Author Archives: CLDSC Editor

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 08 September 2021

Scottish Government Programme for Government 2021-22

CLD and issues of interest to CLDSC members are well represented in the Programme for Government published on 7 September 2021.

CLDSC welcomes the commitment to “review the regulations for community learning and development, to ensure that they are fit for purpose, increase investment to support the sector and provide additional grant funding to increase opportunities for vulnerable learners.” We look forward to supporting this review and involving CLDSC membership.

Other areas of interest to CLD practitioners include:

Conclusion of the Local Governance Review and introduction of a Local Democracy Bill. “The next phases of the review will provide communities with opportunities to pinpoint the powers and resources they need to help tackle climate change.”
Review of the Community Empowerment Act. “…we will take forward a range of legislative reforms which ensure we give local communities and organisations greater powers over their own future. We will to consider how local communities can have more of a say over how local public assets are used – whether that is taking on the ownership or management of land or buildings, delivery of services to members of their community, or more say in how services are delivered, assets are used and resources are allocated.”
Implementation of Green Participatory Budgeting with agreed target levels of funding. “We will explore the use of Participatory Budgeting in 2021 22 as part of our wider support for community led climate action. We will also identify opportunities at COP26 to develop the concept of Participatory Budgeting for climate action – both in Scotland and abroad – and identify opportunities to develop programmes specifically involving schools and young people.”
Continued promotion of the Place Standard Tool for community engagement in placemaking, “including spreading learning from our climate lens Place Standard to help inform the roll out of 20 minute neighbourhoods across Scotland”.
Wellbeing Economy – “we will set up a group of external advisors to provide international and expert guidance on developing a wellbeing economy, and appoint a Wellbeing Economy Ambassador to promote this work. We will develop a set of wellbeing indicators for Scotland with a dashboard to monitor and track economic success … over the next five years, we will invest £200 million specifically in adult upskilling and retraining opportunities”
Continuation of the Connecting Scotland programme.
Strengthening Collaboration commitment – working “with SCVO and COSLA to progress further a multi year funding model. We will work with Third Sector Interfaces, who act as a single point of access for support and advice for third sector organisations in their local area, to strengthen their influence, and revise their funding formula to give more support to the areas of highest deprivation. We will bring forward legislation to improve Charity Law, strengthening the legal and regulatory framework and enhancing public trust in this vital sector.”
Funding for third sector organisations working with children, families and adult learners. “Starting from April 2023, we will also provide up to £16 million for each of the next two financial years in funding for third sector organisations which work with children, families and adult learners, to ensure that sustained, high quality support is available to vulnerable groups.”
Citizens’ Assemblies – “The Assembly will be established and completed in this Parliament, with a response to its recommendations debated and agreed within 6 months of being provided. We will also introduce a brand new Citizens’ Assembly for under 16’s, so that the generation who will grow up with the consequences of the decisions we take now can be involved in making them. We will also consider a new approach to ensuring the interests of future generations are taken into account in decisions made today, through a Future Generations Commission.”
New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy refreshed and expanded. “We will… award £2.8 million in EU funding to new projects to spread good practices and support innovation under the outcomes and objectives of the Strategy.”

CLD Standards Mark Approval – Jack Kane Community Centre

The Approval Committee of CLDSC are delighted to confirm Standards Mark Approval for Jack Kane Community Centre has been granted. Congratulations! The Approval Panel noted that they were impressed with the good quality of the submission and heartened that CLD focus is embedded throughout the organisation.

If your organisation would like to discuss Standards Mark Approval and obtain recognition for the CLD professional learning offered to staff and volunteers our Standards Mark information webpage is a good starting point.

Learning for Sustainability Awards – last chance for nominations

The closing date for nominations for the Learning for Sustainability Awards is 12 September 2021. We hope you’ll be encouraged to submit a nomination so we can celebrate the valuable ways that Community Learning and Development providers help to build sustainable communities. There are 6 categories:

LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY YOUTH AWARD
- Recognising the achievements of young people aged 3-26 years
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY PRACTITIONER AWARD
- Recognising the achievements of early learning and childcare practitioners and school teachers
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP AWARD
- Recognising the achievements of head teachers, heads of centre, managers, authority staff and promoted staff in school and setting leadership teams
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY LEARNING COMMUNITY AWARD
- Recognising the achievements of early learning and childcare settings and schools
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATIONAL SUPPORTER AWARD
- Recognising the achievements of individuals who provide invaluable support for learning
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY COMMUNITY LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT AWARD
- Recognising the achievements of community learning and development providers.

CLD practice makes a significant contribution to Learning for Sustainability, so please consider nominating. Find out more and nominate on the Learning for Sustainability Awards website.

Connecting Scotland – open for applications

The Connecting Scotland programme aims to close the digital divide, with a target of bringing 60,000 households online by the end of 2021.

Organisations can apply for support on behalf of the people they work with. This includes:

Digital devices – iPads and/or Chromebooks
Internet connectivity – a mobile WiFi hotspot with 24 months unlimited data
Training and support – for staff and volunteers to become ‘digital champions’ to support people to use the internet confidently and safely

From 30 August – 27 September the programme will be accepting applications from organisations working to remove barriers related to digital exclusion for unemployed young people and adults (aged 16+).
From 28 September the programme will be accepting fast track applications from organisations that can identify users who are:

Digitally excluded, and
On a low income, and
At risk of social isolation and loneliness (particularly older people, people with disabilities, and single parents)

Please visit the Connecting Scotland webpage for full details and guidance.

CARNival

CARN (Collaborative Action Research Network) is holding its annual international conference, CARNival online from 2nd to 10th October 2021, hosted by Dundee. Last year 32 countries were represented. It covers the disciplines associated with Education, Communities and Health and Well Being. Attached are early programmes for the event. You can register for the event on the CARN website.

Please note that bursaries are available and further information is available from Karen McArdle k.a.mcardle@abdn.ac.uk. Please note that the registration fee of £30 covers membership of CARN, the international network of researchers, as well as the conference.

Community Connections –Historic Environment Scotland (HES)

The Community Connections Programme was designed by the HES Community Support Working Group that came together during 2020.  The programme is designed to promote and contribute to COVID recovery and renewal across communities, heritage and other sectors. 

Are you a community all about a place, a group brought together through shared interest, or an organisation supporting communities? Would you like support to help you bounce back and thrive post-pandemic? HES is ready to collaborate with you! The new Community Connections Programme will deliver a range of exciting, collaborative projects showing how the heritage that matters to you has a vital role to play in supporting your community’s recovery and renewal – often in surprising and creative ways!

The Community Connections Programme is open to developing and collaborating on projects themed around:

health and wellbeing
skills and volunteering
creativity
climate change
community and destination regeneration

If you want to talk through ideas or activities that are a good fit with Community Connections Programme priorities and project themes you can get in touch by emailing; developmentandcommunity@hes.scot

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 01 September 2021

Role of Colleges in Improving Career Pathway for CLD Practitioners

Earlier this year CLDSC worked with colleagues from the FE sector to host a series of discussions on the ‘Role of Colleges in Improving Career Pathway for CLD Practitioners’. A report has been produced which provides a record of each session. It is also intended to act as a reference document for taking forward the ideas, issues and solutions discussed. View the report on i-develop.

