Appendices

All children in Scotland have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse.

Child abuse is when a child is harmed by an adult or another child – it can be over a period of time but can also be a one-off action. It can be physical, sexual or emotional and it can happen in person or online. Child abuse and neglect have significant effects on children's emotional and physical health, social development and lifelong outcomes.

Schools and nurseries play an important role in the prevention of abuse and neglect through creating and maintaining safe learning environments and teaching children and young people about staying safe from harm and how to speak up if they have worries or concerns. Schools and nurseries have identified child protection coordinators with a remit to promote safeguarding and a responsibility to act when aware of a possible child protection concern.  

NSPCC have a range of helpful resources for parents/carers. If you are concerned a child or young person is at immediate risk of abuse or neglect, you can contact police on 101 or phone children’s services on 01786 471177. You can share your concern with your school/nursery child protection co-ordinator.

Some families may be eligible for clothing grants. Applications can be made by visiting https://www.stirling.gov.uk/learning-education/schools/school-meals-uniforms/footwear-clothing-grant-school-meals/ and completing the online form.

Supporting documents can be uploaded, scanned to finservices@stirling.gov.uk or posted to Stirling Council, Teith House, Kerse Road, Stirling, FK7 7QA. Closing date for Clothing Grants is 31 December each year.

You can complain in person, by phone, email or by letter. We regard a complaint as any expression or dissatisfaction about our action or lack of action, or about the standard of service provided by us or on our behalf.

Who can complain?

Anyone can complain who is the parent or legal guardian of a child or a person authorised to complain on his/her behalf. For example, a child’s grandparent who is not the legal guardian needs authority from the child’s parent or guardian. This would normally mean a note to show that the person responsible for the child has agreed. When a complaint is submitted on behalf of a young person, Schools, Learning, and Education should establish who is the primary complainant. If the child is not the complainant, regardless of their age (e.g., a child reporting bullying), the Investigating Officer must confirm that the child consents to the complaint being investigated. If the child does not consent, the service must assess whether investigating the complaint is in the child's best interests, and this decision should be clearly documented in the records.

What can’t I complain about?

Here are some things we can’t deal with through our complaints procedure:

• A routine first time request for a service or action – e.g. informing the school that your child told you she is being bullied and asking them to resolve this.
• Requests for compensation from the Council.
• Things that are covered by a right of appeal, e.g.. appeals against Exclusion from School, placing request appeals and where concerns are under consideration through an ASL dispute resolution proces In these cases we will give you information and advice to help you..

You have six months to raise a complaint from the event that you wish to complain about – or from the point when you become aware of a matter about which you wish to complain. In exceptional circumstances, a complaint can be accepted after this timescale.

We have 2 stage complaints procedure.

Stage One – frontline resolution

In the first instance, please complain to your child’s school or nursery, telling them as much as you can about the complaint, what has gone wrong and what you want them to do to resolve the matter. A senior member of staff, either the headteacher or depute head, will be responsible for looking into complaints. Heads are senior managers with a high level of responsibility for your child’s learning and welfare and are able to look into most matters. However, the headteacher may refer the Stage One complaint to Schools, Learning and Education centrally, e.g. if it is about the conduct of the headteacher or too complex to be dealt with at front-line service level.

The school or nursery will give you our decision at Stage One within 5 working days or fewer unless there are exceptional circumstances. If we need further time, we will ask you to agree an extension of up to 5 further days. If the Stage One complaint has been referred to Schools, Learning and Education centrally your response will come from there.

Stage Two – investigation

If you are dissatisfied with your Stage One response you can move to Stage Two. Stage Two deals with 2 types of complaints: those not resolved at Stage One and those not appropriate for Stage One, for example the conduct of a headteacher or those too complex for a headteacher to deal with. To move to Stage Two, you should email educ-comments@stirling.gov.uk, or you can ask the headteacher of the school or nursery to move the complaint to Stage Two on your behalf.

