Inquiry looks at attainment for children with a sensory impairment

How attainment levels for school pupils with a sensory impairment can be improved is to be the focus of a short inquiry announced today by the Scottish Parliament’s Education and Culture Committee.

As part of its year-long work on attainment, the Committee is asking parents, teachers, interested organisations and children themselves about what needs to change to ensure that children with a sensory impairment can achieve as much as their peers.

Committee Convener, Stewart Maxwell MSP said: “Improving educational attainment has rightly been made a priority by the Scottish Government. Our inquiry will look at a specific group of children, those with visual and hearing impairments, who, with the right support, should be achieving the same as their peers.

“We are looking for suggestions about what needs to change and what more needs to be done to improve the attainment levels of these children.

“This is part of our wider examination of the educational attainment gap which will also involve the Committee considering the roles of the third and private sectors, and parents in improving attainment.”

Background

In January 2015, the Education and Culture Committee began a year-long piece of work looking at the progress being made by the Scottish Government in reducing the educational attainment gap.

This short inquiry will be fed into that work. The Committee will also explore the role of the third sector and the private sector in improving the attainment and achievement of all school pupils, particularly those whose attainment is lowest. It will then consider how parents and guardians can work with schools to raise pupils’ attainment. The Committee has already considered the implications for schools, teachers and pupils of the Commission for Developing Scotland’s Young Workforce (known as the Wood Commission).

For more

More information on the Committee’s attainment work can be found on its webpages: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/85486.aspx

Responses should be sent to:

Clerk to the Education and Culture Committee
Room T3.40
The Scottish Parliament 
Edinburgh 
EH99 1SP  

Or via email on: [email protected]

Responses are welcome in other formats including audio, braille or British Sign Language (BSL) video.

The closing date for responses is Wednesday 29 April 2015.