CLD Practice Placement Spotlight

As you will see in the report above, CLDSC recognises the important of Student CLD Practitioners receiving a quality CLD Placement experience to support their academic study and to help them to develop the skills and attributes of a Competent CLD Practitioner.

As Higher Education (HE) and Further Education (FE) colleagues gear up for this academic year they will already be considering who to contact to request if organisations can to offer a CLD Practice Placement Experience. This puts a huge demand on time for these providers and over the next few weeks CLDSC will be providing contact details for each of our approved providers to allow you to get in touch with them if you are interested in offering a CLD Practice Placement. If you are approaching the providers as an individual, it is important that if that you have discussed this with your employer. To assist with these discussions, or for employers who are keen to offer their staff this development opportunity, the document Why Employers need professional CLD practitioners (PDF File) provides some helpful information. It is also worth noting that Scottish Government has also recognised the importance of CLD Practice Placement and more information can be located in CLD Plans Guidance Note (2021-24). To support this CLDSC produced an offer of support document (PDF File).

The following HE/FE providers who are keen to hear from you and discuss the CLD Practice Placement experience and opportunities. More contact details will be available in future CLDSC Member Bulletins on other HE/FE providers – watch this space.

Glasgow Kelvin College – Maggie Murphy mmurphy@glasgowkelvin.ac.uk
University of Dundee – Jenny Glen j.y.glen@dundee.ac.uk

During engagement with its members, CLDSC has had numerous requests to hold a database which will provide details of organisations who are willing to offer a CLD Practice Placement Opportunity and what types of opportunities they can offer. Our membership has also emphasised to us the importance of Practice Placement Supervisors being CLD qualified. We will share further information on this over the next few weeks as part of the launch of CLD Professional Practice Placement Standards. If your organisation wishes to be included in this database please contact susan.bisset@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk for further information. It should be noted that it will still be the responsibility of the HE/FE providers to negotiate the placements and ensure that they are relevant and appropriate.

Thank you to everyone involved in providing and supporting CLD Practice Placements.

Virtual Meet Up – 29 September 2021, 1-2pm

Our August Virtual Member Meet-Up was postponed and will now take place on 29 September. We will focus on sharing resources and professional learning around climate change, environment and sustainability.

We have been updating the Learning for Sustainability Theme space on i-develop, and will take a tour of what’s there. And we’d also love to find out more about your sustainability practice – ‘Show and Tell’ colleagues about resources you’ve created or used.

Meantime, why not have a look at the Education Scotland CLD Team’s Countdown to COP26: CLD Sector – Wakelet.

CLD STEM Network

If you’re a practitioner who’s delivering STEM activities, join in the CLD STEM Network meeting on Tuesday 7th September at 10am. The jam-packed agenda will include:

Learning for Sustainability Awards; COP26; STEM professional learning grants; Scottish Learning Festival; Green Zone info; Earth Allies; Maths on Toast; Climate Fringe Week; Climate Emergency Training; and Youthlink National Youthwork Conference.

Click here to register your attendance.

IACD European Members Networking Session

International Association of Community Development (IACD) is extending an invite to join a European Members Networking Session on Tuesday 14th September 2021 from 10-11:30am BST. This networking session is open to members and non-members alike in Europe.

This is the third networking session for members in Europe, and the conversation will be hosted by IACD Directors in Europe and Community Development Alliance Scotland’s Coordinator and former IACD Director, Colette McGarva.

ESOL National Discussion Event

The next ESOL National Discussion event, hosted by Glasgow ESOL Forum, will take place on Wednesday 8th September at 13:00-14:30.
The event will focus on volunteer roles in the Framework for Good Practice in Working with Volunteers in ESOL with particular focus on the language/conversation cafes.

Register for the ESOL discussion event on Eventbrite.

Equally Safe at School

Equally Safe at School (ESAS) has been developed by Rape Crisis Scotland to support and guide secondary schools through a process of embedding a set of holistic measures to prevent gender-based violence. The approach was piloted with schools between 2017-21 and has now been developed into an interactive website with tools, information and resources to support schools and teachers to plan and implement a whole school approach. The Equally Safe at School website has a wealth of information for schools about GBV, how to support young people affected, and about the ESAS research conducted by the University of Glasgow – all of which can be accessed by schools, other professionals, parents, carers and young people.

Board Vacancies

If you’re interested in expanding your experience, the following organisations are looking for new Board Members:

NHS Education for Scotland – Do you have practical experience of the Scottish adult social work and/or care sector? Do you want to play a central role in supporting the provision of the high quality education, training and lifelong learning of NHS and social care staff? If so, NES would like to hear from you. NHS Education for Scotland are looking to appoint one member to their Board. For more information on this role and to apply, please see visit the NHS Education for Scotland entry on the Appointed for Scotland website.

The closing date for applications is 17th September 2021.

NHS Highland – Are you passionate about the future of rural communities? Have you been active in community activities and agencies? Do you enjoy working collaboratively? Could you draw on your experience of working or volunteering in a third sector, community or other setting to support the work of NHS Highland? Are you excited by the opportunity to shape sustainable health and social care services to better meet the needs of people living in rural areas? NHS Highland are looking to appoint one member to their Board. For more information on this role and to apply, please visit the NHS Highland entry on the Appointed for Scotland website.

The closing date for applications is 15th September 2021.

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 25 August 2021

Reform of SQA and Education Scotland Expert Panel

Representatives from the CLD Standards Council have been invited to participate in the Practitioner and Stakeholder Advisory Group, which is being constituted to support Professor Ken Muir in his role as independent advisor to the Scottish Government on the reform of SQA and Education Scotland.

The purpose of the Group will be to provide advice and feedback to Professor Muir and his Expert Panel as they develop recommendations for the Scottish Government on the reform of SQA and Education Scotland.

This group will comprise organisations, including staff unions and professional associations, that represent the following diverse range of interests related to the reform – children and young people; employers; local authorities; the tertiary sector; practitioners across different sectors and providers; and parental interests. The expertise of Advisory Group members, and the networks they can access, will ensure that a wide range of perspectives and ideas inform the Expert Panel and the overall reform work.

Access the Expert Panel draft terms of reference on the Scottish Government website.

A COVID-19 Inquiry for Scotland

The Scottish Government is inviting views on the draft aims and principles of an independent public inquiry into the handling of the coronavirus (COVID-19)
pandemic. The COVID-19 Inquiry Establishment Aims and Principles paper is intended to shape its terms of reference with input from stakeholders, including bereaved families. The proposed inquiry would be established by the end of the year, to scrutinise decisions taken in the course of this pandemic, and learn lessons for future pandemics. It would take a take a person-centred, human rights based approach with a focus on outcomes and timely reporting to identify lessons and recommendations. Particular consideration would also be given to the ‘four harms’ of the pandemic:

direct health impacts of COVID-19, including cases and deaths in care homes
other non COVID health impacts
societal impacts, including education
economic impacts

The public are now encouraged to share their ideas and comments on the suggested approach via email by 30 September 2021. Further information can be found on the Scottish Government website.

