Congratulations to #Openingdooors graduate Shona Beveridge for winning the HTSI 2019 Youth Volunteer of the Year award!
Shona continues to volunteer at our out of school clubs alongside volunteering at her local Rainbows and as speaker and influencer for the Niemann-Pick UK Charity.
Shona is passionate about volunteering, especially for the Niemann-Pick UK charity. Last year Shona spoke at the 2018 conference where she shared her story of her own diagnosis of Niemann-Pick Type C.
At the age of 15 Shona was diagnosed with Niemann-Pick Type C. This is a rare genetic condition that effects 1 in 110,000 people and which there is no current treatment or cure. Shona has courageously taken part in a medical trial for treatment which saw her travelling to Birmingham every fortnight for a spinal injection. However, this didn’t stop Shona completing her education at Millburn Academy, volunteering or achieving her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award last summer!
Shona doesn’t see her condition as a disadvantage, she sees it as an opportunity. “If I didn’t have Niemann-Pick Type C I wouldn’t have been able to take part in the Rickshaw Challenge”. The 2017 Rickshaw Challenge saw Shona and the team cycle 500 miles and raise over £5,000,000 for Children In Need!
Despite all of these incredible achievements Shona faces daily challenges as her mobility changes but she doesn’t let this stop her. When asked recently what she felt she was gaining by volunteering Shona said, “Volunteering has helped me grow in confidence, I’ve learned new things, met lots of new people, it’s made me feel useful and part of the community. I really love helping the children with their arts and crafts activities and organising games for them”. “Taking part in #Openingdoors helped me grow in confidence and I have built great relationships with all the children when I volunteer at the Out of School Club. Meeting regularly with Kirsty (Mentoring Support Officer) helped me to gain more skills and keep me on track! I have also completed online courses through CALA in Child Protection and Risk Assessment”.
We are all incredibly proud of Shona here at CALA and we are sure you will agree that she is truly an inspiration.
Click on the slides below to see a small glimpse of the celebrations at the event.
The Highland Third Sector Representation Pathway
/0 Comments/in Blog update /by ICT AdminCOMMITTEES/GROUPS/PARTNERSHIPS OPEN FOR NOMINATION FOR THIRD SECTOR REPRESENTATIVES
Click here for details of group guide and nomination form
The Highland Third Sector Representation Pathway
The following Committees/Groups/Partnerships are open for Third Sector Representatives nomination then selection on the 22nd of November at the Highland Third Sector Assembly.
To nominate for one or more of the opportunities below please email [email protected] with the following information clearly listed:
Name of the individual nominated:
Link/connection to the Third Sector in Highland: i.e. their paid or voluntary role(s)
A short bio outlining the skills relevant to the role being nominated for. (Maximum 150 words)
Nominations and the information provided will be circulated to the HTSI membership prior to the Assembly for democratic selection on the 22nd of November 2018 at the Highland Third Sector Assembly.
Please note that nominations must be returned to the HTSI no later than 5pm on the 31 October.
Safe Sleep Scotland Workshop
/0 Comments/in Training /by ICT AdminSafe Sleep Scotland will be delivering a FREE ‘Safe Sleep’ education session for professionals in health and childcare on:
Thursday 7th November
5-6.30pm
CALA, Kintail House, Inverness IV2 3BW.
This session will help raise your awareness of how we can reduce the risks of sudden and unexpected death in infancy occurring and good practice to support a baby or young child’s sleep.
Click here to book online or call the CALA office on 01463 222569
SOSCN Regional Events
/0 Comments/in Uncategorised /by ICT AdminSOSCN is pleased to confirm that the Scottish Government’s OSC team will be joining them at their regional events for OSC services to have the opportunity to help shape the next development stage of the National Framework for Out of School Care in Scotland.
The draft framework on Out of School Care sets out what the government knows about the out of school care sector in Scotland and asks questions about what the Scottish Government can do to support families in accessing high quality, flexible and affordable services which benefit children and parents and carers
Tuesday 5th November, 7 – 9pm @ Kintail House, Inverness IV2 3BW
Wednesday 6th November, 10am – 12.30pm @ Kintail House, Inverness IV2 3BW (Registration opens at 9.30am)
Please complete a booking form and return it to [email protected]
Click here to access further information and booking form
Out of school care consultation
/0 Comments/in Blog update, Guidance /by ICT AdminScottish Government: Consultation on Out of School Care
Click here to access the document
The Scottish Government is inviting all organisations involved in supporting children and families to respond to the consultation. Scottish Government is also asking organisations to share and encourage all stakeholders to also input to the consultation.
CLICK HERE for further information on tools, events, etc. to support this.
Please follow this link for the consultation: https://consult.gov.scot/children-and-families/out-of-school-care/
A new guide to self-evaluation for care services
/0 Comments/in Guidance /by ICT AdminSelf-evaluation for improvement – your guide
The Care Inspectorate have published a new guide to support all care services in undertaking self-evaluation.
This useful document provides clear guidance and information on topics such as:
The Care Inspectorate states:
“We support improvement and we want to empower services to evaluate their own performance. This guide helps services across all care settings understand how they can do that. We believe that self-evaluation can be a powerful tool to identify what’s working well and to identify and support improvement. We want all services to undertake self-evaluation. We see self-evaluation as a process that the care service leads on and it is for you to determine the frequency and focus of your self-evaluation” (page 2: Self-evaluation for improvement – your guide)
Click on the photo to access the document
Early Learning and Childcare
/0 Comments/in Uncategorised /by ICT AdminNational Induction Resource
The Scottish Government’s ‘National Induction Resource for ELC’ is a comprehensive tool to support robust induction for new starts in ELC as we progress with 1140 hours expansion.