When using Stage Two:

We will acknowledge your complaint within 24 hours. • You will be contacted by the Investigating Officer for your complaint, who will usually meet you to confirm: the detail of your complaint, what you want to achieve, and if your expectations are achievable. In some cases, e.g. your complaint has been made in writing and is clear, there may be no need to meet. It is helpful if you present any evidence that you can offer in support of your complaint, e.g. contact details for witnesses, reports from other professionals, etc. if appropriate. • We will write to you confirming the details of your complaint, what you want to achieve, and what the investigation can cover. • We will give you a full, written response to the complaint as soon as possible and within 20 working days. If our investigation takes longer than 20 working days we will agree revised time limits with you and keep you updated on progress. After we have fully investigated your Stage Two complaint, if you are still dissatisfied with our decision or the way we dealt with your complaint you can ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO), https://www.spso.org.uk/ to look at it. The SPSO cannot normally look at: • A complaint that has not completed our complaints procedure. • Events that happened or you became aware of, more than a year ago.

Care Inspectorate

If you have a concern about a care service, in the first instance please raise this with the manager of the service. You can raise a concern with Care Inspectorate by email at concerns@careinspectorate.gov.scot. If you are unable to email or use the online complaints form, please call 0345 600 9527 between 9 am and 4 pm Monday to Friday. This information is regularly updated and available at https://www.careinspectorate.com/index.php/complaints.

Everyone deserves to be treated equally, fairly and without prejudice.

The UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 means that the rights of all children from birth to 18 years of age are protected by Scots Law and must be promoted and defended in all areas of a child’s life. This includes their rights to::

• education,
• freedom from violence, abuse and neglect,
• be listened to and taken seriously,
• A proper house, food and clothing, and
• relax and play.

When a child feels their rights have been infringed, their views will always be taken seriously.

Educational establishments create inclusive cultures by working in partnership with the wider community to agree positive values, by promoting and celebrating diversity and through delivering appropriate learning opportunities within their curriculum.                          

Schools and nurseries operate within Stirling Council’s duty under the Equality Act (2010) to:

• Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation.
• Advance equality of opportunity between people by removing or minimising disadvantage, meeting the needs of particular groups which are different from the needs of others and encouraging participation in public life.
• Foster good relations by tackling prejudice and promoting understanding.

The Equality Act 2010 identifies 9 protected characteristics from discrimination, harassment or victimisation:

• age
• disability
• gender reassignment
• marriage or civil partnership (in employment only)
• pregnancy and maternity
• race
• religion or belief
• sex
• sexual orientation.

Schools and nurseries have a duty to report prejudice based incidents.

Anti-bullying and Positive Relationships

Approaches to anti bullying reflect Getting it Right for Every Child and recognise that bullying impacts on wellbeing. In order to thrive and achieve their full potential, children and young people need learning environments which are safe, nurturing, respectful and free from fear, abuse and discrimination.

All education establishments operate within Stirling’s Approach to Respect for All: Preventing and Challenging Bullying Behaviours and will, in consultation with wider communities, create establishment specific anti bullying policy.

Additional Support Needs

Children and young people who need extra or additional support to help them access and make progress in their learning are considered to have ‘additional support needs’. Children and young people may only need support for a short time, or they may need support the whole time they are in education. Their needs may also change over time. A child or young person does not need to have a diagnosed condition to have additional support needs. If your child is struggling at school or nursery and needs extra help for any reason, they have a right to receive the help they need.

A child or young person may have additional support needs for lots of reasons such as:

• a difficulty, or a disability, related to a health, physical or learning need
• being bullied
• family circumstances such as being a young carer or on the child protection register
• long-term illness
• bereavement
• English as an additional language

Staged Intervention is the process used to identify, assess and plan to meet a child’s needs. Every school and nursery has a member of staff often called a named person, with responsibility for ensuring appropriate support for a child or young person with additional support needs. For most children or young people, the support they require is provided from nursery or school, for example, high quality learning and teaching, differentiated materials, additional time, movement programmes, or group work.

Some children and young people may require more targeted support from education's support services within Stirling Council such as the ASL Inclusion team or the Educational Psychology Service, whilst some may require enhanced support from other partner agencies, such as Speech and Language Therapy, to provide more enhanced interventions.