Roles played by Third Sector Interfaces (TSIs) during Covid-19 Report

This week sees the publication of the Evaluation Support Scotland’s Report into the roles played by Third Sector Interfaces across Scotland during the Covid-19 Pandemic. #TSIxESSReport

The report highlights 5 key recommendations:

Celebrate the role of the third sector and volunteers during Covid-19
Build awareness locally and nationally of the role and impact of TSI’s
Invest in the capacity and reach of the third sector in local decision-making
Build on the opportunities that have come out of Covid-19
Review funding for TSIs

View the PDF report. You can also watch the short explainer video which outlines the key findings and recommendations and join in the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #TSIxESSReport.

CDAS Bulletin

The August Community Development Alliance Scotland bulletin is now available. The highlight is the CDAS Annual National Conference which takes place on 29th September 2021 (virtually). The conference programme features keynote speakers and workshops led by member organisations, You can register online for the CDAS Conference.

Also in the bulletin are items on job vacancies, funding and other opportunities.

Lead Scotland online security training

Lead Scotland is offering free training on zoom this September for people wanting to get to grips with different areas of online safety and security. 30 minute webinars (with extra time for activities and questions) on a range of topics are available:

Protect yourself with strong passwords
Remember your passwords using password managers
How to use two-factor authentication
How to update your digital devices
How to back up your data
Recognise email scams and fake emails

These topics were chosen in line with the National Cyber Security Centre Cyber Aware 6 Actions. Lead is also commissioning and producing alternative formats including BSL, Braille, HTML, Polish, Urdu and Arabic amongst others. Visit the Lead Scotland website to access these resources.

The webinars will be especially useful for disabled people or those who might find it harder to use the internet safely, but they are open and suitable for everyone. They are also useful for those who care for someone who needs some extra support using their digital device safely. All classes are free and open to the public.

Lead Scotland is also offering 1 hour ‘Training for Trainers’ lunchtime sessions for practitioners, volunteers or others who support people with low digital confidence. For information on dates and time, as well as to sign up, go to the Lead Scotland website.

National Care Service in Scotland – Consultation

The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on a new National Care Service in Scotland – A National Care Service for Scotland – Scottish Government.

The recent Independent Review of Adult Social Care (the Feeley Report) recommended the creation of a National Care Service. However, there was a sense that it stopped short of consolidating the links between housing, homelessness, health and social care. This consultation seeks views on a National Care Service that supports people of all ages and presents a new opportunity to join the dots and place a greater emphasis on preventing homelessness. New duties to prevent homelessness across the wider public sector is of urgent relevance. View the Preventing Homelessness PDF.

Homelessness responses in Scotland have traditionally been located, strategically and operationally, within a housing context rather than with health and social care. And today, most local authorities have not delegated housing and homelessness to the Integrated Joint Board covering their area. The dilemma is often two-fold:

Most people who experience homelessness have no support needs beyond housing; however
Those that do are among the most systematically disadvantaged groups in Scotland with most to benefit from an integrated approach. See Hard Edges Scotland for the renewed case for taking a whole system approach to severe and multiple disadvantage.

With all this to explore and more, you can join the discussion at an online event on 8 September 2021 at 2pm. Please register on the Homeless Network Scotland website.

Adult Learners’ Week Awards

Don’t forget to submit your nominations for Adult Learners’ Week Awards by 31 August 2021. Entry is open to learners (individuals or groups) living in Scotland who are aged over 21 on 31 January 2021 and are either a current learner or a learner who completed their learning sometime since 31 January 2019. If you don’t have a nomination form yet, you can request one by emailing info@scotlandslearning.org.uk.

CLD vacancies – Education Scotland

South East CLD Education Officer – 23 month secondment
Closing Date – 12th September 2021
Please visit the Scottish Government website for further information.

Tayside CLD Development Officer- 6 month secondment
Closing Date – 14th September 2021
Please visit the Scottish Government website for further information.

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 18 August 2021

Education Scotland Leadership Development Programmes: CLDSC Members Opportunity

Over the last few months Members have expressed interest in Leadership Development opportunities. The Professional Lifelong Learning team in Education Scotland are about to launch two programmes for people who are aspiring to middle leadership posts and for those who are already in promoted posts. The courses are free and spaces are available for members of the CLD Standards Council and are due to begin in early September so there is a quick turnaround on this one! If you are interested, please send us your details to contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk. Further information on both courses are contained in the links below.

Aspiring to Middle Leadership – This programme is designed to support aspiring middle leaders in developing their understanding of the roles of middle leadership and the skills required to carry out the key aspects of these role.

Middle Leaders – Leading Change is a professional learning programme designed to develop confidence in the use of coaching within middle leadership, encourage reflection upon the key aspects of the role and further develop the use of an enquiring stance when planning and leading change.

CONCEPT Journal – latest edition

The latest edition of CONCEPT is available now, with lots of articles and reviews guaranteed to get you thinking. There’s something for everyone, including: a review of McGoey’s ‘The Unknowers: How Strategic Ignorance Rules the World”; an article about the work of the Scran Academy throughout the pandemic; and who wouldn’t want to read more about a Theory of Geekery?

Professional Associations Research Network

CLD Standards Council is a member of The Professional Associations Research Network (PARN). PARN is a non-profit membership organisation for professional bodies, offering expertise, experience and perspective on key issues in the sector through research, consultancy, networking, events and training. As part of our membership, we have access to a range of resources and research. We recently contributed to research on Ethical Codes within professional associations and professionalism within sectors. Point of interest arising from these include:

the ‘vocationalisation’ of professions – a quicker educational route to access practice and less time spent being mentored by a seasoned/experienced professional – was an issue highlighted by 41% of UK-based respondents
60% of UK respondents noticed an effect on perception of professional expertise due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Examples include higher demand for professional expertise; greater public awareness and interest; and struggle for acceptance ad key workers.
62% of respondents included obligations to act ethically in personal life within their ethical code. 35% included obligations around environmental sustainability.

Learning for Sustainability Awards 2021 – Don’t forget to nominate!

The CLD sector makes a significant contribution in supporting learners and communities to engage in Learning for Sustainability with a number of projects across Scotland covering the key topics of global citizenship, sustainability development education, outdoor learning and children’s rights.
Help to recognise and celebrate the contribution of community learning and development providers in building a more equitable and sustainable future for Scotland’s communities by nominating a project or practitioner.

Place2Be Mental Health Champions Foundation programme

The next cohort of Place2Be’s online Mental Health Champions Foundation programme for youth workers starts in September, with the deadline for registering of 30th August. This online mental health training enhances youth worker’s understanding of children and young people’s mental health and introduces approaches that foster positive well-being for them and the adults around them. It is free to both local authority and voluntary sector participants.

Course details

You will have a dedicated Place2Be professional (qualified mental health clinician) to join discussions and aid online learning.
5-week programme with a new module uploaded each week (first week covers how to use the platform etc.)
Broken down into 15-minute sections to fit around your day (1–1.5 hours per week total).
No fixed timings – you can access the programme via any device and work through it at a time to suit you.

