We hope you are having a good summer. Please find below updates on recent SOSCN membership surveys, and also the launch of the new UK 4 Nations Out of School Childcare Forum website. A huge thank you to all of you who took the time to complete the survey- your input is greatly appreciated.

We also wish you all a happy Play Day this Wednesday 3rd Aug - https://www.playday.org.uk. Please do send us in any stories about what your service has been doing this summer, as well as any photos that we can share with the membership, these are much appreciated and are great to share with everyone. Enjoy the rest of the summer break, and best wishes from everyone at SOSCN.

Membership Survey Summer 2022

SOSCN first undertook a recruitment and retention survey in 2019 as well as various financial sustainability surveys throughout the COVID 19 pandemic; with ongoing workforce recruitment and retention issues, and longer-term sector financial sustainability concerns, we decided to undertake a survey to gain current knowledge about these issues. We additionally asked services about the work of SOSCN in terms of our support to, and representation of, school age childcare services.

Download the results here:

https://soscn.org/downloads/research/soscn-membership-survey-summer-2022.pdf

Past surveys can be found here:

https://soscn.org/policy/research

Summer of 2022 Funding– Quick Survey Results

In 2022 the Scottish Government announced a £10million holiday food, activities and childcare programme for “the targeted provision of a summer 2022 holiday programme offering coordinated access to activities, childcare and food for children age 5-14 from low income families.” Local authority guidance was produced to support the delivery of the programme outcomes - https://www.gov.scot/publications/summer-holiday-food-activities-childcare-programme-guidance-local-authorities/. SOSCN has undertaken a survey to see if and how, registered OSC services have been able to able to access this year's summer funding, and if there are any differences between this year and last.

Download the 2022 survey results here:

https://soscn.org/downloads/research/summer-of-2022-funding-survey-results.pdf

A United Voice for Out of School Childcare across the UK

The UK 4 Nations Out of School Childcare Forum is pleased to announce the launch of their new website: https://www.uk4osc.org

The 4 Nations Out of School Childcare Forum is comprised of the national intermediary organisations representing and supporting Out of School Childcare (OSC) in the UK's 4 nations: the Scottish Out of School Care Network (SOSCN), Clybiau Plant Cymru Kids' Clubs, Playboard Northern Ireland, and the Out of School Alliance in England.

OSC is devolved to each of the 4 nations' governments and although there are clear similarities in terms of practice, registration; inspection, and qualification requirements differ as do government policies, strategies and support.

The forum was established in 2021 to strengthen policy, practice, research and support for out of school childcare (OSC) across the whole of the UK, and this new website is the only hub for accurate and current information about OSC in each of the 4 home nations of the UK, as well as our joint work as a forum.

4 Nations Out of School Childcare
'Strengthening Out of School Childcare Across the UK'

https://www.uk4osc.org

The SSSC Codes of Practice are changing, join the conversation

The SSSC want to hear your views and ideas on what kind of Codes you'd like to support your practice and professionalism. What would they say and what would they look like?

The SSSC last revised the worker and employer Codes of Practice in 2016 and are now reviewing them to make sure they are fit for the future.

Find out more here:

https://news.sssc.uk.com/news/codes-conversation