Aberlour’s evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee’s Call for Views on Additional Support for Learning

At Aberlour we deliver services across Scotland that support children, young people and families with a range of needs. We support families living with a disability through our community-based family support services, as well as our dedicated disability residential and short breaks services. We also provide safe, loving and nurturing homes for children who can’t live with their families through our residential children’s houses and fostering services.

Our family support services work with children and families at home and in the community, often in partnership with schools, to help and support children with the challenges in their lives and at home that can impact on their learning and education. We work with families to understand the, often intersecting, challenges and stressors in their lives and to ask them what will best help them and their children. This allows us to develop trusted relationships, find solutions together and ultimately help children to be ready to learn when they arrive at school.

Through our work we either directly or indirectly support the education and learning of all our children who require additional support for learning, working in partnership with schools and local authorities across Scotland helping to realise children’s right to a meaningful education. Working in both primary and secondary schools, this includes direct one-to-one support or group work with children in school, focusing on routines, change and transitions, health and wellbeing and emotional support. For children who require additional support for learning in-school support is important, such as nurture hubs, learning support bases and education support workers.

Read our latest evidence paper to the Scottish Parliament’s Education, Children and Young People Committee on Additional Support for Learning (ASL) in Scotland.