Modules covered

Understanding mental health & well-being Introduces factors that contribute to positive mental health and well-being.
Nature and nurture Explores how early experiences shape the way we perceive ourselves and relate to others, and how those experiences create the pathways in the brain that support our development. 
How can I help? Considers what a child’s or young person’s behaviour might be communicating about their underlying needs.
Mental health: everybody’s business Reflects on the importance of positive mental health for everyone with a focus on the adults around the child or young person

The course is delivered on an app called ‘Hive Learning’ – not via Zoom. Everyone who registers to take part will be contacted by Place2Be with the details of how to log into Hive and access the course. You can register for the course by signing up on Eventbrite.

College Development Network #LeadershipMatters Mini Podcast Series

Over the month of July CDN developed the #LeadershipMatters mini podcast series with four new podcasts exploring leadership from different perspectives.
The podcasts are now live and available from the CDN website.

Available podcasts:

Leadership Journey with Grant Ritchie (opens Spotify)- former Principal at Dundee and Angus College and Fellow with CDN . During this podcast, Grant discusses his leadership journey, what helped and hindered him on that journey, and what advice he would give to emerging leaders.
Territory Mapping with Anthony Willoughby (opens Spotify) – author, explorer and founder of the Nomadic School of Business. In this podcast, Anthony chats about what he has learned about leadership from living and working with indigenous communities across the world.
Collective Leadership with Janet Whitley (opens Spotify) – Collective Leadership Lead at Scottish Government. Janet discusses the work of Collective Leadership for Scotland, how they support partners and colleagues from across the public sector in the practice of collaboration and collective leadership, and how leaders in the FE sector can become involved.
Emerging Trends with Roddy Millar (opens Spotify) – Founder and CEO of Ideas for Leaders, and Co-Founder of the Scottish Leadership Institute. Roddy discusses his work as a writer and publisher in the fields of executive education, management and leadership. Roddy works with international business schools and we will be exploring the emerging trends in leadership practice across the world.

SCQF Upcoming Online Workshops

2 workshops aimed at representatives from Credit Rating Bodies – Credit Rating in Practice for Credit Rating Bodies and Quality Assurance for Credit Rating. Also running are Would You Credit It? and My Skills, My Future workshops. The August and September workshops filled up in record time so please book early to secure your place.

Scottish Charity Awards

The Scottish Charity Awards recognise and celebrate the best that Scotland’s voluntary sector has to offer and CLD Standards Council is proud to be sponsoring the Community Action Award at this year’s #ScotCharityAwards. The Awards Ceremony will be held online on Friday 1 October 2021 with the winners being announced on the night. Meantime, members of the public can vote for their favourite overall entry in the People’s Choice Award. Vote here!

We’ll be hosting a Scottish Charity Awards Watch Party and would like to invite you to join us for virtual pre-ceremony drinks reception at 6pm with the ceremony taking place from 7-8pm. Get your gladrags on, top up your glass and join fellow CLDSC members to celebrate the work of CLD in the voluntary sector.

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 11 August 2021

CLD Summer 2021

Wow – what a summer it’s been for the CLD sector in Scotland. The sun was shining (well for some of the time) and the world opened up a bit which provided more opportunities for Members to work in the real world with learners, families, communities and young people. It’s been amazing to follow all the summer activities that Members posted on the Twitter hashtag #BecauseOfCLD – if you’re looking for some inspiration and new ideas check out what your colleagues and friends across the sector have been involved in. We would like to say a huge thanks to everyone for your hard work and commitment over the summer and hope you all get a well-earned rest before the next learning programmes begin.

Updated Guidance Beyond Level 0 for universities, colleges and CLD

The updated Guidance, published on 10 August, provides advice on COVID-19 transmission risk-reduction mitigations to support universities, colleges and CLD providers to plan for and operate in the academic year 2021-22.

View the guidance on the Scottish Government website.

SLF Online 21-23 September 2021 – conference programme now live

This first edition of the conference programme will let you see the keynotes and sessions which have been tailored around the theme ‘Renew, Refresh, Re-imagine: Learning from our experiences and looking to the future’.

There are several highlights in the programme including a keynote address by the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, Shirley-Anne Somerville. The Right Honourable Stuart Lawrence will be talking at the event. Stuart Lawrence is a consultant, youth engagement specialist, coach and public speaker. He is also the younger brother of Stephen Lawrence, the British teenager murdered in a racially motivated attack in 1993.

The International Council of Education Advisers will be online for an evening session to chat about their latest report setting out the opportunities and challenges for the Scottish education system.

More sessions will be added to the programme in the coming weeks and all sessions will be available to book when the full programme is complete. SLF Online is free to sign up and registration is now open.

Please visit the SLF website for the conference programme.

Volunteer Support Fund – closing date for applications 27 August 2021

The £3.3 million Fund will be delivered on Scottish Government’s behalf by Impact Funding Partners over the next 3 years. Organisations can apply for up to £30,000 to March 2024.

The fund is geared towards organisations in Scotland with an annual income of under £250,000. It will enable Scotland’s small to medium sized third sector organisations to recruit additional volunteers who will contribute towards delivering a new volunteering project, or extending/expanding an existing one, and improve how volunteers are supported in their role.

The fund will support organisations to deliver on four key outcomes:

Increase diversity in the third sector’s volunteer pool, to particularly include people who experience disadvantage or would traditionally experience barriers to volunteering
Improve governance, leadership and financial knowledge of organisations through the recruitment of skilled volunteers to enhance the third sector’s capacity
Improve organisational capacity to provide opportunities for skills and personal development through volunteering
Enhance services delivered by organisations to better meet the needs of the communities they serve

A full overview of the fund plus information on how to apply can be found on Impact Funding Partners website.

Learning for Sustainability Awards – nominations closing date 12 September 2021

In partnership with the Daily Record, Education Scotland is delighted to launch the Learning for Sustainability Awards. The Scottish Government has identified People as a key theme for the COP26 Summit and has declared that it wants it to be the most inclusive COP summit ever to be held. This includes a strong focus on young people and on engaging disadvantaged and hard-to-reach communities.

The Learning for Sustainability Awards support these ambitions and will help to recognise the amazing achievements of Scotland’s people and the settings, schools and communities that have demonstrated passion and commitment to building a socially-just, equitable and sustainable world. CLD projects can be nominated in any appropriate award category and in addition there is a specific Community Learning and Development Award. We hope you’ll be encouraged to submit a nomination so we can celebrate the valuable ways that Community Learning and Development providers help to build sustainable communities. There are 6 categories:

LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY YOUTH AWARD
– Recognising the achievements of young people aged 3-26 years
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY PRACTITIONER AWARD
– Recognising the achievements of early learning and childcare practitioners and school teachers
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP AWARD
– Recognising the achievements of head teachers, heads of centre, managers, authority staff and promoted staff in school and setting leadership teams
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY LEARNING COMMUNITY AWARD
– Recognising the achievements of early learning and childcare settings and schools
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATIONAL SUPPORTER AWARD
– Recognising the achievements of individuals who provide invaluable support for learning
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY COMMUNITY LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT AWARD
– Recognising the achievements of community learning and development providers.

CLD practice makes a significant contribution to Learning for Sustainability, so please consider nominating. The deadline for nominations is 12th September 2021.

Find out more and nominate on the Learning for Sustainability Awards website.

