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2023
June
Limited or Lack of Local School Age Childcare
March
SOSCN's letter to First Minister Candidates
January
Children's safeguarding at risk in unregulated out of school settings in England
2022
December
Staying Safe and Professional Online as a Social Care Worker
November
Reconnecting - to care for others you need to care for yourself
Access to Childcare Fund - The Learning So Far
September
It's good to chat - SSSC Codes of Practice Conversation
Having a ball in the holidays
August
Superheroes are real- they work in school age childcare
March
A time for change- reflection on the 2021 OSC Workforce Survey Results
2021
August
Stories of Summer 2021
April
Scottish Parliament Election Manifesto Overview 2021
March
The longest year- a reflection
February
The Finnish way to a happier childhood - Putting Children First
2020
November
Reflections on the Week
September
Re-opening services - keeping your staff onside!
Low pay and limited hours are push and pull factors which create a churn in the Out of School Care Workforce
April
Reflections on our journey and the way ahead
March
Coronavirus Covid-19 Potential Impact on Out of School Care, Breakfast and Holiday Clubs
Coronavirus Covid-19 Information Update Monday 2nd March 2020
February
Promising Children - a brief overview of the Care Review
2019
November
OSC draft framework consultation- the time to have your say is now!
Working to live or struggling to get by? Why the Real Living Wage is important.
October
Welcome proposal for free holiday childcare
Giving Parents and Children a say in the Framework for Out of School Care
Out of School Care in Scotland Continues to Grow
April
Success for our STEM Champions in Out of School Care
OSC Workforce - Most Recent Scottish Social Services Council Statistics
Training Opportunities for Out of School Care services- a selection of what's available
March
Supporting OSC Across the Country
February
Recent International policy and research briefing for members February 2019
Equal play? Does your service support or challenge gender stereotypes and roles?
CHANGE Project and T.I.C.T.A.C.S. - low cost quality template test of change
2018
August
Animal Magic- animals in care settings and children in animal settings...
July
Top free foody activities you can do over the summer break
March
Out of School Care - believing that children matter
Low pay and limited hours are push and pull factors which create a churn in the Out of School Care Workforce

We recently published the results from our 'Workforce' and, 'Recruitment and Retention' Surveys from 2019; publication was delayed from earlier in the year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

What did we find out? Along with plenty positives there were a number of concerns or issues which continue to weaken the sector by encouraging a 'workforce churn': these issues mostly related to pay, work hours and conditions as opposed to the day-to-day practice of caring for children, which for the most part, staff enjoy.

It was positive to see that overall, 77% of staff saw working in OSC as a career with only 9% saying they didn't. Likewise, 66% said they were very satisfied in their job with only 1% saying they weren't. Those saying they were very satisfied represents a 10% increase on last year.

Furthermore, it was heartening to see that working with children, building positive relationships, seeing children develop and having fun were cited as the best things about working in out of school care, which in turn show the workforce's commitment to deliver the best possible wellbeing outcomes for children.

Although children's behaviour was seen to be the biggest challenge about working in OSC, this was followed by staffing issues, premises issues, lack of professional recognition and limited hours or times of work. And when asked what the workforce would most like to see change, the most common answers related to more or different work hours, the OSC being based in its own premises, greater professional recognition, and better wages. (That said, it should be recognised that the 5th most popular response was that 'nothing' needs to change.)

It has been long reported by the sector that insufficient hours and low wages are amongst the 'push' and 'pull' factors responsible for the ongoing loss of staff from OSC, which has been further exacerbated in recent years by the increased number of Early Learning and Childcare jobs to cover the 1140 hours expansion. The results from our Recruitment and Retention Survey to some extent supported these impressions.

Of the services which had lost staff in 2019, most said that the staff members had moved to different jobs, although some had returned to college/university or left for personal reasons. Of those who had moved to another job, most were either to Early Learning and Childcare positions or a job outwith the childcare sector. Only a small proportion of staff moved to jobs in other OSC services. The most common reasons given for movement of staff were more hours and increased pay.

Of course, not all staff are low paid- as always, we found that OSC staff pay in OSC varies greatly across the country. Whilst we have a talented professional workforce committed to providing the best outcomes for children, at times pay and conditions means that they are forced to leave the sector to find more financially lucrative work. Workforce churn can create instability and ultimately potentially compromises the quality of services which means that children lose out.

Download and read SOSCN's 'Out of School Care Workforce Survey 2019':

https://soscn.org/downloads/research/OSC_Workforce_Survey_Results_2019.pdf

Download and read SOSCN's 'Recruitment and Retention 2019 Survey':

https://soscn.org/downloads/research/recruitment-and-retention-survey-results-2019.pdf

Pensions
SOSCN Professional Development Book Club - First Book
Social Care: Independent Review of Inspection, Scrutiny and Regulation in Scotland - call for evidence
Communication and Engagement with Parents and Carers
National Outcomes Review 2023
Inquiry into Child Poverty and Parental Employment
Adverse Weather and Extreme Temperature
Dec 2023
A Quality Framework for Early Learning and Childcare, School Aged Childcare and Childminding Services
Mar 2024