If you are passionate about all things CLD and are interested in supporting

• developments around professional learning opportunities for practitioners and volunteers,
• approving qualifications and developing qualification pathways, or
• encouraging your peers to better understand the benefits and advantages of being a member of the CLD Standards Council,

Then we are looking forward to welcoming you as a committee member.

“It’s good to be part of the voice for CLD across Scotland and to help promote membership and feel you are making a difference.” Member of the R&M Committee

Changes to our Standing Orders have opened up more places on our committees, giving more CLD Standards Council members a say in how the organisation develops, so we are looking to appoint more members to all four of our committees. These are the Executive Committee, Approvals Committee, Professional Learning Committee, Registration and Membership Committee.

“Being a CLD committee member is a great way to work with practitioners across Scotland, and to support the future of CLD. Plus they are the best people – friendly and inspiring in their work and commitment to practice.”

Being a committee member offers opportunities for networking with peers from across Scotland as you debate, discuss and shape the priorities that will guide the direction of travel for the CLD Standards Council.

“Being a member of the PL Committee has played a part in my own CPD for many years. The opportunity to have an influence on strategic developments in professional learning and decision making has been invaluable. The networking and sharing of practice opportunities across all sectors have improved both my confidence and competence as a CLD practitioner who has a professional learning remit. I now have extremely useful contacts in terms of professional development across the breadth of CLD in Scotland.”

“Being on the CLD Standards Council Registration & Membership committee is both a genuine joy, pleasure and a great developmental opportunity for me. I am so grateful to the staff for their care, wisdom and support, and I love the amazing volunteer committee members who bring such diversity of skill and experience to the work we all do. We really are a learning community, a tribe ……and I appreciate how we help each other create a real sense of ‘CLD belonging’.”

If you want to know more about getting involved as a future committee member you can contact Ross for a chat (ross.martin@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk) or download an information sheet and application form below –

“Being on the PL committee given me a wider perspective of CLD and has provided a professional network that is so supportive. There are members who have been in place for a while, that are welcoming and have a wealth of experience that I would never have had access to. I appreciate the professional and personal value of being part of the team.”

Closing dates for applications will be Friday 11th April 2025, with an induction day planned for 27 June 2025.

Good luck!

The CLD Approvals panel is delighted to announce that the Sports Academy of Scotland has achieved Developmental approval for the delivery of the SCQF Level 7 SVQ Level 3 in Youth Work, which forms the critical part of the Modern Apprenticeship in Youth Work offered by Sports Academy of Scotland. The approval period is January 2025 – January 2030.

This is an exciting and much needed pathway for learners and young people across Scotland. The Approval panel were impressed with Sports Academy of Scotland’s use of the OneFile digital system which in its demonstration was innovative and supportive to both learners and employers. The panel noted that that the Sports Academy of Scotland team had ensured that access to the SVQ in Youth Work is as accessible as possible by offering several methods and modes for learners to complete their evidence. The panel further commended the obvious passion for Coaching, Mentoring and Community Learning and Development that was expressed through the Developmental Approval Process and thanked Sports Academy of Scotland for the frank, open and honest conversation during the approval process.

For more information about this programme, email contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk

Are you ready to stretch your mind and flex those brain cells, and tackle the challenges ahead after the festive season?
Is this the year to focus on your CLD career development? Need a challenge to expand your skills and networks?

We can help!

The Professional Induction Programme has gone from strength to strength, and we are inundated with participants for the Spring programme, and we know this will increase for the Autumn 2025 programme, so we are looking for more Course Mentors.

The Professional Induction Programme (PIP) was developed by CLD Standards Council members to help those joining take advantage of all the benefits available as part of CLD Standards Council membership. Taking part helps members to

• Increase their awareness and understanding of
  • the purpose, functions and professional standards of the CLDSC and the requirements;
  • the benefits of membership, with particular reference to professional learning and development
  • being a member of the CLDSC;
  • the process of professional learning and development to professional practice, recognition and progression;
  • the benefits that peer support and mentoring bring to professional learning and development.
• Produce a Professional Learning & Development (PL&D) Plan setting professional learning goals within the context of your practice and critically reflect on its development.

The programme is split into three units:

1. The CLD Standards Council Scotland – its Vision, Values, Code of Ethics and functions;
2. Registration, Learning and Review;
3. Goal Setting and Plan Development.