Virtual Member Meet Up – Planet Emergency
Friday 27 August 1-2pm

And talking of all things sustainability, our next Virtual Member Meet-Up will focus on sharing resources and professional learning around climate change, environment and sustainability.

‘Show and Tell’ colleagues about resources you’ve created or used. There’s a Learning for Sustainability Theme space on i-develop, but it’s looking a bit empty just now, so we’d love to add up to date resources and links.

Meantime, why not have a look at the Education Scotland CLD Team’s Countdown to COP26: CLD Sector – Wakelet.

COVID-19 Vaccinations Young People

Children and young people aged 12-17 with certain conditions are to be offered the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, in line with the latest advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), before the majority of schools return on the 16th of August. Also to be invited are children and young people aged 12-17 who are household contacts of adults or children who are immunosuppressed. NHS Scotland is aiming to vaccinate these children and young people during August 2021.

For more information, visit the NHS Inform website.

NHS Horizons

NHS Horizons is a specialist team within the Improvement Directorate of NHS England and NHS Improvement. Chief Transformation Officer Helen Bevan is showcasing a range of improvement tools and methods. Each day, there is a Twitter poll for you to vote for the method/tool you use and/or like. The winning improvement methods each day will go head to head into the quarter finals, semi-finals culminating in the final on 19th August. Click on the hashtag to view the latest results: #ImprovementMethodOlympics and browse all the resources on the NHS Horizons website.

#ImprovementMethodOlympics
If you’re missing the sporting Olympics, why not take a look at the #ImprovementMethodOlympics on Twitter and find out about Schein’s culture iceberg, Positive Deviance, The 5 Whys and much more.

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 21 July 2021

Ministerial Meeting

Last week our Chair Alan Sherry and Director Marion Allison, met with Mr Jamie Hepburn MSP, Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training. Mr Hepburn’s remit includes responsibility for CLD. Discussions included the opportunities and challenges facing our Members and the wider CLD sector as we move towards COVID recovery.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): Advanced Learning Recovery Group

A Ministerial group chaired by Mr Jamie Hepburn Minister for Higher Education and Further Education, Youth Employment and Training has been established to help develop guidance on the operation of colleges, universities and community learning and development (CLD) providers for academic year 2021/22. Our Chair, Alan Sherry is the CLD representative on this group, with Dominique Carlisle-Kitz and Robert Hynd of CLD Managers Scotland representing the sector on sub-groups. Further information and minutes can be found on the Scottish Government website.

CLD COVID-19 Recovery Advisory Group

The purpose of this group, chaired by Alan Sherry is to bring together senior stakeholders from CLD organisations to advise on the impacts of coronavirus (COVID-19) on the sector and advise on possible steps needed for recovery. The group will ensure a balanced consideration of the four harms and feed into the work of the Advanced Learning COVID Recovery Group, as noted above. The group’s work will aim to inform guidance that impacts upon participation in CLD activities, which include adult learning (including adult literacies & English for Speakers of Other Languages), youth work and community development.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): advice for universities, colleges and CLD providers

As Scotland moves into Level 0 new operational guidance is now available. It provides advice on COVID-19 transmission risk-reduction mitigations to support the operation of universities, colleges and CLD services. Members are reminded that the Guidance is subject to review. Further information can be found on the Scottish Government website.

CARNival: Raised Voices

The Collaborative Action Research Network (CARN) is running an international online CARNival from 2 – 10 October 2021 on:

Communities
Heath and Well Being
Education

There will be workshops, seminars and cultural events and confirmed speakers so far include:

Andrea Cornwall is Pro-Director (Research & Enterprise) and Professor of Global Development and Anthropology at SOAS, University of London.
Imogen Tyler is a Professor of Sociology and Head of the Department of Sociology at Lancaster University.
Kaz Stuart is the Director of the Centre for Research in Health and Society and Professor of Social and Health Inequalities at the University of Cumbria.

The fee is £30 and bursaries and student tickets are available. For more information or bursaries, contact Karen McArdle k.a.mcardle@abdn.ac.uk

Christie Plus 10 – Watch on-demand

The Robertson Trust’s recent event “Christie Plus 10: Are we smoothing the hard edges?” which reflected on the ten years since the publication of the Christie Commission is now available to watch online. You can watch the event here.

Over the coming weeks, they will also be sharing a range of guest blogs looking at the impact of the Christie Commission, where we are now and what needs to happen going forward. To keep up-to-date with this, please check The Robertson Trust website, social channels or join the mailing list here.

Diversity & Inclusion in Education – University of Glasgow online course

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all (United Nations, 2015).

University of Glasgow is offering this 4 week course (approximately 18 hours in total) covering the following areas:

Conceptualising diversity in education
Responding to diversity in education
Experiencing diversity in education: barriers and facilitators
Developing inclusive, equitable quality education for All

During this course, you will:

Develop a critical understanding of the concepts and assumptions about diversity and difference, including notions of ability and disability, socio-economic background, race, ethnicity, and cultural background, beliefs and religion, and gender.
Develop awareness of historical and contemporary definitions of inclusive education, taking into account policy, theories and models.
Develop the ability to critically analyse contexts in order to identify barriers to developing inclusive and equitable quality education for all learners.
Develop knowledge about ways to develop inclusive and equitable quality education for all learners, taking into account their diverse characteristics and needs.

For more information and to enrol, please visit the Coursera website.

Accessible formats of online security messaging

Lead Scotland has been working with a range of partners to develop 10 new accessible formats of online security messages.
These alternative formats were chosen by practitioners and service users to promote cyber resilience advice to people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, visually impaired, people with learning or cognitive difficulties, people whose first language isn’t English, those using adaptive digital technology and others who experience other accessibility barriers.

In both text and audio formats, the National Cyber Security Centre’s 6 actions to online security messaging has been translated into 6 languages: Polish; Simplified Chinese; Arabic; Punjabi; Urdu; and Romanian. The 6 actions have also been made into text formats: a structured text document (for use with assistive technology), HTML, braille, and large print. The alternative formats are free to access and share and can be found on the Lead Scotland website.

Lead Scotland will also be running free webinars for members of the public and organisations about online security and accessibility. They will also be running ‘training for trainers’ sessions to support organisations and practitioners to pass on information to their service users. Details about the webinars and training for trainers sessions will be released soon.

And finally – Virtual Meet Up reminder
Practice Placements Thursday 29 July 1-2:30pm

Provision of practice placements for CLD students is an expectation within the CLD Plans guidance. Come along to our Virtual Meet-up to find out more about the benefits for your organisation and CLD students as well as what support CLDSC can offer.

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 30 June 2021

Spectacular Summer Programmes

School’s out, college is closed and summer is here! In the world of CLD, the community is never on holiday and it’s amazing the sheer volume and range of amazing summer fun and learning programmes that our Members are delivering with and for Scotland’s young people, families, learners and communities. Service delivery in line with COVID safety guidance is bringing opportunities and challenges for all, from outdoor expeditions to online cooking challenges, the CLD sector really has got something for everyone. At team CLD Standards Council we love to hear all about your amazing work so if you’re on Twitter remember to tag us. It’s #BecauseOfCLD that #AdultLearningMatters and #YouthWorkChangesLives.

CLD Standards Council reMEMBER the benefits!

