National Improvement Hub – Sketchnotes

Education Scotland has been sharing some ‘Sketchnotes’ on the National Improvement Hub as a way of sharing effective practice and inspection highlights.

Education Scotland state:

“Education Scotland wanted to find some new ways of sharing effective practice identified during inspections. Using a sketchnote is a popular approach for providing a visual journey of activities. Sketchnotes provide a visual description of the practice and approaches which HM Inspectors have observed during scrutiny activities and are worth sharing more widely.”

Each ‘sketchnote’ example is accompanied by further background information, video interviews with staff, PDF examples and reflective questions to use individually or as a staff team to help you reflect on your own practice and identify any areas for improvement.

Click here for the full list of ‘sketchnote’ examples available on Education Scotland National Improvement Hub

ELC examples provided include:  

Cornton NurseryOwnership of vision, aims and values

 Riccarton Early Childhood CentreUsing data to ensure progress

Green Acres Nursery –  Transition processes at all stages

Scottish Government Awards

Scottish Government ELC Innovation Award

These  ELC Innovation Awards (previously Settings of Innovation and Impact) are now open for applications and will close on Monday, 13th January 2020.

These awards celebrate and highlight innovative initiatives that improve children’s learning and provides funding and support to further develop them.

Any setting delivering funded ELC can apply for a grant of up to £5,000 to develop their innovative practice.

Up to 10 successful settings will receive funding, training, and support from experts to improve and share their success at a national level. 

Click here for further information and how to apply

ELC Inclusion Fund Award

The ELC Inclusion Fund is also currently open for applications and will close on the 2nd December at noon.

The ELC Inclusion Fund provides funding to ELC settings to support children with additional support needs (ASN) in Scotland access their funded ELC entitlement. It funds staff working in ELC settings to receive appropriate training and fund resources, equipment and adaptations.

Draft Quality Framework for Early Learning and Childcare

A quality framework for early learning and childcare services

Care Inspectorate is looking for feedback on the draft quality framework for early learning and childcare services.

All early learning and childcare services, including nurseries, playgroups, family centres, childminders, and out-of-school care, are being invited to comment on the Care Inspectorate’s draft quality framework.

The framework will be used by services to evaluate how well they are doing and also by inspectors when they are inspecting services.

The short survey consists of 10 questions and will take no longer than 5 mins to complete. You can provide feedback as an individual or on behalf of an organization.

You can download the draft quality framework here.

You can complete the survey here

Closing date for ELC Inclusion Fund

Applications for the ‘Early Learning and Childcare Inclusion Fund’ will close on Monday 2 December at 12pm.

The Scottish Government’s ELC Inclusion Fund provides funding to early learning and childcare settings to support children with additional support needs to fully benefit from their funded ELC entitlement. All settings that offer ELC funded places can apply.

CLICK HERE for further information

CLICK HERE to access the online application form, case studies, and other guidance documents.

New Highland Council Safety Bulletin

Socket covers and square adapters safety information

Highland Council has released a safety bulletin on the use of socket covers which replaces the use of socket covers originally issued in 2016.

CLICK HERE to be directed to the Early Learning and Childcare in Highland blog to read the full safety information. This includes links to two very informative short videos that we encourage you to take time to watch.

 

 

Tools, resources and links to support practice

Education Scotland, National Improvement Hub: An Empowered System 

This guidance resource is for everyone involved in working together to improve children and young people’s outcomes.

Education Scotland explains:

“this is a developing resource designed to support our empowered system in its collective endeavour to improve children and young people’s outcomes. The draft jigsaw and supporting guidance explore the contributions of eight key partners in an empowered system. They encourage collaboration, collegiality and mutual respect between all partners”

The guidance resource focuses on the 8 partners to inspire empowerment and collaboration for improvement at all levels, including:

  • Empowering Parents and Carers guidance
  • Empowering Partners guidance
  • Empowering Teachers and Practitioners

For further information and access to the document visit THE NATIONAL IMPROVEMENT HUB


Improving children and young people’s understanding of their wellbeing

Children in Scotland was commissioned by the Scottish Government to produce this guidance resource with the aim to support children and young people’s understanding of their wellbeing.

The resource has been developed in response to the views of children, young people, teachers and practitioners who stated they would want a resource that provided activities that were ‘fun, creative and engaging’.

For those working with children in the early level, pages 6 – 23 of the resource contain a variety of different experiences to provide for children to help them explore wellbeing. All the suggested experiences focus around the story “There’s a Spider in my Hair” which is readily available online. There are also templates to support the experiences along with further reading and resources.

Click here for further information and to access the resource

Click here to access the e-book ‘There is a spider in my hair’

 

 

 


Parent Club

Parent Club is a new site full of helpful advice and information for parents and families with children of all ages,  for example, information on how to balance screen time supported with ’25 screen-free activities’ and ‘Tips to avoid a strop at the shop!’

This is an excellent site for settings to signpost their parents too through notice boards, social media, home links, etc. Click here to visit the site.

Safety Concerns are raised about the ‘Tik Tok App’

TikTok (formerly called Musical.ly) is a social media platform that lets you create, share and discover 15-second videos. You can use music and effects to enhance your videos and you can also browse other people’s videos and interact with them.

This app has recently been a focus in the news, highlighting some safety concerns about ‘users’ privacy’ etc.

Read the article from BBC News, published 7/11/19

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50319690

Further information about app can be found on the NSPCC Net Aware website

Safer Recruitment Through Better Recruitment Good Practice Guidance

At a time when there are so many exciting job opportunities within the Childcare sector, we thought it might be useful to remind everyone of the ‘Safe Recruitment through Better Recruitment’ guidance.

This joint resource from the SSSC and Care Inspectorate was published in 2016 as:

 “good practice guidance intended to help employers, especially those in social care, early education and childcare and social work to meet existing legislative and regulatory requirements in relation to the safer recruitment and selection of people who work with individuals who receive support and care from social services in Scotland”

Download ‘Safe Recruitment through Better Recruitment’ by clicking here. 

Family Learning in Scotland 2019 survey

Education Scotland – Family Learning in Scotland 2019 survey

Education Scotland is looking for all practitioners working with children and families pre-birth -18 years to share their views in their short online survey on family learning:

“Education Scotland is gathering information on what Family Learning programmes and professional development opportunities are being delivered across Scotland. This will help take forward the commitments in the Learning Together Action Plan and National Improvement Framework. Responses will be used to help support the quality of family learning provision and professional learning in Scotland”

The survey should take around 10 minutes to complete.

Click here to access the survey

Click here to access ‘Learning together: national action plan on parental involvement, engagement, family learning and learning at home 2018 – 2021’

Continuous Professional Learning Opportunities

Upcoming Continuous Professional Learning Opportunities (CPL) in NOVEMBER

Over the month of NOVEMBER, there are a variety of CPL opportunities across Highland. Click through the slides below and use the links to find further information and booking details about the individual sessions. 

Don’t forget to regularly check in at www.careandlearningalliance.co.uk and www.calaelearning.co.uk for up to date information on upcoming training and new e-learning modules being added.