Councillors have approved plans to update the future shape of education services for children and young people in Argyll and Bute.
At a meeting of the Community Services Committee, councillors agreed to refresh the existing ‘Our Children, Their Future’ strategy to ensure it continues to meet the needs of the area’s youngsters.
Originally launched in 2016, the Education Vision and Strategy is aimed at putting in place a range of measures to deliver equality of educational opportunity and improve attainment, with the overall ambition of making Argyll and Bute the best place to grow up.
The strategy is reviewed on an ongoing basis but, in light of the challenging times that pupils, teachers and the education sector have faced in recent years, councillors felt it was particularly important to refresh its plans for the future of education and to gather views and opinions from the local community.
There are six key objectives in the current strategy:
- Raise educational attainment and achievement for all
- Use performance information to secure improvement for children and young people
- Ensure children have the best start in life and are ready to succeed
- Equip young people to sustain positive destinations and achieve success in life
- Strengthen partnership working and community engagement
- Strengthen leadership at all levels
The service will launch a consultation in November to give all the relevant stakeholders the opportunity to contribute their views. Once the consultation is completed and stakeholders’ input gathered, the service will provide a further report to the committee.
The council’s Policy Lead for Education, Councillor Yvonne McNeilly, said: “Since the launch of the Education Vision and Strategy, we’ve seen many changes in the education landscape, both locally and nationally, including a global pandemic and a number of consultations and reviews of the sector.
“The overall aim of our strategy is to create the very best environment in our schools for our young people to thrive and realise their personal and career ambitions.
“By putting the right building blocks in place to take children into early learning, through primary, secondary and further education, we will ensure that Argyll and Bute continues to be a great place to live and grow up, and one which offers opportunities for all.
“A key element in updating our strategy will be gathering feedback from across our communities and I would urge as many people as possible to offer their views when the consultation is launched.”