 The next item of business is a statement by John Swinney on a review of personal and social education. The cabinet secretary will take questions at the end of his statement, so there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on John Swinney to make his statement, cabinet secretary, please. You do not have your microphone, Mr Swinney. The health and wellbeing of children and young people in our schools is central to her ambition to achieve excellence and equity for all in a high-performing education system. Personal and social education or PSE is a key element of this approach and must be firmly aligned to curriculum for excellence. Children and young people must be equipped with the skills and knowledge that they need to make their own decisions. Equity for all can only be achieved through an inclusive education system. The Scotland's inclusive approach celebrates diversity and allows all children and young people to develop an understanding and recognition of difference. That contributes to the development of an increasingly inclusive, compassionate and equal society. That is a core principle of personal and social education to provide young people with the requisite knowledge, skills and resilience to fulfil their potential. I am very pleased to announce that the review of personal and social education has been completed and I have accepted all of the recommendations of the review. I believe that the recommendations will strengthen the delivery of personal and social education in our schools and will support our young people to reach their full potential. The recommendations will further embed our ambitions for prevention and early intervention in our schools to provide every young person with the opportunity to grow, to achieve and to succeed as individuals. Before I speak about the details of the review, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Education and Skills Committee for investigating the main issues in relation to the content and delivery of PSE. The committee's report, Let's Talk About Personal and Social Education, helped to establish the focus of the review. I am also grateful to Christina McKelvie MSP for her role during her time as convener of the Parliament's Equalities and Human Rights Committee. For her report, it is not cool to be cruel, prejudice-based bullying and harassment of children and young people in schools, which also highlighted the importance of high-quality personal and social education. I would further like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has contributed to the review, especially the young people who's insightful contributions played a huge part in this review. Their time and contributions were extremely valuable in shaping the final report and recommendations. Personal and social education is a key component of curriculum for excellence. It should support children and young people to gain the knowledge, skills and attributes that are needed for life in the 21st century, including skills for learning, life and work. Good and relevant personal and social education is a major factor in providing the foundations of successful learning and in supporting schools to close the attainment gap. Personal and social education should be designed to enable children and young people to develop, to learn about their rights and responsibilities, to help them to stay healthy, safe and prepare them for the challenges and opportunities that they will experience. The review includes 16 recommendations outlining how we can, in co-operation with our partners, improve the delivery of personal and social education to provide all young people with the learning experience that they need and want. The recommendations have been informed by a 20-month review process, which involved reviewing existing resources, a thematic inspection of PSE delivery in 55 schools and early learning centres and an extensive six-month engagement programme with COSLA, local authority representatives, third sector organisations, faith groups and young people. The thematic inspection undertaken by Education Scotland was a significant element in the review process, and I am grateful to the inspection team for completing the inspection in a short period of time. The thematic inspection highlighted key strengths of PSE delivery, as well as areas for improvement, both of which were crucial elements of a thorough and extensive engagement with a range of stakeholders, providing the basis for the suite of recommendations that will strengthen PSE delivery and prepare children and young people for learning work and for life. The priority in place of PSE in the curriculum and the role of schools' senior team in promoting PSE's importance in our schools is crucial. I am therefore pleased to announce that the Government and our key partners will co-produce a new PSE toolkit to enhance PSE delivery at all stages of education. It will illustrate models of good practice, provide support and resource for teachers on delivery of PSE and provide models for evolving children and young people in the design and delivery of personal and social education. It is vital that PSE provides children and young people with the right learning at the right stage and in an appropriate manner. The Scottish Government and Education Scotland will produce advice and guidance on approaches to monitoring young people's progression in PSE to support schools in providing learning that equips our young people with the knowledge, skills and resilience that they need. To provide support to teachers and pupils in mental wellbeing, new guidance on the spectrum of mental health and wellbeing services available will be produced. That will complement the work that we are taking forward to provide access to school counsellors and enable schools to complement existing provision with additional services and share effective practice already delivering improvements in our schools. Throughout the review, the issue of consent and how it is taught was raised. This is an important aspect of personal and social education. Our young people are facing a number of influences on what is appropriate and inappropriate, especially from online resources. As I announced in November, we will update the existing statutory guidance available to schools on relationships, sexual health and parenthood to ensure that consent education is stage and age-appropriate, that it focuses on the issues that are relevant to young people and provides support and resource to our teachers on issues such as sexual harassment and online influences, linking with the work that we are taking forward to deliver LGBT inclusive education within our schools. The senior phase of schools is a critical time as we prepare our young people for life after school. Young people themselves told us through targeted engagement that PSE was not meeting their needs and preparing them with the necessary life skills and knowledge. This is vital so that the pioneers and leaders of tomorrow are equipped