The programme is designed to be used by local authority leads and senior or middle leaders to facilitate professional learning across their whole authority, cluster, school or setting. Two facilitators are recommended to lead the programme, and should have experience of facilitating effective professional learning. They might be equity leads in their establishment, cluster or local authority.

The professional learning is aimed at educators in any setting, who are working with children, young people and/or families and communities. This includes those in schools, ELC and CLD settings. There are no pre-requisite qualifications, specific skills or levels of experience required to take part in this programme.

This professional learning includes action planning to mitigate the effects of poverty and supports both facilitators and participants to know and measure the impact their practice is having. Ultimately, the overall aim is to plan for equity, and to improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty. An equitable approach to learning and teaching has been proven to benefit all learners.

The benefits will be measurable or quantifiable improvements in wellbeing, engagement, attendance, achievement and/or attainment in children and young people known to be experiencing poverty.

The aims are for facilitators and participants to:

• know and understand the theory, data and evidence base around poverty both locally and across Scotland 

• know and understand the impact of poverty on learning, achievement and attainment both locally and nationally  

• reflect on and critically examine personal leadership attitudes, values and beliefs within a social justice and equity context  

• know and understand the practice and approaches that can improve outcomes for children and young people impacted by poverty  
• develop and apply knowledge and skills to effectively plan for equity and ensure measurable impact.

Facilitators use the presentations, notes and resources provided to structure the learning experience by bringing participants together at key points in the programme. 

Facilitators will require access to, and knowledge of the context within which participants are working, whether this be a whole local authority area, or an individual setting. This will include access to local data on poverty, who is affected, and how.

The key themes of the programme are:

• what is poverty?
• the impact of poverty
• personal, social and cultural attitudes to poverty
• knowing the data for your context
• developing an equitable ethos and culture
• pedagogy and practice to mitigate the impact of poverty.

These themes are explored through six online Professional Learning Activities (PLAs) and through four group sessions. To access the PLAs, facilitators and participants will need to open an account at the Education Scotland website.

The suggested total duration of the programme is one session, though longer or shorter is permissible, and should be agreed at local level.

Education Scotland is supporting the facilitation of a pilot phase in 2025-26 with a small number of local authorities. Beyond the pilot phase, Education Scotland will support strategic planning for the programme, but will not offer a national cohort or lead the programme locally. There may be a role for Education Scotland staff in co-facilitating with a local authority partner, but this can’t be confirmed at the current time.

Each of the six PLAs takes 3-4 hours to complete and each of the four facilitated group sessions should last 1-1.5 hours (these can take place in person or online). Duration and key dates for group sessions will decided at establishment, cluster or local authority level.

Facilitators are advised to consider how this professional learning programme sits within improvement priorities and planning. This will offer the potential to maximise the impact of staff learning on children and young people’s outcomes. There is flexibility to structure the programme to meet local needs.

The programme content is structured as follows:

• 4 short Introductory activities
  • Read
  • Listen
  • Watch
  • Do.
• 6 online Professional Learning Activities (PLAs). Facilitators and participants will need an account at Education Scotland’s website to access these:
  • PLA 1 What is poverty?
  • PLA 2 The impact of poverty
  • PLA 3 Personal, social and cultural attitudes to poverty
  • PLA 4 Knowing the data for your context
  • PLA 5 Developing an equitable ethos and culture
  • PLA 6 Pedagogy and practice to mitigate the impact of poverty.
• 4 group sessions for participants to come together throughout the online learning:
  • Introduction
  • Sharing and reflecting
  • Collaborative enquiry planning
  • Action planning for impact.

A suggested structure for the programme could therefore look like this:

Aug                 Introductory activities

Aug-Sept       Group session 1 - Introductory session

Sept-Nov       PLAs 1-3

Nov/Dec         Group session 2 - Sharing and reflecting session

Jan                  PLA 4

Feb                 Group session 3 - Collaborative enquiry planning session

Mar-May         PLA 5-6

Jun                  Group session 4 - Action planning for impact session

Facilitators use the presentations, notes and resources provided to structure the learning experience by bringing participants together at key points in the programme, for the group sessions. They will require access to, and knowledge of the context within which participants are working, whether this be a whole local authority area, or an individual setting. This will include access to local data on poverty, who is affected, and how.

Facilitators should make full use of the presentations, notes and other resources provided to them to support the 4 group sessions. They may find Education Scotland’s Guide to Planning, facilitating and evaluating professional learning a good starting point. It is anticipated facilitators will have some experience of facilitating effective professional learning for others, along with a remit around equity. We recommend each programme is led by two facilitators.

Participants can use an optional reflective journal to help them engage in their learning, with space for summary reflections at each stage of the programme. The reflective journal should support learning and be retained by the individual participant, and shared only at their discretion.

There may be the facility to offer an online sharing space for participants using Glow Teams, Slack or other collaboration tool. Facilitators and users will be responsible for any online spaces set up to support the programme.

Completion requirements will be agreed locally, but should include completion of the six PLAs and attendance at the 4 group sessions as a minimum. Facilitators can liaise with Education Scotland if they would like co-badged certificates for those who complete the programme.

It should be borne in mind, of course, that mitigating the impact of poverty is never complete. After the 4th group session, which focuses on action planning, further work will be required to assess the impact of the action plan, make changes accordingly, and continue with what is working, as part of the ongoing work of improvement.

These will become available at the end of the pilot phase, which runs until May 2026. Case studies from the pilot authorities will also become available around that time.

For prospective participants:

The recruitment process to a local facilitated programme may vary, as this will be agreed at establishment, cluster or local authority level. It is strongly recommended that educators join this programme as part of a facilitated group, so look out for the programme being offered through your local communication channels, e.g., professional learning bulletin.

Please note that Education Scotland is not offering a national programme cohort; rather it is supporting local authorities to offer their own version of the programme that can be adapted to meet the needs of the local context.

Participants in this programme will be expected to provide feedback and evaluation data where requested. This is for the purpose of continuous improvement and development of Education Scotland Professional Learning programmes. 

For prospective facilitators:

At establishment level, agreement to facilitate the programme should be sought with your senior leadership team, and as part of your improvement plan.

At cluster level, it is anticipated senior leadership teams will be engaged in decision making about who will be involved, and that the programme will be delivered as part of joint improvement plans.

At local authority level, where agreement is in place for your authority to deliver the programme, you will need to work with your co-facilitator (s) to plan how this will happen.

At all levels: Strategic support for planning is available from Education Scotland. All the resources you need to facilitate the programme are available here at our website.

Facilitators of this programme will be expected to provide feedback and evaluation data where requested. This is for the purpose of continuous improvement and development of Education Scotland Professional Learning programmes. 

For more information, please contact edspll@educationscotland.gov.scot