Family circumstances

Curriculum for Excellence promotes the active participation of children and young people in their learning. There may be many different reasons why individual learners become disengaged from education, for example where a child’s or young person’s home life is disrupted by poverty, homelessness, domestic abuse, parental alcohol or drug misuse or parental mental or physical health problems. Examples where additional support needs may arise as a result of family circumstances include; where the learner herself is a young mother, or is helping to care for disabled parents or siblings, or where a child is from a family of Armed Services with a parent being deployed into conflict zones, or where the family is affected by imprisonment.

Factors such as these may affect learners’ emotional stability, their levels of concentration, readiness to learn, their relationships with their peers and, in turn, their punctuality and attendance.

In almost all cases, expectations for attendance, punctuality and learning at home (or homework) should be the same as for all other learners. However, there may some young people for whom flexibility is required. For example, young carers may need individual arrangements and deadlines for completing homework. Particular efforts may be needed to provide the same wide range of experiences and achievements for young carers, or refugees and asylum seekers which other young people take for granted. Learners at risk of missing out on education include girls who become pregnant and may need help to continue with their education. Support for young parents is a key responsibility for the community, working with the school. Further guidance is provided in “Included, engaged andinvolved- part 1: attendance in Scottish schools (2007).

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