Becoming a member of the CLD Standards Council as an Associate or Registered Member offers a whole host of benefits including:

monthly Virtual Member Meet-Ups
weekly Member Bulletin News updates
invitation to our Annual Members Conference (check out the article below for news about 2021 Conference!)
access to our Buddy/Mentor/Professional Learning Verifier support
access to a range of events, some for members only, or places provided at external events and conferences.
access to member only areas of i-develop
CLD Standards Council Members Slack Space
free online access to Times Educational Supplement Scotland magazine
access to University and College Libraries across Scotland
links with UK-wide Association of Professional Lecturers in Youth & Community Work
access to Scottish Council for Development & Industry materials/events

This is on top of being part of a recognised professional body strengthening a shared professional identity within this diverse area of practice, with opportunities to:

drive forward new developments in our sector
have a key influence on policy initiatives and responses
play a lead role in shaping the future of the Standards Council

So if you have any colleagues who are not members yet please let them know about the benefits and opportunities they are missing out on by sending them this link – Register with the CLD Standards Council.

And remember, to keep enjoying these benefits yourself, you need to renew your own membership when requested. If you think you have been registered for more than 3 years and have not received a request to renew please let us know at contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk.

Student Spotlight

Following on from last week’s Congratulations to Students Graduating from CLD programmes we thought a few feel good stories would brighten up the week.

Fungai Moetsabi – “So, here I am today a Community Learning and Development professional!”
Fungai commented on her journey and achievements:
“A career in Community Education will keep me close to the communities that have welcomed me and my family to Scotland. Achieving this award means a lot to me. Leaving school at the age 16 and becoming a mum, then migrating to the UK, and returning to education 20 year later, did not stop me achieving my goal. As a migrant I faced some challenges that put my life on hold for 10 years while trying to settle into the UK however I gained a place to study Community Education at the University of Dundee. Life is busy, I gave birth to my third child during 3rd year of my studies! In my final year I was part of Team Experience and I utilised my lived experiences as a migrant to highlight the need to fund organisations that assist migrants integrate into the society, engaging them in projects that enhance their employability skills to make Fife a place which is just and embraces diversity”.

Zoe Thompson – secured her dream job on the Shetland Islands:
“When I joined the course at Dundee Uni, it was because of a youth worker from my Youth Council in Midlothian. The CLD programme helped me actually understand what I could do and how to develop my practice to support young people as well. The practice was my favourite part of the whole course. The wide range of placements I did helped me appreciate all the different areas of CLD. I always knew I wanted to do youth work but I did a community regeneration placement to learn about other forms of community work so I could link them together in my practice and join up with the other workers in the team. The confidence that I built during my placements made me apply for the job on Shetland and to be prepared to move there. I’m looking forward to using all my knowledge and practice experience to work with the young people on the islands to set up a Youth Forum and a Youth Bank. It was the Youth Council and a Youth Worker who inspired me to get onto the course and now I’m that Youth Worker! It’s gone in full circle and I’m really happy, this is my dream job!”.

Rebecca Smith – worthy winner of the Internship Impact Award in celebration of her work with Tayside Council on Alcohol (TCA). Rebecca was pleased to comment on the achievements she made over the course of her studies despite many life challenges. Her work leaves an important legacy:

“I overcame a lot of challenges during the course, and I felt I really came into my own during my 4th year internship, but I did not expect to win an award for that. I am very proud that my research report has been shared within the drug and alcohol community, and I hope it can make a positive difference to those who use the services. I couldn’t have done the last four years without the brilliant people I met along the way in the form of different professionals, students, and tutors. I have gained a lot of skills, but the most important thing is how much my confidence has grown over the last few years. I love working with people and this course has given me the practical skills and the resilience to really be able to make a difference to people’s lives. I will take that forward with me when I do eventually get a chance in a CLD job”.

Aimee Brown: a journey to Successful Employment:
“Without the opportunities and learning I gained from the course at Dundee Uni I would never have the knowledge or skills to apply for the job I have just achieved – particularly when considering the interview process which involved both a presentation, delivering a mock workshop, and an induction meeting with a young person joining the programme. I feel extremely lucky and blessed to have worked alongside and learned from such talented professionals both out in the field through placement opportunities and from the fantastic lecturers within the team. Good luck everyone!”

Pippa Cowling: a journey through widening access
Pippa was nominated for the engaged Learning Award and was commended for her sustained dedication and engagement with the programme. Pippa took advantage of the widening access route through Fife College to gain direct entry into second year. Pippa commented: “My journey into the Community Education (CE) course was one which did not come without turbulence as I began with entry into the course through an Articulation Route. This proved to be challenging, and I certainly relied on support from both my peers and the CE staff within the University. The support which I received both challenged my thinking and encouraged me to look at things from different perspectives, areas which I had previously struggled with. My time on the CE course has certainly been shaped by others, and I will continue to be grateful for all the challenges, experiences, opportunities and support the course has provided”.

Meeting the Expectations of the CLD Plans Guidance Note
Support offer in relation to workforce development

Earlier this year, CLDSC wrote to Chief Executives in local authorities offering support in relation to the expectations set out in CLD Plans Guidance Note (2021-24), published by Scottish Government in December 2020.

Key to this support is the provision of information and guidance that may help in producing the workforce development section of CLD plans and we’ve developed a suite of information materials which may help. These can be found on the i-develop CLD Plans Workforce Development area.

Information on each of the expectations outlined in the Guidance Note is available and provides more details of the kind of the nature of the support available through the CLD Standards Council.

We are continuing to work with partners at a national level to provide ongoing
assistance towards the implementation of the CLD plans.

World Community Development Conference 2021
The conference took place last week …

“WCDC2021 was a celebration of community development – a discipline and practice that seeks to nurture the enduring community spirit that holds communities together. It is a fact that community life occurs within contexts that are promotive of healthy communities but equally that also have shocks and uncertainties which pose a challenge to meeting even the basics of live including hope. Yet communities through their enduring connectedness are constantly engaged in efforts to bounce back, and indeed, often do bounce back in spite of the adversities within vulnerable contexts– largely because of drawing from the wide range of resources and assets from within and without the community.

Community development ethos and processes also enable communities to be resilient! Lastly, community development seeks to actualise communities’ goal of enhancing their staying power through sustainable empowerment interventions from within and without. It helps if community development is undertaken within a context that is predictable – where standards – ethical, legal and value driven – underpin the process.”

World Community Development Conferences – IACD (iacdglobal.org)

You can find the uploaded videos from Conference presentations on the conference YouTube channel.

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 23 June 2021

OECD Report – “Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence: into the future”

The CLD Standards Council Scotland notes with interest the recommendations in the recent OECD report “Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence: into the future”. In particular, the CLD Standards Council welcomes the recognition that CLD practice contributes positively to learners’ outcomes and experiences. In addition, our role in designing personalised curricula that is negotiated with learners, based on their needs and wants is highlighted. A full response to the OECD’s recommendations will be available in due course.

Scotland still has something to celebrate – CLD Graduations

University of Edinburgh – The BA (Hons) Community Education programme team would like to congratulate all students who are graduating from the programme this year and wish them all the best in their professional careers.

