The Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) national event took place in Glasgow on Monday and focused on the progress of the SAC programme.

The conference, titled ‘Scottish Attainment Challenge: Celebrating successes and tackling future challenges’, was attended by a large audience of senior and strategic leaders from schools and education services, third sector and local authority partners and delegates from the Welsh Government and Department of Education in Northern Ireland.

As well as celebrating progress in the vital work of the Scottish Attainment Challenge, the conference was an opportunity for delegates to consider the impact of barriers and challenges such as the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis on children, young people and their families.

Throughout the day, delegates discussed how they could work collaboratively across schools, services and communities to contribute to the mission of the SAC and help improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty.

Patricia Watson, Strategic Director of Regional at Education Scotland, said: "The event is a great opportunity for education practitioners, attainment advisors and local authority colleagues to come together to analyse the progress of the Scottish Attainment Challenge.

“In February, Education Scotland published its first National Summary Report, which monitored and evaluated the impact of the ongoing Scottish Attainment Challenge for the period of September to November 2022.

“Strong evidence showed the majority of local authorities have made progress towards their next steps, with significant improvements in tracking and monitoring processes, using data for best practice, and increasing professional learning resources and opportunities.

“There is still much to achieve when it comes to closing the poverty-related attainment gap in schools across Scotland, and gatherings like this allow for great discussion in ways to improve educational outcomes.

“With the impact of COVID-19 and the ongoing cost of living crisis, there’s been an increase in poverty which needs addressing, so the strategic involvement of all local authority areas in the Scottish Attainment Challenge is more timely than ever.”

Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills Jenny Gilruth said: “Our schools are continuing to respond to the cost of living crisis and to a post-pandemic landscape which has impacted on our children and young people.

“The Scottish Government has committed £1 billion to supporting the Scottish Attainment Challenge, an increase from the £750 million invested over the last parliamentary term.

"It is helping deliver real progress in education recovery – especially in primary schools, with a record improvement over one year for pupils achieving the expected levels in numeracy and literacy in 2021/22.

"There is of course much more to do to support our children and young people from the poorest households in Scotland. This week’s child poverty statistics should give us all pause for reflection.

“Fundamentally as we navigate the challenges ahead we know the impact of excellent learning and teaching will be as crucial as ever to delivering equitable opportunities for all.”

Scottish Government recently published the updated the Scottish Attainment Challenge: framework for recovery and accelerating progress report, which aims to support schools, local authorities and others across the education system to support educational recovery and increase progress in closing the attainment gap.

Education Scotland also recently updated Scotland’s Equity Toolkit. Practitioners can use the resource to improve leadership, learning and teaching targeted to support young people, families and communities impacted by poverty.

The second National Summary Report for the period of December 2022 to March 2023 is due to be released later this month.