The Promise Scotland identified a gap in the reporting of family learning programmes that supported the foundations for change within The Promise. An initial meeting was held between The Promise Scotland and Education Scotland to discuss strategies to address this gap.

Following intelligence gathering, a number of local authorities were identified as already having strong reporting mechanisms in place, which included family learning practice. After consideration, it was agreed that Dumfries and Galloway Council would be approached. A meeting was arranged with GIRFEC and family learning strategic leads within Dumfries and Galloway to discuss the identified need and gauge their interest and availability in joining a short-term working group. The remit of this group was to identify appropriate content for a national guide, set timescales, identify appropriate staff and resources to take this forward. A sub-group consisting of colleagues from Education Scotland, The Promise Scotland and Dumfries and Galloway council was tasked with developing this.

An initial starting point was for The Promise Scotland to work with the sub-group on an Empathy Mapping process. This was to identify potential gaps in practitioner’s knowledge and understanding of The Promise and family learning. From this information a project plan was created with objectives and outcomes.

Members of the sub-group came together online and in person to allocate individual tasks aligned with the objectives and outcomes. These were progressed between meetings and subsequent updates were provided.

Following the meetings, a draft of the guide was disseminated to the Strategic GIRFEC and Family Learning Leads for consultation and sign off. It was agreed that to support a greater understanding amongst practitioners, the guide and blank template would be accompanied by a completed version from Dumfries and Galloway Council. It is hoped that this example will provide further support to practitioners when completing their own template.