Agreed outcomes and actions are recorded and reviewed during staged intervention meetings in collaboration with the child, young person, family and staff, as well as other professionals where appropriate. Where there is more than one agency supporting a child and the level of coordinated support is significant and long lasting, a Coordinated Support Plan may be explored.

If you have concerns about your child, or you would like to find out more about staged intervention, please contact your school or nursery.

There is further information on Additional Support for Learning on Stirling Council's website here

Advice and support services

For children and young people:

All children and young people have the right to be involved in decisions about the support they receive. The following services provide further information about understanding rights and expressing personal views: My Rights My Say – a children's service supporting children aged 12-15 to use their rights. They provide advice and information, advocacy support, legal representation and a service to independently seek children's views about the support they receive with their learning. Reach – a website dedicated to children and young people aiming to help them feel supported, included, listened to and involved in decisions at school. It has information and advice for pupils about their rights to additional support for learning; practical tips for all sorts of school problems; young people’s real life stories; and positive examples of pupil participation.

For parents and carers:

Parents and carers have the right to be involved in discussions about the additional support for learning options available to their children.

There are a number of services for parents and carers to access advice, information and support. These include:

Enquire are a Scottish advice service providing help and information, all advice is independent and impartial. Contact the Enquire Helpline on 0345 123 2303.

Enquire: the national advice and information service on additional support for learning for families, teachers, education authorities and others caring for or working with children and young people with additional support needs., https://enquire.org.uk/, and one for children and young people, https://enquire.org.uk/advice-young-people/.

Let's Talk ASN national advocacy and legal representation service supporting parents, carers and young people (16+) with a right of reference to the Additional Support Needs Tribunal in exercising their rights.

Parentzone – Education Scotland's website to find out more about specific support needs, what you can do to support your child, and where you can get further information. 

Public Liability

Stirling Council has Public Liability Insurance in respect of claims against the Council for bodily injury to any person or for loss or damage to any person’s property for which the Council is legally liable. Negligence or failure to fulfil a statutory obligation on the part of the Council or its employees resulting in injury, loss or damage to property must be established.

Pupils’ Property

Each session, unfortunately but inevitably, pupils’ property is lost, damaged or stolen in school. Parents should be aware of the following points:

• Parents’ house contents policy may give some measure of cover for personal effects of family members.
• It is suggested that parents may wish to consider taking out additional individual personal cover.
• Pupils should be encouraged not to bring valuables to school.

The general rule is that pupils bring property to school at their own risk. There may be situations where the school accepts responsibility for pupils’ property, but otherwise the Council is not responsible if property is lost, damaged or stolen in school.

Personal Accident/Travel Cover – Educational Excursions

Persons Covered:  Organisers, participants, members, employees and others on excursions or trips organised by or under the auspices of the Council.

When Covered: While participating in any activity organised by or on behalf of the Council beyond the limit of the school grounds.

If you require further information please contact the Council’s Insurance Team on 07387 243095.

NHS Forth Valley has a statutory obligation to provide health services for all school age children. The aim is to ensure that all children and young people, throughout their school years, are in the best possible health to benefit from their education.

School Nursing Service

School Nurses are available Monday – Friday between 8.30 am and 4.30 pm all year round, excluding public holidays and weekends. School Nurses are part of the integrated community team and are based in local health centres and clinics.

The School Nurse Team offer health screening, health assessments, health reviews, health promotion and health interventions when required.

A health screen and review of the child’s growth is offered to all children in Primary 1. This involves a parent questionnaire and the opportunity of an appointment with the school nurse to discuss any parental concerns.

The School Nursing Team comprises of:

School Nurses

Family Support Workers

Children/young people, parents/carers may request a health appointment at any time by contacting the service on 01786 468272.

Referral to the School Nursing Service can be made by Education, Social Work, GP or any other health care professional using the appropriate Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) documentation.