and ready for the challenges ahead. We will therefore establish a senior phase PSE mentoring programme to enable pupils to design and deliver PSE learning that is relevant to them and enables focus on the issues and knowledge that are required for the next phase in life. We will also provide support to teachers through the PSE toolkit on where they can access support for pupils preparing for life after school. As well as preparing our children and young people, it is critical that we provide the right level of support and resource for our teachers to ensure the consistent delivery of PSE in all our schools. We will therefore develop a suite of learning resources that promote a focus on the key issues identified by young people during the review process, life skills, personal development, planning for choices and change, relationships, sexual health and parenthood. Key partners in career-long professional learning, as well as the third sector, will be instrumental in helping us to deliver that recommendation. I am also acutely aware through the review process of some of the high case loads that pastoral and guidance teachers are currently having to deal with, which is having an effect on the support that has been offered to our young people. I want to improve the situation and to allow teachers to deliver the support and help to young people that they want. The PSE toolkit will deliver that ambition by providing our hugely important pastoral and guidance staff with additional resources, a reduction in the bureaucracy that they face and provide details on evaluated good practice models. Additionally, I believe that our working with local government partners and the teaching unions will enable us to take steps to highlight the vital and rewarding role of pastoral and guidance teachers as a career pathway. It is not just the existing teaching profession that we need to equip with the necessary skills and resources but the teachers of tomorrow, and that is why we will work with the General Teaching Council to update the standards for professional registration to ensure that the importance of PSE is recognised as a skill expected of all newly qualified teachers. There is a great deal of strength in our education system, and I am determined to ensure that the delivery of personal and social education is making a difference to the lives of children and young people in Scotland. For me, and I am sure for all members here today, I want to Scotland where children and young people form healthy relationships and value diversity, where everyone should be recognised and respected for who they are individually, where our children and young people can grow up in a safe environment in which their rights and needs are respected and protected, where every child and young person is supported to be who they want to be to be treated equally, to enjoy equal chances and choices in all aspects of their lives, and where every child and young person is valued for the contribution they make to our society and communities. As one of the young people quoted in our online survey said, PSE is really good for learning about everything you might encounter in life. It is very empowering and PSE is a very good and vital subject. This is the experience that we want for all of our children and young people to give them the skills and the knowledge to prepare them for learning, work and life. The range of actions to strengthen the delivery of personal and social education that I have announced today reaffirms our commitment to making that a reality for all children and young people, which will make a real difference to their lives in Scotland. The cabinet secretary will now take questions on the issues raised. We have about 20 minutes for questions. Can I ask those members who want to ask questions? Press the request to speak buttons now. Excuse me, and I call the Smith to be followed by Ian Gay, Ms Smith, please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. Cabinet Secretary, yesterday, on several news channels, we heard about the very disturbing circumstances that led to the death of teenager Mollie Russell. Her father, in what was a very brave interview, spoke very emotionally about how social media has the potential to damage a young person's life, irrespective of the quality of the guidance provided at home or in school. In the context, cabinet secretary, of your comments about working with a wide range of stakeholders, may I ask what engagement the Scottish Government has had with the social media industry to complement the work that is being done at UK level to ensure that online safety is a very central part of PSE in the toolkit that you have described? The Scottish Government has discussions with a range of interested parties about the issues around social media. What is important is that we focus and the work that we do in personal and social education to equip young people with the resilience and the capacity to make judgments around the handling of social media and the use of social media to ensure that they are suitably equipped and protected to deal with some of the potential challenges that can come with social media. Personal social education is also an implicit part of the ethos of education, and I want to make sure that the very good practice that I see that goes on in schools to encourage the nurturing of good relationships is not only deployed in a context of school activity but enables young people to think about their own contribution to the world of social media and the impact that some of their actions can have on social media if it is not appropriately said. The actions that we take here are designed to ensure that in an ever-changing world, and a world that is changing at a much faster pace than any of us have ever seen it changing before, young people are equipped with the essential attributes of resilience to enable them to manage those challenges. Some of that will come from personal and social education, some of that will come from the wider impact of curriculum for excellence, which is focused on entirely on that objective of ensuring that young people are equipped for modern life and supported in being able to meet some of the challenges, some of which may present themselves through social media. Iain Gray, followed by Ruth Maguire. Thank you to the cabinet secretary for early sight of his statement. We agree with the cabinet secretary that schools are very much about the health and wellbeing of our young people, their values and social development, and progress, indeed, towards inclusivity and equality in wider society. The review is important and the acceptance of its recommendations is welcome. However, it is now almost two years since the education committee report, which Mr Swinney says provided the focus for this review and another two years before he expects delivery. Can I ask when does he expect to bring his implementation plan back to Parliament? And when does he expect the updated statutory guidance