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Hansard

Every contribution to the Official Report — chamber and committee — searchable in one place. Pulled from data.parliament.scot, indexed for full-text search, linked through to every MSP.

129
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2,354,908
Hansard contributions
1999–2026
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Showing 60 of 2,354,908 contributions. Latest 30 days: 0. Coverage: 12 May 1999 — 25 Mar 2026.
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Chamber
25 Jun 2019
Education Reforms
Is not the reality for parents and teachers unspent pupil equity fund money, unfilled headteacher vacancies and more bureaucracy in classrooms through yet more guidance? If the education secretary wants to work with teachers, as he has said to Parliament today, why does he not...
Tavish Scott LD Chamber
13 Jun 2019
General Question Time · Jarlshof (Coach Parking)
Sumburgh hotel, local bus businesses and the cruise line industry have been told for three years that Historic Environment Scotland, the agencies and the Government would sort out those coach park facilities, but all that we have had has been endless buck passing. Why?
8. Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Chamber
13 Jun 2019
General Question Time · Jarlshof (Coach Parking)
To ask the Scottish Government what progress is being made in developing coach park facilities for the Jarlshof site in Shetland. (S5O-03389)
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Chamber
12 Jun 2019
Census (Amendment) (Scotland) Bill: Stage 3
As others have observantly noted, the bill is somewhat short, with only three sections, so I am more confident than usual that everyone in the debate will genuinely have read the whole thing, which is possibly not something that we will be able to say about the Planning (Scotl...
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Chamber
11 Jun 2019
Primary 1 Standardised Assessments
I thank the cabinet secretary for his statement. Will he explain to Parliament why he hired an academic from the English educational regime that nationalists condemn, and from a country where high-stakes testing is the norm, to produce the arguments that he wanted? How many mo...
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
But that does not involve giving Susan Boyd the support that she needs, which involves extra assistance in her class to get those kids out of school.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
So, you have given teachers guidance.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
What is Education Scotland doing to break down the barriers that exist in terms of risk?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
Are there some practical things that you would like to be done that would help that to happen? You mentioned the Care Inspectorate. Does it have to do a bit more in that regard? Could other agencies do something?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
In your submission, you made a good point about taking children outside the school and into the wider world. I come from a farming background, and when I was farming—long before I was in politics—we used to get primary classes coming to the farm around lambing time. The childr...
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
Thank you. That is very fair.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
I want to go back to the point that Susan Boyd made about her union’s submission on initiatives. It helpfully sets out five initiatives—I can think of six, if we include languages in schools—that primary school teachers are being asked to implement, if that is the right expres...
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
That is not the point that Susan Boyd was making. She was talking about support for teachers in primary classes.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
That is welcome.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
That is not what asked. I wonder whether Andrew Bruce can give us some context to this issue.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
But you are not aware of it.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
But you have just explained to Jenny Gilruth that you are in charge of STEM for Education Scotland. Are you telling us that you are not aware of this issue being flagged up?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
That is not what I asked. Can you answer the question?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
As far as you are aware, the teaching of STEM has never been flagged up in an inspection report as being affected by the pressure that Susan Boyd and thousands of teachers across Scotland have been reporting.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
Ian Menzies, is there one school inspection report that demonstrates that this is an issue in Scottish education?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
According the Government’s own figures, class sizes in primary schools are rising significantly in most parts of Scotland, so the general pressures are clear and, I assume, affect all aspects of teaching.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
Indeed.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
I wonder whether our teachers can tell us whether the rising class sizes in primary schools are helping or hindering the teaching of STEM subjects.
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Committee
05 Jun 2019
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
I have some supplementary questions to ask in this area.
Tavish Scott LD Chamber
05 Jun 2019
Portfolio Question Time · Teachers Pay Agreement (Implications for Public Sector Pay Policy)
As the minister will be aware, exactly the same circumstances apply to Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd with regard to the pending air traffic controllers strike, which has been suspended for next Wednesday but is still threatened for the future. Will she bring the same flex...
5. Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Chamber
05 Jun 2019
Portfolio Question Time · Teachers Pay Agreement (Implications for Public Sector Pay Policy)
To ask the Scottish Government what the implications are for its public sector pay policy of the agreement reached with the teaching profession. (S5O-03328)
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Chamber
05 Jun 2019
Sustainable Aquaculture
The cabinet secretary will be aware that the Norwegian industry is trialling a mechanism to filter fish medicines out of the water that is used to treat fish. Will he immediately ensure that those trials are replicated in Scotland, to the benefit of the marine environment and ...
Tavish Scott LD Committee
30 May 2019
Arts Funding
Will Richard Demarco give us a perspective on assessment of artistic quality? Is there a role for that in funding of arts?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
30 May 2019
Arts Funding
There is a lesson there.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
30 May 2019
Arts Funding
Ken Mathieson’s point was that assessors would, in his case, have been people who knew about jazz.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
30 May 2019
Arts Funding
So, you think that the previous system had considerable advantages.
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Committee
30 May 2019
Arts Funding
I am very tempted to get into that philosophical discussion, but perhaps I had better not. David Leddy has already touched on this issue. The really interesting bit in your submission, in the context of peer review, is your observation that “Organisations should not receive ...
Tavish Scott LD Committee
16 May 2019
Local Commercial Radio
Thank you.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
16 May 2019
Local Commercial Radio
So you do not think that, five years hence, the consumer will have made much of a switch to other platforms—apart, of course, from Spotify and the other radio services that we have mentioned. Broadly speaking, we will still be listening to FM radio.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
16 May 2019
Local Commercial Radio
I do not want to steal George Adam’s thunder, but I just want to understand this point. Is the view that you have just expressed that of commercial radio not just in Scotland but across the whole of the UK?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
16 May 2019
Local Commercial Radio
When you say short to mid-term, what do you mean? Is it 10 years?
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Committee
16 May 2019
Local Commercial Radio
First, I thank Mr Findlay for mentioning Ian Anderson and the SIBC. Forgive me for the daft-laddie question, but why do you want to expand on FM?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
15 May 2019
Subject Choices Inquiry
Would it be fair to say that that has taken place at local authority level?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
15 May 2019
Subject Choices Inquiry
As a committee, we found that to be one of the most difficult exercises. I do not know whether any of you sat on the implementing the curriculum group, but when we looked at it we found that it was not covered in success. There were nine years of it going around in circles.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
15 May 2019
Subject Choices Inquiry
No kidding. What Larry Flanagan said relates to Alasdair Allan’s question about the agencies. The clarity that we would all expect from the system is not there from Education Scotland, the senior advisor to the Government. That is the part that I am interested in. You have al...
Tavish Scott LD Committee
15 May 2019
Subject Choices Inquiry
I will try asking the questions. I am the teacher here, so hold on a minute.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
15 May 2019
Subject Choices Inquiry
Thank you for that, but you have kind of made my point: you all gave a range of different answers. You are all raising your hands now, but you have just given your answers.
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Committee
15 May 2019
Subject Choices Inquiry
I apologise for my lateness. It is not every day that a primary school from Shetland comes down to the Parliament, so I was showing the children around. They had a lot of questions that they would ask you guys, but I will resist saying what they were, because Alasdair Allan mi...
Tavish Scott LD Chamber
15 May 2019
Education
I entirely take the point that the cabinet secretary has just made about the three-year senior phase, but is not that one of the aspects that could be carefully considered in the OECD review? Parliament considered that last week. In fairness, I point out that the Government ac...
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Chamber
15 May 2019
Education
We are debating education on the 20th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament, after 12 years of Scottish National Party Government and four years on from the First Minister’s speech saying that education policy is number 1. Why do teachers, parents and young people see little ...
