Meeting of the Parliament 03 September 2024
I am glad that the member welcomes the publication of the plan. She is correct in saying that the devil will be in the detail.
In developing the guidance, I was very mindful of the fact that it is not for the Government to instruct schools in how to implement behaviour plans. We need to trust Scotland’s teaching profession. I see the member nodding in agreement. When I visited Stonelaw high school two weeks ago to launch the guidance, I spoke to the headteacher in that school about how she was implementing a mobile phone ban. She has taken a much more nuanced approach than the school that I previously taught at in Edinburgh, where the approach is, I understand, more of a whole-school ban. She has taken that approach by getting buy-in from her staff and pupils. I was really struck by the way in which she has allowed that devil in the detail, I suppose, to come to fruition in her school community. However, she has also used, I think, some of the founding principles that the national action plan sets out.
One of the points that headteachers raised with me at the behaviour summits was about the need for Government at the national level to set out a clear expectation on the issue, and that is what I have been keen to do throughout the process.
The member asked a question about the RICs and the centre for teaching excellence. It is important that we do not pit funding to support the profession against funding that is needed to respond to changes in behaviour. I make the point to her that I do not want to take funding away from supporting the teaching profession. Excellent learning and teaching are really important, but I want additionality—