on relationships and sexual health to be completed? Mr Swinney also acknowledged the pressure on guidance teachers, which he says will be addressed by a PSE toolkit. Does he not agree that it would be better addressed by more teachers generally and more guidance teachers specifically, and how will he try and deliver that? The first point is that I am signalling to Parliament the considered way in which the Government has addressed this important issue. It is important that we take time to put in place the right measures that should be implemented. We now move to the implementation phase, and that will take place over the course of the next two years to ensure that, on a stage basis, we make the necessary progress that is required. The revised guidance on relationships, sexual health and parenthood, I expect to be launched at the Scottish Learning Festival on September of this year. It has currently been piloted in 40 schools around the country. We want to ensure that that is effectively piloted so that it can then be adapted to make sure that it can be implemented widely within our education system. If we can do that in a shorter timescale, we will do that, but I want to make sure that the material that we have put in place meets the needs of the teaching profession and the needs of young children and young people. The PSE toolkit is designed to be a helpful addition to the resources that are available to guidance teachers, which will assist them in identifying best practice and deploying best practice to the best of their ability. I would say to Mr Gray on his general point about the number of teachers. The number of teachers is, of course, rising. Mr Gray knows that. It has been rising for the last number of years, and it is at the highest level that it has been at since 2010. We are making progress on increasing the number of teachers, and the steps and investment that the Government has made is helping that process. I could have short questions, please. Ruth Maguire, followed by Oliver Mundell. Thank you, Presiding Officer. Can the cabinet secretary outline how this year's programme for government commitment to invest in school counselling services will assist in the delivery of PSE? As Ruth Maguire will know, the government set out in the programme for government the commitments that we are making in relation to the roll-out of counsellors in schools. The first part of that work will be deployed as part of the implementation of the programme for government, putting in place counsellors in secondary schools. The dialogue is under way with local authorities about the most appropriate means of undertaking that. Of course, that will supplement the resources that are available within schools to provide the support that young people require. This morning, I visited Queen Anne High School in Fife, in Dunferman, and saw at first hand the very integrated and focused support that the school has put in place to provide assistance to young people. That draws together a range of expertise from a number of different disciplines, but fundamentally it is child-focused and child-centred. Obviously, the addition of the mental health counsellors will support that process and enable a broader range of skills to be available to be deployed to support young people in our schools. I respectfully ask for shorter answers to try and get everybody in. Oliver Mundell, followed by Gil Ross. To ask the cabinet secretary what involvement parents and carers have had today in the development of the toolkit and what consultation and support will be given to help them to reinforce those messages at home. We, as part of all of our work, engage widely within Scotland. That is what takes time, and we have engaged with parental representatives as part of the process. It is very important, as we take the next steps, that we take care, particularly in relation to some of the issues on relationships, that we engage parents actively in that process so that parents are comfortable with the approach that has been taken and that that can be supported by some of the wise guidance that is offered within the home. As Mr Mundell will know, we attach the greatest of significance to parental engagement, and my view is that that needs to be to the fore in taking forward the next stages of this work. Gil Ross, followed by Mary Fee. Following the incredible commitment and success of the TIE campaign, can I ask the Scottish Government how the principles of the campaign and the inclusion of LGBT rights and issues will be delivered through the PSE reforms? As I have announced to Parliament already, as I have said before Christmas, we are embarking on the taking forward of inclusive education. That message lies at the heart of the statement that I have given to Parliament today and lies at the heart of the thinking that ethos behind personal and social education is. We will ensure in the implementation of inclusive education that is taken forward, that it is done right at the heart of personal and social education and that the commitments that we have made in Parliament to the aspirations of the TIE campaign, which I expressed in my earlier ministerial statement, are reflected in practice in our schools. I welcome the announcement of guidance on mental health and wellbeing services to complement the previous announcement regarding counsellors in schools. Can the cabinet secretary tell the chamber when the first new mental health counsellor will be in a school and if the implementation of new counsellors will be targeted in certain areas or certain schools? Cabinet secretary, we are working with individual local authorities to take forward this activity. I would expect that the first of the mental health counsellors to be in schools during the forthcoming financial year provision has been made for that within the budget provision. Some local authorities and individual schools have different approaches to the provision of mental health support, so we will work in a complementary fashion with existing provision. However, I would expect that roll-out to commence during 2019-20. Given that the campaign to fix personal and social education has all points being led by young people, can I ask that the PSE delivery and implementation group includes young people? For that, I would recommend members of the Scottish youth Parliament as appropriate representatives. Can I ask the Government to confirm that workplace rights and associated skills are included in the life skills that are considered essential as part of the PSE? As such, we have reflected in that way to resources. That is two questions. I like the first one, okay. On the substantive point that Mr Greer makes, it is essential that we hear the voices of young people in all aspects of the work that we take forward in the development of education policies. At all stages, I want to hear the views and the voices of young people as part of the process, so that will be the case in the group that we establish to take forward