Tavish Scott LD Committee
09 May 2019
Article 50 (International Trade)
Is that fundamentally whisky and salmon farming?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
09 May 2019
Article 50 (International Trade)
It is outwith the UK.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
09 May 2019
Article 50 (International Trade)
With whom is the surplus?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
09 May 2019
Article 50 (International Trade)
My last question is related to Tony Mackay’s briefing paper, which was sent to your office. I thought that giving you a fair chance to look at it was a courteous thing to do. He made an interesting point about import substitution, which I had not thought about, and the context...
Tavish Scott LD Committee
09 May 2019
Article 50 (International Trade)
In relation to your point about your agencies, do I gather from your published documents that you are thinking of making plans for Scottish Development International in the context of what you have discussed this morning? Could you lay those plans out for the committee?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
09 May 2019
Article 50 (International Trade)
I agree. Related to that, is it important whether businesses that operate out of Scotland are foreign owned or domestically owned? The two obvious examples in food and drink are the whisky industry and the salmon farming industry, which are predominantly foreign owned but are ...
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Committee
09 May 2019
Article 50 (International Trade)
Minister, are you prepared to concede that although we talk up trade deals, they have their limitations? Bombardier has just announced the closure of its operation in Northern Ireland regardless of the Canada-EU trade deal. Do you accept that although they are important for bu...
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Chamber
09 May 2019
First Minister’s Question Time · Private Nurseries
The Central private nursery in Shetland will close in a month’s time. The nursery failed to recruit staff because public sector nurseries are paying more and recruiting to fulfil the expansion of childcare. Twenty families will be directly affected by the loss of the nursery, ...
Tavish Scott LD Committee
08 May 2019
Subject Choices Inquiry
Thank you. I am trying not to put words in your mouth, but I think that the panel has argued in favour of moving forward, not going back. I get that. There must be two or three aspects to that argument that we should see as a committee. What are the two or three aspects—maybe...
Tavish Scott LD Committee
08 May 2019
Subject Choices Inquiry
I am very interested in the take that it is about two, two, two versus what we now have. That is not necessarily the issue. You think that there are other pressures that are causing teacher shortages in your disciplines.
Tavish Scott LD Committee
08 May 2019
Subject Choices Inquiry
Is that the most significant issue?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
08 May 2019
Subject Choices Inquiry
Why are we failing in spite of the very sensible collegiate cross-party support for STEM subjects and getting more women into science and so on? Do we not have enough teachers? What is your diagnosis of what is the main problem?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
08 May 2019
Subject Choices Inquiry
Do you think that fewer girls and boys who want to take a science discipline are able to go into the senior phase now than was the case some years back? Has that narrowing of choice made it more difficult to pursue a science career?
Tavish Scott LD Committee
08 May 2019
Subject Choices Inquiry
If it is any consolation, Francisco, my son’s nine year-old class can all pronounce the Christian names and surnames of the Barcelona first team immaculately, as they were doing last night—they can also sing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, but not in Spanish. I want to ask Tess W...
Tavish Scott (Shetland Islands) (LD) LD Committee
08 May 2019
Subject Choices Inquiry
I was not persuaded.
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Committee

Education and Skills Committee 05 June 2019

05 Jun 2019 · S5 · Education and Skills Committee
Item of business
Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Inquiry
Scott, Tavish LD Shetland Islands Watch on SPTV
I want to go back to the point that Susan Boyd made about her union’s submission on initiatives. It helpfully sets out five initiatives—I can think of six, if we include languages in schools—that primary school teachers are being asked to implement, if that is the right expression. Do you have a sense of what is the most important initiative? I do not envy you at all. It looks impossible to me. All the initiatives are valuable—I get that—but I wonder how you know which is the most important. Are you given guidance on that?

In the same item of business

The Convener SNP
Agenda item 2 is the committee’s inquiry into STEM in early years. I welcome to the committee Susan Boyd, a primary school teacher; Elisabeth Kelly, a princi...
