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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
Superheroes are real- they work in school age childcare

Over recent months we have been working with Spring Oscars, a multi-site school age childcare service based primarily in Edinburgh, and earlier this week we were privileged to be asked to participate in an induction day for their large staff team. Knowing that earlier, staff would have taken part in sessions on policies, procedures and safeguarding we wanted to provide an opportunity to left off some steam, to play, be creative and most importantly, have some fun. Sounds familiar? Yes, there's not much difference between wee kids and big ones, and at SOSCN we believe everyone needs to have fun in school age childcare.

With a ready supply of papers, scissors (but no rocks), pens, tape, lollipop sticks, pipe cleaners and variously coloured post-its we tasked groups to create their 'Super Hero Playworker' by highlighting the super powers and accessories required to work in school age childcare. After 20 minutes of chat, laughter, cutting, gluing, drawing and building we had 11 individual Superheroes: 'Wonder Wendy', 'Captain Care', 'Wizard of Imagination' and 'SHANARRI guy' were amongst those who took to the floor.

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Although individual, there were threads of commonality in the powers displayed:

“big heart”, “eyes in the back of head”, “super-sensitive hearing”, “extra hands and arms”, “mind reader”, “sense of humour”, “super-speed”, and “super-listening” being the most common. Some of the more unique powers included “can see round corners”, “ability to divide self in order to be in different places at different times” and “able to freeze time”. In addition to capes our superheroes had “weather appropriate clothes”, “comfortable shoes”, “safety goggles”, a “Mary Poppins bag of tricks”, “a lightbulb for all the great ideas”, as well as an endless supply of ice packs. These 'powers' and accessories are no doubt familiar to many of you.

The activity allowed staff to a) have fun b) be creative with very cheap and limited resources, and c) highlight the skills required to be a great out of school childcare practitioner. Staff also clearly demonstrated their passion and enthusiasm for the job throughout the whole exercise.

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Of course, safeguarding, regulation and legislation are important but so too are play, having fun and creating a happy atmosphere, so let's add 'happy' and 'having fun' to the wellbeing outcomes. Let's make out of school care not just the best place for children but also the best place for staff.

We also know that despite all the difficulties the workforce face on a daily basis there's so much passion, invention, creativity and enthusiasm in staff that needs to be released and used for good- often the best things in life are not only free but also already within our powers.

Onwards Wizards of Imagination, we salute thee!

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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