University of Glasgow CLD Students message from your CLD Delivery team – Good luck with the ongoing studies and look forward to sharing details of your success when Graduation time arrives.

University of West of Scotland, CLD Delivery team – Keep up the good work and we are looking forward to sharing your success stories in the future.

University of Dundee- Community Education team would like to note:

Class of 2021 – Journeys, Achievements and Destinations.
Congratulations to all 26 graduates of 2021 with BA(Hons) Community Education (BACE) and BA(Hons) Community Learning & Development (BACLD). Here are a few of the inspiring stories of achievement.

Congratulations to the Prize-winner of the ‘Engaged Learning Award’ – Fungai Moetsabi
Congratulations to Zoe Thompson who secured her dream job on the Shetland Islands.
Congratulations to the Prize-winner of the ‘Excellence in Practice-based Research’ Award: Megan McGregor
Congratulations to Aimee Brown who Reflects on her Journey to Successful Employment.
Congratulations to the Prize-winner of the Internship Impact Award -Rebecca Smith
Congratulations Pippa Cowling: a journey through widening access

CLDSC will be show casing the stories from the above graduates in due course – watch this space for more information. In the meantime:

Congratulations to UoD graduates who are happy to share that they have already secured jobs:

Aimee Brown – Employment Co-ordinator for Enable Works, Dundee.
Catherine Doig – Corporate Parenting Youth Worker, Perth and Kinross Council.
Kim Donnachie – Youth Key Worker, BRAG Enterprises, Scottish Government’s No One Left Behind Project, Fife.
Scott Houston – Family Project worker, Children 1st, Aberdeen.
Megan McGregor – Key Worker, Youth Employability Service, Dundee City Council.
Zoe Thomson – Graduate Project Officer, Youth Empowerment & Participation, Shetland Islands Council.
Jordan Weldon – Parenting and Family Learning Assistant, Perth and Kinross Council.
Amy Younger – Key Worker, Youth Employability Service, Dundee City Council.

And many more…congratulations to all!
from CLDSC Staff Team

We need Buddies!

Are you an experienced CLD practitioner who could informally support a CLD practitioner who might be newer to the field, an area of work or looking to learn from other’s experiences? Currently we have 4 CLDSC members looking for someone like you! Areas of interest for those looking for Buddies are professional/career development, external verification, funding and engaging learners. If you have experience in any of these areas, why not become a CLDSC Buddy?

For more information about becoming a Buddy go to Supporting Professional Learning Together. If you would like to become a Buddy please complete the Supporting Professional Learning Together form.

Member Meet Up – Draft Adult Learning Strategy Response 28 June 2021, 1pm

Have you seen the draft Adult Learning Strategy for Scotland? Do you want to find out more and comment on the CLDSC response? Well, join us next Monday on Zoom to discuss!
Sign up on Eventbrite and we will send you the draft and some of our initial thoughts by Friday so you have some time to ponder and gather your thoughts.
We look forward to hearing from you!

CLD Managers’ Scotland

Congratulations to Dominique Carlisle-Kitz on her appointment as Chair and to Andrea McMillan and Robert Hynd on their appointments as Vice Co-Chairs of CLD Managers’ Scotland (CLDMS). CLDMS is a national independent professional network for leaders in CLD services in Scotland and works in partnership to inform/ influence policy relevant to CLD. We are delighted that all three are active Members of the CLD Standards Council who work hard to promote professional CLD standards. We also want to say huge thanks to outgoing Chair, Avril Nicol for her leadership and advocacy of a supported and inclusive CLD workforce.

JETS – Joint Education Training Standards

A special meeting of JETS was held in June 2021 with a focus to ensure that all UK Nations and Ireland were approaching approvals/endorsement for programmes in a similar way to avoid breaching the mutual recognition agreement that is in place across the nations. More information on JETS can be found on the JETS i-develop area. The mutual recognition agreement provides portability of CLD qualifications. If you are qualified as a CLD Practitioner via a programme approved by CLDSC then you can use that qualification anywhere in the UK and Ireland. Similarly, if you hold a qualification approved/endorsed by the other nations it will be recognised in Scotland.

The special meeting focused on topics around:

Fitness to practice
Raising profile of youth work and CLD
Appeals procedures
Reviewing of Guidelines for approval/endorsement in each of the nations to ensure consistency
Reviewing Joint JETS Guidelines in line with the requirements for each nation.

JETS meets twice a year and will progress the actions captured at the meeting. Big thanks to our colleagues across the nations. It is great to share experiences and knowledge from other nations.

2021 SURF Awards now open

The purpose of the Awards is to highlight, celebrate and share the achievements of initiatives that address physical, social and economic challenges in communities across Scotland.

This year’s five thematic categories include;

Supporting Youth Employability sponsored by Skills Development Scotland,
Creative Regeneration sponsored by Creative Scotland,
Community Led Regeneration sponsored by Highlands and Island
Scotland’s Most Improved Place sponsored by Scotland’s Towns Partnership and Architecture & Design Scotland and
Housing and Regeneration sponsored by the Scottish Federation of Housing Associations.

Further information on the Awards and how to apply can be found on the SURF website.

NSPCC Child Protection Audit tool

NSPCC have launched a self-assessment tool which will help organisations audit their child protection arrangements.

The free self-assessment tool will help organisations audit current safeguarding and child protection arrangements. The tool will also help to identify areas for development and support you in making any changes necessary.

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 16 June 2021

COVID-19 guidance for the Community Learning & Development sector – update

The CLD Covid-19 guidance was updated on 10 June. This update sees the removal of the cap on numbers at levels 0-2 and replaces it with a ‘space-based’ approach.

For CLD activity with both young people and adults in levels 0-2, the following now applies:

“Learning is permitted indoors and outdoors. Following a risk assessment, a space-based approach should be taken in line with capacity guidance. Numbers permitted are to be based on the capacity of the venue provided physical distancing and other mitigations remain in place. Physical activity/sports should follow general guidance whereas activity akin to events should follow events guidance.”

The guidance can be found on the Scottish Government website.

CLD Standards Council Member Survey – last chance to complete

Our Member Survey closes on Friday 18 June, so make sure you have your say and shape our CLD Career Pathways work. This work will help us

identify demand for training and qualifications to help us to work with providers and funding bodies to secure the opportunities needed by CLD Practitioners.
in the development of a nationally agreed and endorsed framework to guide employers regarding the recruitment of appropriately qualified CLD staff
create a Workforce Strategy for CLD practitioners in discussion with key stakeholders.

Please complete the Career Pathways Survey by Friday 18 June 2021.

Summer funding – Children & Young People’s Health and Wellbeing

Children and young people most impacted by Covid will be supported by £20 million to create opportunities to socialise, play and reconnect this summer. Councils will receive £15 million and up to £5 million has been allocated to a coalition of 18 national partners to further strengthen and build on existing summer provision in addition to what is usually on offer. The support provided by councils will specifically target those aged up to 25 from low income households who may otherwise struggle to access such experiences during the holidays.

Further information can be found on the Scottish Government website.

World Community Development Conference final places!

We still have 4 places available at the World Community Development Conference for CLDSC members. The event takes place from 21-23 June 2021 and is fully online. The theme is ‘Our Connectedness, Resilience and Empowerment’ and there are speakers from Australia, Belaurs, Candada, India, Ireland, Mauritius, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Taiwan, USA and many more! Check out the programme and email contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk to claim a FREE place.