Along with step by step advice and information, there are links to useful free or low-cost CPL inks including:
These are also useful resources for practitioners wishing to refresh or develop aspects of practice.
Click on the picture to download the resource
Revised guidance from Care Inspectorate
/0 Comments/in Child Protection /by ICT AdminThe guidance document ‘A quality framework for children and young people in need of care and protection’ (revised August 2019) provides a quality improvement framework for community planning partnerships to support self-evaluation of services for children and young people in need of care and protection and is designed to lead to improvement in services.
Click here to access the document
Fortrose Pre-school
/0 Comments/in Fortrose Pre-School /by ICT AdminCleaner
6.25 hours per week at £8.21 per hour
1.25 hours, Monday to Friday, term time only
Closing date: Monday 23rd September 2019
Interview date: Monday 7th October 2019
Download Your Application Pack here:
Job Remit
Equal Opportunities Form
Application Form
All completed forms (Application, & Equal Opportunities) should be emailed to: [email protected] or posted to:
Care and Learning Alliance
Unit 3 Bridgend Business Park
Dingwall IV15 9SL
For any other queries concerning this post, please email: [email protected] or phone Gillian on: 01349 866749.
This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974(Exclusions and Exceptions) (Scotland) Order 2013 and the Amendment Order 2018.
The successful applicant will be required to become a member of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme.
Scottish Charity No. SC034557
CALA is an Equal Opportunities Employer
CALA’s #Openingdoors graduate wins award
/0 Comments/in Blog update, openingdoors, Volunteers /by ICT AdminCongratulations to #Openingdooors graduate Shona Beveridge for winning the HTSI 2019 Youth Volunteer of the Year award!
Shona continues to volunteer at our out of school clubs alongside volunteering at her local Rainbows and as speaker and influencer for the Niemann-Pick UK Charity.
Shona is passionate about volunteering, especially for the Niemann-Pick UK charity. Last year Shona spoke at the 2018 conference where she shared her story of her own diagnosis of Niemann-Pick Type C.
At the age of 15 Shona was diagnosed with Niemann-Pick Type C. This is a rare genetic condition that effects 1 in 110,000 people and which there is no current treatment or cure. Shona has courageously taken part in a medical trial for treatment which saw her travelling to Birmingham every fortnight for a spinal injection. However, this didn’t stop Shona completing her education at Millburn Academy, volunteering or achieving her Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award last summer!
Shona doesn’t see her condition as a disadvantage, she sees it as an opportunity. “If I didn’t have Niemann-Pick Type C I wouldn’t have been able to take part in the Rickshaw Challenge”. The 2017 Rickshaw Challenge saw Shona and the team cycle 500 miles and raise over £5,000,000 for Children In Need!
Despite all of these incredible achievements Shona faces daily challenges as her mobility changes but she doesn’t let this stop her. When asked recently what she felt she was gaining by volunteering Shona said, “Volunteering has helped me grow in confidence, I’ve learned new things, met lots of new people, it’s made me feel useful and part of the community. I really love helping the children with their arts and crafts activities and organising games for them”. “Taking part in #Openingdoors helped me grow in confidence and I have built great relationships with all the children when I volunteer at the Out of School Club. Meeting regularly with Kirsty (Mentoring Support Officer) helped me to gain more skills and keep me on track! I have also completed online courses through CALA in Child Protection and Risk Assessment”.
We are all incredibly proud of Shona here at CALA and we are sure you will agree that she is truly an inspiration.
Click on the slides below to see a small glimpse of the celebrations at the event.
Young carers: seen, heard and supported e- learning modules
/0 Comments/in Blog update, Training, Uncategorised /by ICT AdminA survey carried out in Highland in 2017, estimated that 11.5% of young people were carrying out some sort of caring role. The actual number of young carers is suspected to be much higher as many young people are not being or wishing to be identified as having a caring role.
Connecting Young Carers (in collaboration with CALA) have developed an e-learning module to help raise awareness amongst professionals about the role of young carers, the challenges this can present for the young carers and ‘The Carers (Scotland) Act 2016’.
A young person’s version of the module is also available to be used by secondary aged pupils. This module can be accessed individually by young people or as part of a group to increase their awareness of young carers.
Both modules are a blend of media presentation (including short video clips, animations, useful handouts to download and interactive tasks – all designed to suit individual learning styles.
Connecting Young Carers are launching both modules on Friday, 6th September 2 – 3.30pm at Eden Court Theatre. Spaces are still available at the launch and can be booked at:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/connecting-young-carers-e-learning-launch-tickets-70004279685
Alternatively, if you would like further information or to register and complete the free module, visit:
www.calaelearning.co.uk
For further information about Connecting Young Carers, visit their website at:
https://connectingcarers.org.uk/carers-services/connecting-young-carers.aspx
Out of School Care Consultation
/0 Comments/in Blog update, Guidance, Parents /by ICT AdminThe Scottish Government is now seeking the thoughts and views of children, parents, carers and professionals in the sector on what they think about out of school care and what else Scottish Government could do.
Your views and opinions are a vital part of this process and we would encourage everyone with an interest to take part.
Click here to access the consultation and submit your comments.
Care Inspectorate Hub – Outdoor Learning Guidance Tools
/0 Comments/in Blog update, Building the Ambition, Guidance, Play /by ICT AdminOutdoor Learning
Guidance Tools available on the Care Inspectorate Hub
Children in our CALA centres have come back after their summer holidays and got straight back into exploring their outdoor play environments and favourite spaces in their communities. Lots of exploring, investigating and discoveries have already been made by the children and observations, interests and ideas captured to inform future planning.
With the national focus on Outdoor Learning and as we plan our outdoor environments and experiences, we thought it might be a timely reminder to highlight some of the valuable tools to help support good practice in your ELC setting on the ‘Care Inspectorate Hub’ Click on each of the documents to access.