School and Nursery Meals

Schools and nursery lunches are an important part of the day, encouraging our children to eat a nutritious lunch. The lunchtime experience plays a huge part in developing a child’s relationship with food, understanding where food comes from, the health benefits to our bodies and the opportunity to experiment and taste new foods.

The Scottish Government introduced changes to the Nutritional Standards for Food and Drinks Regulations within Schools in April 2021. The changes to the regulations are based on the most up to date scientific evidence on diet and are designed to support the health of children and young people within our education settings. The food and drink provided across the day is designed to support the Scottish Dietary Goals. This will ensure all children and young people receiving a meal have access to nutritionally balanced lunches. We are committed to provide healthy, nutritious and good value for money meal options in all our Nurseries, Primaries and Secondary Schools.

Every P1 to P5 pupil is entitled to a free meal. We would encourage parents to access this meal as there are benefits to having a meal. The focus is on an enjoyable lunchtime experience for all children.

All 3 and 4 year old children and eligible 2 year olds are entitled to a free meal if they are in nursery for more than 4 hours accessing a funded session. Parents may still choose to provide a packed meal if preferred. During unfunded sessions, parents can purchase a meal if they choose to do so. In addition to meals, all nurseries will provide a morning snack and afternoon snack. There will be no cost for this during funded or unfunded sessions. Snacks will include Scottish Government funding milk and a portion of fruit/vegetables.

Our Nurseries and Primary schools offer a two course lunch menu with a choice of main meal, and either a starter or dessert. The menu runs on a three week cycle and has plenty of healthy and popular meals on offer for pupils. Menus and current prices can be viewed on the Council’s website, https://www.stirling.gov.uk/learning-education/schools/school-meals-uniforms/.

Pupils and parents have an opportunity to provide feedback and have their say regarding the development of future menus and always welcome suggestions for improvement.

Where a child or young person has an allergy or requires a specific diet, this can be catered for in most circumstances however, this must be communicated clearly to the Catering Supervisor, discussed and a clear plan agreed. Full allergen assessment information will be available in every school kitchen. The Medically prescribed diet policy must be followed at all times and documentation completed by parents.

Pupils and parents have an opportunity to provide feedback and have their say regarding the development of future menus and always welcome suggestions for improvement.

Parent Pay

Parent pay is a web-based application that provides a facility for parents to pay online for school & nursery meals, trips, music tuition etc. Parents will benefit from being able to make on line payments for meals using a secure website at any time that is convenient. Parents can view all transactions online and see their running balances. Parents can also pre order pupil lunches via the website. This makes it a safer method of payment, instead of children taking cash into schools and nurseries. For more information, please go to https://www.parentpay.com/

Food for Life served here

Stirling Council has been a member of the FFL accreditation scheme since 2012. The FFL accreditation providers must achieve the thirteen standards of the Bronze Food Life which include 75% of all dishes on the menu to be freshly prepared on site. The Food for Life Catering Mark is an endorsement from the Soil Association Scotland that as caterers we have taken steps to ensure that the food that we serve uses fresh ingredients which are free from undesirable additives and trans fats, are better for animal welfare and comply with national nutrition standards:

• Our meals do not contain any undesirable food additives, hydrogenated fats or GM ingredients.

• Over 75% of our dishes are freshly prepared every day by our cooks.

• All of the meat we use is traceable and from farms which satisfy UK welfare standards.

• All of the eggs we use are free range from cage free hens.

• We offer a seasonal menu.

• We provide ongoing training for our dedicated team of catering staff.

• We ensure our meals comply with the national nutritional standards set out by the Scottish Government.

• We provide information for children about where their food comes from.

• Poultry, eggs and pork are produced in line with the standards set for the Freedom Food Scheme, a welfare minimum or 10% of ingredients are organic. All of the milk we use in our recipes and the children drink is certified local organic milk.

• A range of locally sourced items are on the menu.

• No fish is served from the Marine Conservation Society “fish to avoid list“.

We are proud of our Silver Food for life accreditation for all our meals, promoting food provenance, freshly preparing foods free from nasty additives colourings and preservatives. More information about the standard can be found on the Soil Association website, https://www.soilassociation.org/certification/foodservice/.