Each unit takes approximately 5 hours, with participants having 3 months to complete the programme.
The programme is delivered through i-develop and each participant is allocated a course mentor.

About being a Course Mentor

Role

The main role of Course Mentors in the Professional Induction Programme is as follows:

• To be part of a supportive learning community;
• To give feedback on the professional learning plan submitted by participants;
• To assist participants to progress in their journey as reflective practitioners.

Benefits for you

In carrying out this role, you have a unique opportunity to further your own professional development, which you can use as evidence of your own professional learning for registration purposes. You also enable participants to complete the course requirements.

Commitment

You will be asked to support up to 6 PIP participants per programme. On average, you would commit around 1-2 hours per week over the course of the programme delivery.

Support for you

New mentors go through an induction process. To maintain professional standards, mentors are supported during the programme through regular mentor meetings and networking. All mentors are encouraged to raise any questions or issues of concern between mentor meetings.

If you are interested in taking part, complete this PIP Course Mentor registration form.
Tick off those new year resolutions and join us as a PIP Course Mentor!

On Friday the 4th of October the CLD Standards Council hosted its annual lecture with the support of Glasgow University School of Education.

Kate Still, who led the Independent Review of CLD, delivered the lecture to practitioners from across Scotland and, alongside our Chair Alan Sherry OBE, took questions from the audience.

Kate spoke about her personal CLD journey as she undertook the review of CLD and about how learning challenges in her family shaped her determination to make skills and learning development more accessible, and more supportive. This was a guiding factor in how Kate approached the review.

Kate shared stories from the meetings she had with Young People and Adults and how CLD impacted their learning, wellbeing, and life. Kate was able to directly link these sessions into how she shaped the recommendations.

We support Kate’s call to the sector to take ownership of the recommendations and seek to engage proactively with decision makers on the next steps.

Here are some thoughts about the lecture from CLD Standards Council members:

“Kate Still encouraged everyone to ‘embrace your power to believe in people’ and talked of the value of the transformative CLD experiences that she witnessed across Scotland whilst undertaking the Independent Review. Kate’s said that ‘too many people still don’t know about it’ and highlighted the pressures on CLD services and the continuing issues with lack of parity of esteem with school-based education provision. Talking of CLD being the invisible glue that holds communities together, Kate reminded us of the live-saving impact of CLD and the reasons why many of us came into this line of work in the first place.” – Julie Beckett

“A clear message I took home is that we are stronger together, a unified CLD sector has an opportunity with the report to expand the excellent work across Scotland serving more learners better”. Emma Whitelock

“This year’s lecture was fantastic – both challenging and inspiring. The publication of the independent review of CLD is obviously one of the biggest moments for our sector in recent years, so it was great to hear directly from Kate Still about the review process and findings. Kate started by sharing some powerful experiences from her own learning journey, highlighting people that had made a real difference in her life. She reminded CLD practitioners to ‘embrace your power to believe in people.’ Kate also thanked learners and practitioners for engaging so positively in the review. For her, the evidence from the review clearly shows that CLD has a significant impact in communities, but not enough people know that CLD works. Kate argued that the review report makes a strong case for investment in CLD and for an effective CLD workforce across Scotland. As we wait for the Scottish Government’s response to the Review, Kate called for unified response from the CLD sector to the review recommendations, and encouraged all of us in the CLD sector to be pro-active in using the evidence and recommendations from the review to make change happen where we can”. – John Galt

The CLD Standards Council are recruiting for a Corporate Performance Officer.

Do you have a strong knowledge, understanding and experience of CLD professional practice, CLD delivery structures and the make-up of the CLD workforce?

Do you have a skillset in quantitative and qualitative methods and analysis?

Do you have knowledge of the Data Protection Act 2018?

The Corporate Performance Officer role with the CLD Standards Council will work directly with the Assistant Director and the Development Officer (Policy & Research) to gather and use evidence to support the improvement of practice standards for CLD practitioners, inform decisions and development of professional learning requirements of CLD practitioners and advise on trends and challenges associated with membership demographics.

If this matches your skills and experience and you want to make a difference to professional CLD practice in Scotland then check out the further information and details on how to apply on the Scottish Government job site.