Dear members

It's the start of April, the clocks have jumped forward and spring is definitely in the air- an early warmth has brought out the cherry blossoms in full force. As we have now moved into the next quarter of the year we thought it would be useful to share a brief summary of some of our activities since the start of 2022:

CHILDCARE SECTOR OMICRON IMPACTS FUND

Probably the best piece of news was the Scottish Government's announcement about the £9.8million support package to the childcare sector. This fund came as a direct result of our work in highlighting to government the financial difficulties services were facing, alongside all the hard work of services and parents communicating concerns to MSPs and Ministers. Together, through all our efforts, we (SOSCN, members and other national representative organisations) were able to make a difference- lots of voices make a big noise! We hope you have been able to access the fund without too many difficulties.

SECTOR REPRESENTATION

We have ensured that OSC has been represented at numerous national, and some local, strategic groups, including: COVID Recovery Group, Childcare Sector Working Group, Childhood Practice Group, 4 Nations Out of School Childcare Forum, UK 4 Nations Play Forum, and Renfrewshire Children and Young People's Forum.

We have also had regular meetings with officials from the Scottish Government's Children and Families Directorate (focussing on OSC, workforce and financial sustainability issues) as well as with contacts within the Care Inspectorate, SSSC, Skills Development Scotland and Business Gateway.

We have also worked in partnership with other intermediary childcare organisations (SCMA, EYS, NDNA Scotland and CALA) to ensure our collective voice is heard on issues which affect the whole childcare sector.

Please don't forget, if you have an issue or query which can't wait until one of our events, you can contact us directly and we can raise it with the appropriate organisation or agency, if we don't know the answer.

OSC WORKFORCE SURVEY REPORT

In February 2022 we published the results of our most recent workforce survey- a huge thank you to all of you who participated. We now have a strong evidence base as to the workforce issues which are being faced by the sector, which means we can talk confidently and accurately about the issues, and what we think needs to happen, at the various forums we attend and consultations we respond to.

EVENTS

We held four events, three of which were delivered in partnership with other organisations: Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). We also held our own networking event which highlighted the main findings of the workforce survey. We know that many of you additionally attended events held by Business Gateway.

If you have any ideas for future events, please drop us a line.

CONSULTATIONS

We have responded to a number of consultations- these have been written responses to formal consultations held by the SSSC (A Registration for the Future) and the Scottish Government (Play Sufficiency Assessment Regulations, Open Space Strategies Regulations and the National Planning Framework 4 (Draft)).

We have also provided verbal input to consultations around 'Get into Summer 2022 Funding', 'Provision of OSC in Rural and Island Areas', and 'Refresh and Review of Evidence Base and Identification of Skills Priorities for the Childcare Sector'. We know that some of you may have also been interviewed as part of the rural consultation, and we thank you for your participation.

For many of you the spring/Easter holidays will start next week while for others you will have a week to wait. If you are delivering holiday services please share your experiences with us via social media or email us- we like to feature your adventures and activities.

If you are not delivering holiday services, we hope you can enjoy some down-time: it's been a stressful and exhausting period. Please remember that in caring for others we must care for ourselves- please don't neglect your own wellbeing.

Best wishes from

Irene, Andrew, Finlay and Greig