Stirling Council provides free transport to children who live more than two miles from their catchment school, or where there is no safe walking route available. Further information is available on the Stirling Council website at: https://www.stirling.gov.uk/learning-education/schools/school-travel-trips/school-transport

While schools have contingency planning in place to cope with a number of circumstances, sometimes it is necessary to close schools or amend the normal school day. e.g., storm damage, power cut.

In the event of this happening, we have to ensure school record of parents’ place of employment and childcare arrangements are up to date. Please make sure we have an emergency contact telephone number and address. We will issue an annual update form to check the accuracy of contact details and other information held by the school.

Please make sure your child knows who to go to if you are not at home.

Digital Tools for Learning and Teaching

In Stirling Council schools and nurseries, we use a variety of digital tools for learning and teaching, to share information about the life of the school, communicate with parents and carers, and to celebrate success. Use of many of these tools requires sharing some personal data about your child with the providers of the services. This may include, for example, children’s names, classes and photographs. For some services, we will need your consent to share personal data.

Core Digital Services

Across Stirling Council, we use Glow and Google Workspace for Education Plus for learning and teaching. Data is shared with these services under the legal basis of public task - use of these services is deemed essential for learning and teaching, and we have legal agreements in place with both Education Scotland and Google to ensure that personal data is kept safe (see our Privacy Notices for our use of these services).

Likewise, SEEMiS is used to securely manage children and young people’s personal data, including sensitive category data (such as information about their health). This data sharing is also done under the legal basis of public task, and appropriate agreements are in place to ensure the data is securely managed.

Digital Services Requiring Consent

Data Protection Impact Assessment procedures are followed for digital tools used while in school. For some processes involving digital tools, we will seek consent of parents/carers and the young people themselves when they are aged 12 and over.

Data Protection laws say that the Council must be transparent about how we process personal data.

This Register of Data Processing sets out the Council’s activities that involve the collection and use of personal information and the reason why we can process your information lawfully.

Privacy Notice

For each activity, we publish a Privacy Notice setting out how personal data is used.

We are legally obliged to safeguard public funds so we are required to verify and check your details internally for fraud prevention. We may share this information with other public bodies (and also receive information from these other bodies) for fraud checking purposes.

We are also legally obliged to share certain data with other public bodies, such as HMRC and will do so where the law requires this. We will also generally comply with requests for specific information from other regulatory and law enforcement bodies where this is necessary and appropriate.

Your information is also analysed internally to help us improve our services. This is covered in our Fraud Privacy statement.

Privacy Notices are available on the Council website, https://www.stirling.gov.uk/council-democracy/access-to-information/register-of-personal-data-processing-privacy-notice/.

Parentzone Scotland is a unique website for parents and carers in Scotland, from early years to beyond school. The website provides up-to-date information about learning in Scotland, and practical advice and ideas to support children’s learning at home in literacy, numeracy, health and wellbeing and science.  

Information is also available on Parentzone Scotland regarding additional support needs, how parents can get involved in their child’s school and education. Furthermore, the website has details about schools including performance data for school leavers from S4-S6; and links to the national, and local authority and school level data on the achievement of Curriculum for Excellence levels.

Parentzone Scotland can be accessed at https://education.gov.scot/parentzone.

The 2025/2026 school year starts on 12 August 2026.  This is the only date for beginning school education for that year.

All children who are five years old on or before 12 August 2026 are of school age and must start their primary school education on 16 August 2026, children who are five years old between 12 August 2026 and 28 February 2027 may start their primary school education on 12 August 2026.