that activity. In relation to his second point on workplace rights, it is important that PSE remains relevant to the changing times in which we live, so it must equip young people with an understanding and knowledge of the surrounding circumstances that they will face. Again, at Queen Anne High School, where I visited this morning, guidance services are provided alongside Work by Skills Development Scotland, recognising the proximity to the developing Scotland's young workforce agenda. I think that those issues will be adequately covered by the approach that we take. To improve personal and social education across Scotland, I hope that the cabinet secretary would recognise the importance of a range of skills, qualifications and attributes in school guidance teams. To that extent, would he understand the case that is made to have youth workers and people with youth work qualifications included in those guidance teams to achieve the very essential reforms that are so necessary? I agree entirely with that. It is very interesting to look at the achievements that are made by youth workers in reaching young people who may be difficult to reach through what we might know as traditional educational structures, but nonetheless reach those young people and enable them to continue their participation. The broadest range of skills will be relevant to help us in that work. In my view, there is a very strong and significant role to be played by youth workers as part of that exercise. Fulton MacGregor, Folvet Annie Wells. Can the cabinet secretary further outline how the welcome announcement of the new PSE toolkit will help to reduce the workload and bureaucracy that has been a concern for teachers while delivering personal and social education? Part of the approach that I have been taking has been to encourage more collaboration in the education system, whereby some of the elements of good practice, which undoubtedly exist in different parts of Scotland, are shared more widely so that individual practitioners are not having to develop materials and resources from scratch, but that we support good models of teaching delivery around the country. That is exactly what the PSE toolkit will do, and it will help those involved in the delivery of personal and social education by providing a very rich set of resources that will assist practitioners in taking forward that work. As part of the general approach that we take to try to reduce the workload of the teaching profession by encouraging collaboration and other measures, the steps that are taken in the PSE toolkit will help in that respect. I know that the Scottish Government's commitment to work with the general teaching council for Scotland to update the standards for professional registration. When will we see that in place? Is it the Scottish Government's opinion that additional teacher training should be introduced in relation to reviewed PSE? What I would say to Annie Wells is that initial teacher education has got to take due account of the steps that were taken in relation to PSE. That is one element of the process. The other element of the process is the emphasis on continual professional learning, because there is a need, particularly in a theme such as personal social education, where we are trying to maintain its relevance to the world that young people are facing. There will be a constant need for continuous professional development amongst practitioners to be undertaken. The combination of ensuring that PSE is central to the approach in initial teacher education and that it is also recognised in continuous professional learning will give us a good foundation for our dialogue with the general teaching council on ensuring that professional updates take into account the very important topics. Clare Adamson, Folbyn Johann Lamont Cabinet Secretary, we know that personal social education is an important factor in encouraging positive behaviour and healthy relationships in young people. Can the cabinet secretary expand on how the reviewed guidelines on consent education will be rolled into the PSE curriculum and how quickly that might happen? The material in that respect is currently being piloted across 40 schools in Scotland. We are going to look at the experience of piloting those resources to make sure that we can guarantee that they are appropriate for use. We have to take into account one of the points that I made to Oliver Mundell, the issue of parental understanding of the steps that we are taking and to make sure that the roll-out of education about consent is age and stage-appropriate for individual children and young people. The importance of all of that cannot be overstated because we have to make sure that young people are given the most substantive and thoughtful support in enabling them to come to the right judgments about consent, about the formation of relationships, because those are issues of enormous significance and concern in our society today. We must make sure that we get those approaches correct before we roll them out across the whole of the education system. Given the often very sensitive issues that are being considered, PSE classes in my experience were run in small groups, not in full classes. What action has the cabinet secretary taken to ensure that there is not only agreement on the approach to PSE, but on how it is delivered and how it will ensure that there is sufficient resource available to make personal and social education meaningful for all young people? There will be a significant amount of professional judgment to be deployed in addressing the serious point that Johann Lamont makes about the environment and the circumstances in which personal and social education can be successfully delivered. That is a judgment that I think is best left to individual professionals. What the Government is trying to do is to make sure that we work with partners to equip those practitioners with the range of materials and approaches that will support them in those efforts. The announcements that I have made today, I hope, will help to structure that approach for individual practitioners to make those judgments in individual schools around the country. To ask the cabinet secretary whether education on organ and tissue donation will be included in the curriculum for personal and social education, and if so, what resources will be made available or appropriate designated education providers will be available? Emma Harper asks me a question of a very specific nature about the content of the teaching materials. I will have to come back to her specifically on that point, but, fundamentally, individual teachers will make a judgment about the particular topics and themes within the framework that we put forward. The judgments will be made as to what individual topics are covered to illustrate those important questions. I thank members for the 16 questions. That concludes the questions, and we have a slight pause before we move on to the next item of business.