attainment gap. It may be helpful to be aware of two recently published resources which add value to schools and local authority work in relation to equity and excellence: Scotland's Equity Toolkit: supporting recovery and accelerating progress (education.gov.scot) and Pupil Equity Funding: Looking inwards, outwards, forwards (education.gov.scot) .

A programme on Self-evaluation for Continuous Improvement which focuses on effective self-evaluation, a closer look at HGIOS?4 (How Good is Our School?, version 4) quality indicators, use of data for improvement, evaluative writing skills and supporting improvement conversations has been delivered to approximately 700 colleagues from the eight local authorities within the West Region between October 2021 and June 2022. Plans are in place to roll this out across other regional areas during 2022-23.

Since the launch in March 2022 Education Scotland staff have been implementing the refreshed Scottish Attainment Challenge: Framework for Recovery and Accelerating Progress. Officials have worked collaboratively with local authorities to support development of local Stretch Aims, including work with schools to ensure a shared understanding of this new approach. In line with the new Framework, Education Scotland has introduced a model of universal, targeted and intensive support. Through this new approach local authorities and schools can access additional bespoke support aimed at accelerating progress with key improvement priorities.

Officials from Education Scotland have worked across local authority areas to support curriculum development during the recovery phase so that schools can meet the needs of all learners. This has included work with Headteachers on Interdisciplinary Learning, reflecting on how children and young people learned through the pandemic, and sharing the child-centred and developmentally appropriate curriculum design approach set out in Realising the Ambition: Being Me .

The National eLearning Offer (NeLO), which was developed to support remote learning while school buildings were closed, continues to support those who may be learning remotely for any reason and offers educators with resources for use in classroom settings as well. Nearly 2,000 learners have been enrolled for Study Support sessions alone this term. NeLO offers thousands of live, interactive and recorded resources for educators and learners at all levels.

Furthermore, Education Scotland continues to provide mental health and wellbeing support for the education workforce (including schools, Community Learning and Development, and early learning and childcare settings). This support includes coaching, supervision spaces and support specifically for post-probationary teachers in the early stages of their career. This package of support has been welcomed by teachers and practitioners (92% of respondents to the Workforce Support post programme evaluation rated the quality of Workforce Support received in 21-22 as ‘good’ or ‘very good’).