SOSCN NEWS

Giving Parents and Children a Say in the Framework for OSC

Calling all out of school care services please help parents and children submit their views on out of school care to the Scottish Government before the 6 December 2019.

The out of school care policy team have provided this Parent Pack for you to download and a form to submit their responses you gather, or for them to use themselves.

They can be downloaded here:

Parent Pack

Parent Pack Form

You can read the executive summary at this link

Please remember to respond to the consultation as an OSC service too! All views are needed to shape this valuable policy in the future, thank you, Irene

Respond to full consultation here: https://consult.gov.scot/children-and-families/out-of-school-care/

All illustrations from the Parent Pack.

Success for NEW Physical activities direct work with children

Our Physical Activity and Wellbeing Co-ordinator, Greig, is now offering bespoke direct work with groups of children and staff in your service during your all day holiday care sessions for half term, Easter and the summer holiday period.

Contact us well in advance to book a session to fit in with your own programme.

He successfully piloted this offer with children in Moss Out of School Care.

The children and staff alike enjoyed the sessions with children gaining the skills and confidence to lead their own activities and suggest new ideas - check out the photo below.

To book a two hour slot during your holiday sessions contact greig.cavanagh@soscn.org - Greig can tailor the programme to fit.

He can also participate and help with services coming together for sports and activities sessions in holiday periods - so if you have fun days planned book him too!

Welcome proposal for free holiday childcare

The most important aspect of this policy pledge by the First Minister, covered in the Herald article “Poorest primary school pupils to benefit from free childcare during school holidays” (16th October 2019) is the difference it will make to the lives of our most disadvantaged children. The article said, if re-elected, in the new Parliamentary term, her party proposes to provide free school holiday care for the 30% most disadvantaged primary school children; this will be an investment of millions of pounds.

Research has shown that it is the lowest income children who benefit the most from accessing the play, care and activities in good quality childcare for school age children, this includes improvement in literacy, numeracy and social skills. Children tell us they enjoy the fun and friendship, and opportunities for playing outside, as well as day trips in the holidays. Parents most of all want peace of mind knowing their children are being cared for, and yes, of course childcare helps them work or study, although that has to be year round, holiday care is the most expensive and out of reach so is a good place to start.

Holiday childcare can also ensure children get nutritious food and exercise for their health and wellbeing, help with the transition from nursery to school, and, if carefully integrated with existing professional out of school care and holiday services, help with the overall sustainability of childcare for children of school age, which supports all communities.

I strongly welcome this proposal and, just as we are doing with the development of a new policy Framework for Out of School Care in Scotland, we and the current sector, will do all we can to help make this a reality.

Irene Audain MBE
Chief Executive
Scottish Out of School Care Network

SOSCN TRAINING AND EVENTS

Activity and Wellbeing: First Steps Training (for staff), Glasgow, 4th Dec 2019

Training Overview

This training looks at barriers to physical activity, how these can be overcome and the importance of being active for supporting the healthy development of children.

Participants will be taken through the British Heart Foundation Active Pack, Set 4 Sport and British Heart Foundation: Early Movers resource which can be used actively in your service, all resources have been designed to be delivered with limited equipment and no prior knowledge or expertise in delivering physically activity. The trainer will support participants by talking them through the packs and demonstrating some of the activities (second hour).

This training will last for a total of 2 hours and will consist of an hour long information session covering many topics such as, Children’s Rights, the Wellbeing Wheel (specifically related to services), benefits of physical activity (children & adults), books and activity resources. A practical workshop will then take place involving physical activity participation of moderate intensity. Participants do not need any prior experience or skills and the activities are suitable for different ages and levels of fitness and all equipment will be supplied.

Date, Time and Venue

Evening of Wednesday 4th December, 6:30pm - 8:30pm, Albany Centre, Glasgow

Cost

£40 per person

Booking Information

Please complete a booking form and return this to training@soscn.org

Booking Form (.doc): Download

Booking Form (.pdf): Download

Please return completed booking forms to training@soscn.org

SOSCN Regional Events 2019

Places are remaining at our free consultation events taking place across the country soon.

The Scottish Government is consulting on the recently published draft framework for out of school care and the government's OSC team would like to hear your thoughts on the questions which form the basis of the consultation.

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.

SOSCN is pleased to confirm that the Scottish Government's OSC team will be joining us at our regional events and that OSC services will have the opportunity to help shape the next development stage of the National Framework for Out of School Care in Scotland.

OSC Draft Framework Consultation:

https://consult.gov.scot/children-and-families/out-of-school-care/

EVENTS

Aberdeen - 30th October (am)

Inverness - 5th November (pm)/ 6th November (am)

Dundee - 8th November (am)

Glasgow - 11th November (am)

Edinburgh - 13th November (am)

DRAFT PROGRAMME *

• 9.30 Registration open and refreshments
• 10.00 Local and national updates
• 10.30 Consultation questions discussion
• 12.30 Close
• (A mid-morning break will also be scheduled)

* Inverness evening event times will be 7pm - 9pm

We are delighted to be working in partnership with the following local partners to deliver these events:

• Care and Learning Alliance
• Aberdeen City Council
• Dundee City Council
• Glasgow City Council

Please note that these events are free of charge and are aimed at lead practitioners / managers and deputies to attend. Places will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis although please note that there is much greater capacity at the Edinburgh and Glasgow venues. Further details of venue will be sent once your place has been confirmed. Apart from the Inverness evening event (7 - 9 pm), all events will start at 10am and finish at 12.30pm.

Booking

Please complete a booking form and return this to events@soscn.org

Information and Booking Form (.doc): Download

Information and Booking Form (.pdf): Download

Please return completed booking forms to events@soscn.org

Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) & the SHANARRI Wellbeing Indicators in Practice

Places remaining at our Dundee, Irvine and Glasgow dates.

Training Venues, dates and times

• Glasgow - Tuesday 19th November, 10am - 12pm, Albany Centre

  Glasgow 19th November now fully booked.

• Dundee - Monday 25th November, 10.30am - 12.30pm, DCA
• Edinburgh - Wednesday 27th November, 10am - 12pm, Central Methodist Church

  Edinburgh now fully booked. We are looking into arranging a second date, any further bookings for Edinburgh will be notified of any updates regarding this.

• Irvine - Friday 29th November, 10.30am - 12.30pm, Harbour Arts Centre
• Glasgow - Thursday 5th December, 10am - 12pm, Albany Centre

Cost

£40 Per Person

Wellbeing and the associated SHANARRI (Safe, Healthy, Achieving, Nurtured, Respected, Responsible, Included) indicators are central to the Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC) approach- they are also key to evidencing the positive impact and outcomes on children and families using out of school care services. The Care Inspectorate expect services to be able to demonstrate how they ensure children’s wellbeing is met.

Aims of the training session

By the end of the session participants will have a clear understanding of what wellbeing is and how they can achieve better outcomes for the children in their care using reflexive practice based upon the SHANARRI wellbeing indicators, and how to evidence this.

Course Descriptor

This training session will look at how to successfully implement the SHANARRI wellbeing indicators within daily out of school care practice, and how to evidence this, including the creation of children’s personal development plans, as well as service quality improvement and development plans. We shall look at each wellbeing indicator and what this means in terms of developing good practice, how this relates to the UNCRC and also signpost to additional resources.

Booking

Please complete a booking form and return this to training@soscn.org

Information and Booking Form (.doc): Download

Information and Booking Form (.pdf): Download

Please return completed booking forms to training@soscn.org