The 'go to' organisation for Local Government improvement in Scotland

Learning Events

Supporting Eligible Two-Year-Olds in Care Experienced Families

From August 2021, the Scottish Government expanded the offer of funded ELC places for eligible two-year-olds, including where the child or parent is care experienced.

All councils now have a legislated duty to offer up to 1140 hours of funded ELC for two-year-olds who are care-experienced themselves, and it is recommended by Scottish Government and COSLA that all councils offer the same to two-year-olds in families where the parent is care-experienced.

In June 2023, The Village and the Improvement Service jointly hosted the Supporting Eligible Two-Year-Olds in Care Experienced Families learning event, which brought together early learning and childcare leads, along with other key stakeholders to explore possible ways of improving the 2-year-offer for care experienced families.

The event explored lived experience from service users via composite stories, included contributions from The Promise Scotland, examples of local approaches and the chance for leads to share experience and contribute to developing creative solutions to support future approaches.

Access the resource pack

LGBT+ Inclusive Education in Early Years

The LGBT+ Inclusive Education in Early Years explored how settings can improve approaches to LGBT+ inclusion, and why this is so important to start breaking through the silences for LGBT+ parents and carers in early years. This resource pack is designed to provide simple and practical materials and methods to support the implementation of LGBT+ inclusive practice in early years settings across Scotland.

Application and Interview Skills for Student and Newly Qualified Early Childhood Practitioners

This event was designed to assist those moving into the Early Learning and Childcare profession for the first time, or those returning to the sector, with developing their application and interview skills.The session was chaired by Anne Paterson - Professional Advisor to the Scottish Government, with contributions from Anupama Rao - Skills Development Scotland, Amanda Godsell - EELCA, City of Edinburgh Council and Jacqueline Lamb - Indigo Childcare Group.

Embedding effective ASN provision into funded Early Learning and Childcare

In April 2024, the Improvement Service hosted an online learning event that sought to bring together Early Learning and Childcare leads, Service Managers along with other key stakeholders to explore how settings can ensure ASN is not a barrier for children accessing their statutory entitlement of funded ELC.

The aim of the session was to strengthen the understanding of what effective ASN provision in Early Years is, and to provide attendees with simple and practical methods of how to implement ASN inclusive practice in Early Learning and Childcare settings across Scotland.

Setting the Table: Guidance Update (Repeat Webinar Session)

Setting the Table Guidance, published on 8 October 2024, aims to ensure that children from birth to 5 years in childcare settings across Scotland are given meals, snacks and drinks that meet their nutritional requirements and are conducive to good health.

This repeat webinar, held on 11th December 2024, was designed to support effective implementation by giving attendees the opportunity to learn about the content of the updated guidance from the expert group who co-produced the document, and to ask any questions they may have of the panel.

Resources

Whole Establishment Nurture: Language is a Vital Means of Communication

A nurturing approach has been promoted as a key approach to supporting wellbeing, attainment, and achievement in Scottish education establishments. Hillend Children’s Centre explored Whole Establishment Nurture, and used the ‘Applying Nurture as a Whole School Approach’ (ANSWA) framework to support the self- evaluation of nurturing approaches in the establishment.

The centre focused primarily on Nurture Principle 4: Language is a vital means of communication. Staff identified that they wanted to develop guidance on what an inclusive communication environment looks like and this guidance highlights various techniques, strategies and activities used at Hillend Children’s Centre to enhance the children’s communication.

Early Learning and Childcare Recruitment Improvement

From December 2022 to March 2023 a group of ELC managers at Orkney Islands Council met with the Improvement Service to examine whether improvements could be made to the recruitment of ELC staff. The sessions came about as a result of previous discussions about the fragile and precarious nature of ELC recruitment during the expansion to 1140. This set of documents gives an overview of the sessions covered including the key findings and tools used.

• Overview of Sessions in a Rural, Island Council
• Outline of Tools Utilised
• Case Study: Improving Early Learning and Childcare Recruitment in Orkney
• Video: Thinking About a Career in Early Learning and Childcare?

Setting the Table: Nutritional Standards and Practical Guidance for Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) providers in Scotland

Setting the Table Guidance, published on 8 October 2024, aims to ensure that children from birth to 5 years in childcare settings across Scotland are given meals, snacks and drinks that meet their nutritional requirements and are conducive to good health.

The webinar, held on 11 November 2024, was designed to support effective implementation by giving attendees the opportunity to learn about the content of the updated guidance from the expert group who co-produced the document, and to ask any questions they may have of the panel.

Exploring Caring for Outdoor Spaces guidance, outdoor learning and learning for Sustainability

This session sought to strengthen awareness of Caring for Our Outdoor Spaces practitioner guidance and to share simple and practical methods to embed Learning for Sustainability in Early Learning and Childcare settings.

During the webinar, practitioners reflected upon how they have been using the guidance within their settings to extend children’s active engagement with the natural world and to reduce the impact on biodiversity as a result of increasing children’s time outdoors. Education Scotland helped to further strengthen our understanding of place based outdoor learning and cross-curricular approaches to Learning for Sustainability.