Make sure to follow along on Twitter (#WCDC2021).

Standards Mark Sessions

Does your organisation deliver CLD learning to staff and volunteers? Do you want the recognition of the quality of CLD learning you offer to CLD sector? CLDSC Standard Mark approval can give you that recognition and much, much more. Maybe, you are not sure if Standard Mark is for your organisation. Well, why not pop along to one of the support/awareness events below. We will cover the What, What, Why?

What is SM approval?
What does it mean for my organisation?
Why would it be Standard Mark approval and not one of the other routes of approval?

Further information on Standards Mark approval can be found here.

21 June 2021 14:00 to 16:00
29 June 2021 15:00 to 17:00

Learning for Sustainability Awards 2021 – applications now open

The Learning for Sustainability Awards have been launched. The Scottish Government has identified People as a key theme for the COP26 Summit and has declared that it wants it to be the most inclusive COP summit ever to be held. This includes a strong focus on young people and on engaging disadvantaged and hard-to-reach communities. The Learning for Sustainability Awards support these ambitions. Help recognise the amazing achievements of Scotland’s people and the settings, schools and communities that have demonstrated passion and commitment to building a socially-just, sustainable and equitable world by submitting an nomination.

The award categories recognise the dedication and achievements of learners, practitioners, education supporters, establishments and providers and also those in leadership positions in Scottish education. There are 6 categories:

LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY YOUTH AWARD – Recognising the achievements of young people aged 3-26 years
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY PRACTITIONER AWARD – Recognising the achievements of early learning and childcare practitioners and school teachers
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP AWARD – Recognising the achievements of head teachers, heads of centre, managers, authority staff and promoted staff in school and setting leadership teams
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY LEARNING COMMUNITY AWARD – Recognising the achievements of early learning and childcare settings and schools
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATIONAL SUPPORTER AWARD – Recognising the achievements of individuals who provide invaluable support for learning
LEARNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY COMMUNITY LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT AWARD – Recognising the achievements of community learning and development providers.

You can submit a nomination here. Nominations will close on 12 September 2021. Winners will be announced in the Daily Record on 27 October 2021.

University of Dundee BA Community Education (Hons)

Places are still available on the Community Education undergraduate programme at Dundee starting in September 2021. The programme offers learning around the historical and philosophical foundations influencing current practice, relevant policy and political ideas and how they relate to community practice, in-depth analysis of social justice, equalities, political perspectives, values, and socio-economic trends. The course reflects the current field of Community Education practice in Scotland, the UK, and worldwide.

And, if you need some convincing about applying just read this fabulous story:

Congratulations to the Prize-winner of the ‘Excellence in Practice-based Research’ Award: Megan McGregor
Megan undertook her final year research whilst on Internship with Student Funding, University of Dundee. She designed and undertook a qualitative inquiry into student poverty during the Covid-19 pandemic. Megan highlighted the existence of significant socio-economic inequalities in higher education and pointed to the inter-related challenges of high day-to-day living expenses, the limitations of student loans, and the impact of neoliberalism, as exacerbating disadvantages amongst the student community. She found that Covid-19 pressures have further increased these problems for University of Dundee students and her work will be used by Student Funding to plan responses to student poverty and to highlight this social injustice.

Megan commented:
Before Uni, I had no idea what I wanted to do for years, then one day I read about CLD and thought it sounded like something I would be interested in. I decided to apply and now I literally can’t imagine my life without it! I’ve had an incredible four years and learned a lot about myself, I’ve always tried to challenge myself and work hard, so I am over the moon to have won the prize!

This programme is professionally approved by CLD Standards Council. If you are interested in finding out more, have a look at the UoD Community Education homepage. Closing date for applications is 30 June 2021.

Congrats to Clare McGillivary!

Congratulations to Clare McGillivary, CLDSC Member, on joining Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme. Atlantic Fellows are activists, policy-makers, researchers and movement-builders who believe inequality can be defeated. She joins 85 current and lifelong Fellows from 39 countries across Africa, Asia, Oceania, Europe, North and South and the Caribbean. We look forward to hearing about Clare’s learning experiences.

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 09 June 2021

Advanced Learning Covid Recovery Group

Alan Sherry, Chair of CLD Standards Council, has been invited to become a member of the Advanced Learning Covid Recovery Group. The Group’s remit is to provide advice and guidance for CLD, colleges and universities as learning restarts. Further information will be included in future newsletters.

CLD Standards Council Member Survey

As we continue our CLD Career Pathways work, we have created a Member Survey which will help

to identify demand for training and qualifications to help us to work with providers and funding bodies to secure the opportunities needed by CLD Practitioners.
in the development of a nationally agreed and endorsed framework to guide employers regarding the recruitment of appropriately qualified CLD staff
create a Workforce Strategy for CLD practitioners in discussion with key stakeholders.

Please complete the Career Pathways Survey by Friday 18 June 2021.

CLDSC Members’ Meet Up Monday 28 June 2021 1-2pm

This month’s discussion topic is up for grabs – what’s hot on your agenda that you’d like to share with colleagues? Bring your cuppa, your ideas and your experience and have a blether with fellow CLDSC Members.

You can register to attend the Meet Up on Eventbrite.

World Community Development Conference places still available!

We still have 7 places available at the World Community Development Conference for CLDSC members. The event takes place from 21-23 June 2021 and is fully online. The theme is ‘Our Connectedness, Resilience and Empowerment’. No programme is available as of yet, but check the website and twitter(#WCDC2021) for updates.

If you’re interested in attending, please email contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk by 11 June 2021. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

National Numeracy CLD Network

The next Network meeting, chaired by Education Scotland and Learning Link Scotland, will take place on 10th June at 10am. Hear about the small grants fund and communities section of Maths Week Scotland. Chat about activities from National Numeracy Day, share resources, network and connect with others. To attend the meeting please register on Eventbrite.

For further information please contact Laura Starkey laura.starkey@educationscotland.gov.scot Education Scotland or Jackie Howie, Learning Link Scotland jhowie@learninglinkscotland.org.uk

Commonwealth Higher Education Consortium for Youth Work Virtual World Café 17th June

The Commonwealth Secretariat on behalf of the Commonwealth Higher Education Consortium for Youth Work, the Professional Association of Lecturers in Youth and Community Work (PALYCW) and the Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) will be hosting a virtual world café on the 17 June 2021 from 2.00-4.30pm.

This event is an opportunity for Commonwealth colleagues to reflect and engage in dialogue on emerging themes in relation to teaching and practising youth work under COVID-19.

Participants will have an opportunity to:

Share and reflect on their experiences and challenges during the global outbreak;
Learn from each other about creative responses and innovations in the teaching and practice of youth work;
Explore ways of thinking critically and reflectively about youth work; and
Forge connections, extend networks, share resources, and establish effective collaborations.

The Association has been working with Commonwealth Higher Education Consortium for Youth Work on a number of tailored international events and this is the first of what we hope will be regular open events to facilitate engagement across teaching institutions throughout the Commonwealth

To join the online Café event you can register on Eventbrite.

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