OSC Workforce Survey

It's time for our annual OSC Workforce Survey. Thanks to everyone who has taken part in this in the past. This is our annual workforce survey which we have conducted since 2008 and it allows us to gain a better understanding of the workforce in terms of pay and conditions, working hours etc. In addition to the usual questions, we are asking some about the impact of the COVID pandemic on the workforce. We understand if you prefer not to answer some of the COVID questions, however all answers are treated in strictest confidence and anonymised in the final collated results. We would encourage managers to ask individual staff members to complete the survey- the more responses we have, the more accurate the results are.

We will be posting out paper copies of this to our OSC service members, so please look out for these. However, if you would prefer to complete the survey online then this can be done here:

https://freeonlinesurveys.com/s/31UfC7SP#/0

Alternatively, if you would rather print off a paper copy to return by post, these can be downloaded from here:

https://soscn.org/downloads/surveys/workforce-survey-2020.pdf

Please return surveys before 31/01/2021.

School Age Childcare Policy update from Scottish Government

Download this here:

https://soscn.org/downloads/news/school-age-childcare-policy-update-dec-2020.pdf

Scottish Government ELC Newsletter

For the latest Scottish Government Early Learning and Childcare COVID-19 update, please see this link:

https://soscn.org/downloads/news/scottish-government-early-learning-and-childcare-covid-19-update-november.pdf

Virtual Nature School News - Training Opportunity for OSC

Scottish Government is delighted to announce funding for a 3rd cohort of the Virtual Nature School. Cohort 3 will be aimed at training and supporting the ELC sector in the delivery of outdoor play experiences over the winter months. Settings who take part in the programme will receive 6 weeks of guided support to improve and develop their winter outdoor learning practices. As in previous cohorts, the programme requires a daily commitment from practitioners to engage with the training videos (streamed over YouTube) and weekly pedagogical discussions with Virtual Nature School staff and learning community. Full ELC settings, registered out of school care settings, and childminders are invited to apply for a funded place on the winter programme. Applications are open from the 5th to 15th December 2020.

For further information and how to apply visit:

https://www.virtualnatureschool.org/

Flexible Childcare Services Scotland - Flexible Pathways Toolkit

Flexible Childcare Services Scotland are hosting an interactive webinar to introduce their new childcare management software. This is on Thursday 17th December. There are two sessions: 12pm and 4pm. You can find out more about the toolkit and how to join the webinars here:

https://mailchi.mp/d57db05572a4/flexibility-pathway-toolkit-launch-save-the-date-13082339