Elisabeth Kelly
My name is Elisabeth Kelly. I am a principal teacher for early years in Midlothian Council, and my role is primarily to support, challenge and help to improv...
Susan Boyd
I am currently a primary teacher at Breadalbane academy, in Aberfeldy, but I have over 40 years of experience of working with children and was formerly a pri...
Dr Emma Woodham (Glasgow Science Centre)
I am the STEM learning manager at Glasgow Science Centre, and my role involves managing our multifaceted learning team. At Glasgow Science Centre, we are pas...
Ian Menzies (Education Scotland)
Good morning. I am a senior education officer at Education Scotland. I lead on the sciences curriculum and on learning for sustainability, and I am responsib...
Andrew Bruce (Scottish Government)
Good morning. I am a civil servant in the learning directorate at the Scottish Government. The division that I lead was responsible for developing the origin...
The Convener SNP
Thank you. We have quite a big panel this morning. When you want to respond to a question from the committee, please indicate that to me or the clerks and we...
Liz Smith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con) Con
Mr Menzies, I wonder if I could ask you about Education Scotland’s overall strategy on the STEM subjects. You have pinpointed some examples of what you consi...
Ian Menzies
Sure. One of the big features in the STEM strategy is teacher confidence. We have heard that from some of the other panellists already. Education Scotland is...
Liz Smith Con
I am sure that all of that work is immensely encouraging. I want to draw your attention to some of the comments that have been made to us by STEM profession...
Ian Menzies
Obviously, there is an opportunity to promote that competence within teacher training. For us, it is about the whole journey of a professional from the momen...
Liz Smith Con
On that theme, are specific issues being raised by teacher training colleges and the GTCS? Is there a problem with the knowledge that is being taught on STEM...
Ian Menzies
The issue is really just people going into teacher training without a background in, or experience of, science. There is a big job to be done. There is an op...
Liz Smith Con
I have one final question—
The Convener SNP
I think that Ms Kelly wants to come in on that point, before we move on.
Liz Smith Con
Apologies.
Elisabeth Kelly
Most of the practitioners that we work with in early learning and childcare do not go through the initial teacher education programme; they come from many ot...
Liz Smith Con
Thank you. My last question is for Susan Boyd. A couple of years ago—and more recently—the Royal Society of Chemistry commented that it would like to see a d...
Susan Boyd
That would be lovely, and I would totally welcome it. I will deviate slightly from the question that you asked, but I hope that this relates to it. I am hap...
Liz Smith Con
Thank you.
Ross Greer (West Scotland) (Green) Green
Ian Menzies mentioned some of the survey results on the confidence of practitioners. Roughly 43 per cent of early years practitioners and 63 per cent of prim...
Ian Menzies
We do. That is one of the reasons why we took forward the work on the annual STEM practitioner survey and the provider survey. We published those results las...
Ross Greer Green
I am interested in the balance between initial teacher education and continuous development. I accept that we have just been talking about early years practi...
Ian Menzies
The value of the data that is coming from the STEM surveys is really important. Teachers have told us that their top priority across all sectors by a long sh...
Ross Greer Green
I would be interested in Susan Boyd’s perspective on the balance. Have you seen any change over the past few decades in the balance between what is covered i...
Susan Boyd
My experience is that a lot of IT work is going on in the early years centres. In our survey in the school that I am currently in, we identified things that ...
Ross Greer Green
I have a final question on early years practitioners for Elisabeth Kelly. I am thinking about balance again. How much emphasis should we put on equipping ear...
Elisabeth Kelly
It is probably a matter of a mixture of both, but the early years practitioners are the people on the ground every day with the children, and they are the on...
Ross Greer Green
Yes—absolutely. Thank you.
Johann Lamont (Glasgow) (Lab) Lab
My question, which is probably mainly for Education Scotland and the Scottish Government, is specifically about how realistically we can deliver the theoreti...