If your child is starting their primary school education in August 2026, or if you are choosing to defer their entry into primary school to August 2025, you must enrol them at their catchment school by 31 January 2026. Details of school catchment areas and further information on our enrolment procedures can be found by visiting our website www.stirling.gov.uk or by contacting us on 01786 233185. Should you wish your child to attend a primary school other than their catchment school you are still required to enrol them in the catchment school and submit a placing request for the school of your choice. We have now moved to online enrolments and request that you complete the online enrolment form which can be found on our website www.stirling.gov.uk. As part of the enrolment process we are required to check the residency of all parents wishing to enrol their child at their catchment school, you will be required to scan and upload a copy of your child’s birth certificate, and two of the following - child benefit book/award letter, tax credit/universal credit award letter, two recent household utility bills or a recent council tax bill. If you are unable to use our online enrolment form or scan and upload the necessary documents please contact the school who will be able to assist.

Gaelic Medium Provision

Gaelic Medium Provision is available at Riverside Primary School, Forrest Road, Stirling tel: 01786 474128 email: rvrsdeps@stirling.gov.uk .  Any parent wishing to enrol their child in our gaelic medium provision should contact the school for further information. 

Notice to Parents and Guardians of Children due to Transfer from Primary to Secondary School

Children currently in P7 will transfer from primary to secondary education in August 2026.  You will receive notification of transfer arrangements through your primary school and your child will be automatically enrolled in their catchment secondary school. Should you wish your child to attend a secondary school that is not their catchment school a placing request must be submitted.

Placing Requests for Session 2026/2027

In accordance with the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 as amended, Stirling Council hereby informs parents or guardians who wish to make a placing request for the school session 2026-2027, to do so online no later than 15 March 2026. Your right applies to a request that your child be placed in a school other than the school which normally serves the area in which you live. It applies to a primary school or, where appropriate, the transfer to a secondary school, including a school providing for children with additional support needs. You can apply online at https://www.stirling.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/schools/placing-requests/make-a-placing-request/ It is essential that you enrol your child at their catchment school even if you are making a placing request for another school, this ensures that should the placing request be unsuccessful they still have a place at their catchment school. Please note that school transport is not provided for children and young people attending a school on a placing request.

Schools Information

Information on local authority schools in Stirling Council is available on our website www.stirling.gov.uk or by contacting us on 01786 233185. 

Parents wishing to apply for enrolment to  St Modan’s High School should contact the school to discuss enrolment policy. Details are also available on the Council website www.stirling.gov.uk

Stirling Council

Schools, Learning and Education

October 2025

Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) supports families by making sure children and young people can receive the right help, at the right time, from the right people. The aim is to help them to grow up feeling loved, safe and respected so that they can realise their full potential.

Key elements of GIRFEC are:

• Wellbeing
• Named Person
• Child’s Plan

Wellbeing

To help achieve a common understanding of what wellbeing means, it is broken into 8 wellbeing indicators.

Every child and young person should be Safe, Healthy, Active, Nurtured, Achieving, Respected, Responsible, Included.

Each child is unique and there is no set level of wellbeing that children should achieve. Each child should be helped to reach their full potential as an individual. 

Named Person

Most children get all the help they need from their families and communities but for some, they may need extra help at times.

Children from birth to 18 or their parents, will have access to a named person to help them get the support they need. The named person will be a clear point of contact for families. For school age children, the named person will be a promoted member of staff.

Children, young people or their families can expect their contact to respond to their wellbeing needs, to respect their rights, choice, privacy and diversity. Children should be included in decisions that affect them. There is no obligation on children and families to accept the offer of advice or support from a named person.

More information is available on the Scottish Government website: https://www.gov.scot/policies/girfec/.

Child’s Plan

A personalised child’s plan will be available when a child or young person needs a range of extra support planned, delivered and co-ordinated. The plan outlines what should improve for the child and the actions to be implemented and reviewed.

The child's plan is managed by a 'lead professional' i.e. someone with the right skills and experience to make sure the plan is managed and reviewed regularly. Depending on the situation and the child's needs, the lead professional may also be the named person.

The child and parent/s and carer/s will know what information is being shared, with whom and for what purpose, and their views will be taken into account. This may not happen in exceptional cases, such as where there is a concern for the safety of a child, young person or someone else.

Stirling educational establishments have long established staged intervention procedures which provide appropriate and proportionate assessment, planning and review to ensure children and young people have their individualised needs met. Further information is detailed in Staged Intervention Guidance.