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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
Re-opening services - keeping your staff onside!

SOSCN strongly encourages service leaders to consult regularly with your children, parents, staff team and committees, where this applies. Below is an example of good staff consultation as services re-opened in August.

The Aberdeen Council Childcare used materials SOSCN collated from the Guidance for School Age Childcare for Risk Assessment (WORD DOC) and cleaning routines as they re-opened. However, in addition to this, they conducted a very clear survey with their staff team across all of their services to make sure any concerns were met, and staff were confident in coming back. Some staff had worked all through this crisis as they provided critical childcare. Unsurprisingly, they were more confident than those coming back from furlough. Good to see in this survey questions on how children are coping with being back, and generally, they were happy and resilient.

Aberdeen Council have given us permission to share their full survey results here: OOSC Covid Return to Work Questionnaire (PDF)

Do have a cuppa, sit back and have a read of this interesting work and thank you to Dorothy Burnett, Louise Beaton and all the staff involved in the survey.

If other services want us to share their staff, parents and children survey work do send it on, with, of course, permission from those involved.

Some services are planning to re-open their holiday/all day care for October school breaks, please note that the Guidance for School Age Childcare is still the one to follow.

We hope everyone is enjoying and coping with being back and when you get a moment we are always happy to get your stories and photos to share in our newsletter so you can all exchange good ideas and practice.

Stay safe and well!

Irene Audain MBE CEO SOSCN

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