showing commitment to implementation backed up by funding can be seen to be material in nature. By contrast, symbolic policies arise from political pressures. Rizvi and Lingard (2010) also make distinctions between distributive and redistributive policy. Distributive policies by nature, distribute resources, whilst redistributive policies put appropriate interventions in place promoting positive discrimination. Although the NIF could be seen as being idealistic in nature, the introduction and use of Pupil Equity Funding (PEF) implies that the NIF has a material policy element to it as there is strong commitment to its implementation, backed by the Pupil Equity Funding. It is also redistributive as a policy as interventions are put in place by schools promoting positive discriminations, focussing on young people who are eligible to receive the funding and for those in receipt of Free Meal Entitlement (FME). Underpinned by the NIF, Getting It Right for Every Child (GIRFEC) and Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) the Scottish Attainment Challenge (SAC) programme also seeks to put positive interventions in place for children and young people in a bid to help them achieve their full potential. It can be said that the Scottish Attainment Challenge has a more holistic approach in its vision as it seeks to improve activity in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. This is in stark contrast to the National Improvement Framework, as although a key priority in the NIF is to improve children and young people’s health and wellbeing, standardised assessment showing improvements in literacy and numeracy is a significant factor of the policy. The NIF poses significant challenges and has implications for schools around the school leadership driver as there is ambiguity on how to evaluate impact across professional practice and change within the local school context. The policy makes no reference as to effective change for improvement can or should be managed within schools or how to effectively measure improvements in health and wellbeing for children and young people.

Ensuring children and young people achieve their full potential and improvements being made in their health and wellbeing should be top of the agenda in Scotland. Indeed, the Additional Support for Learning Act (Scottish Government, 2009), defines the need to ensure that nurturing students emotional needs are a statutory requirement. Scottish legislation reflects a recognition of the need to improve wellbeing for all our children and young people. This need is emphasised in policies such as Curriculum for Excellence (2004), the Children and Young People (Scotland) Act 2014 and Getting It Right for Every Child: National Practice Model (Scottish Government 2012). Getting It Right for Every Child: National Practice Model (Scottish Government, 2012) also links in with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the C