CLDSC Member Bulletin – 30 September 2020

Challenge Poverty Week – 5-11 October 2020

We have a couple of events focussing on Challenge Poverty Week. First up, along with Education Scotland CLD Team, we plan to run our very first CLD Twitter blether to promote Challenge Poverty Week. The event will take place on Tuesday 6th October at 12pm until 1pm on the @edscotcld twitter account using the hashtag #CLDChallengePoverty. You do not need a sign in to read posts but we would encourage you and your staff to join in the discussion and post lots of comments.

Our second event is the next CLDSC Virtual Meet Up on Friday 9th October 1-2pm. Register for the Meet up on Eventbrite.

At both of these events there will be key questions asked about CLD practice in relation to poverty which will encourage reflection, highlight issues and support ongoing planning in relation to the impacts of poverty. The Poverty Alliance will be taking part in the discussions and we want to promote CLD’s role in supporting and highlighting poverty and the impacts of poverty.

Blended Learning/Digital Engagement Blether

5 October 2-3.15pm

Online/blended delivery and engagement are hot topics just now. With some brief inputs from other practitioners, this blether will focus on how you’ve maintained engagement with current learners and encouraged new learners to participate – what’s worked, what hasn’t? It will also create the opportunity to identify strategies and professional learning needs.
Register for the Blether on Eventbrite

Connecting with the Children in Scotland Network

The CLDSC is a member of Children in Scotland whose mission is to give all children in Scotland an equal chance to flourish; they bring together a network of people working with and for children, alongside children and young people themselves. Catherine Bromley, their Senior Communications Officer, has written a blog for our website, outlining Children in Scotland’s role and how members of the CLDSC can benefit from our membership.
You can read Catherine’s blog on the CLDSC website. From there, you can explore the Children in Scotland Members’ Hub. If you need to access any of the resources that require a sign-in, you can do so through your CLDSC membership, just email Contact@CLDStandardsCouncil.org.uk for details.

Scotland Learns

The latest issue of the Scotland Learns newsletter from Education Scotland is now available! View and Subscribe on the Education Scotland site.
It has information to support learners, parents and carers as well as news and professional learning opportunities for practitioners. See also the resources for practitioners section of Scotland Learns.

Supporting Student Carers course from the College Development Network

CDN and Carers Trust Scotland have joined forces to help improve support to over 12,000 student carers in Scotland, who are studying at college alongside providing unpaid care for a family member or friend who is ill, frail, disabled or has mental health or addiction problems.
Supporting Student Carers at College is a new innovative free digital training module that has been developed by CDN and Carers Trust Scotland from funding received by The Scottish Funding Council. The module will help practitioners to better understand the challenges faced by many student carers, and it provides guidance on how to improve support for these students at college.

Funding Awareness Outreach offer from the Student Awards Agency Scotland

The Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS) is an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government who help higher education students find the right information about support and funding. The Funding Awareness Team offer support and guidance by offering Funding Talks to groups of students and/or parents/carers on the funding available and how to apply. They also offer a digital alternative where they deliver the funding presentation online followed by a Q&A session. For more information about the online schedule please check the social media channels @saastweet

Updates from Disclosure Scotland

  • Applying for disclosure checks: From late March until 25 June 2020, Disclosure Scotland had been encouraging customers to only submit checks for coronavirus response workers. Since 26 June, individuals and employers have been able to apply for routine disclosure checks, which you can now do online. The latest forms are available on the Disclosure Scotland website.
  • Disclosure Scotland e-bulletin: Interested in keeping up to date with what’s happening at Disclosure Scotland, including forthcoming changes in disclosure legislation that may affect you? Complete the Disclosure Scotland online sign up form to receive the quarterly e-bulletin.

Connecting with the Children in Scotland Network

The CLD Standards Council is a member of Children in Scotland. Catherine Bromley, their Senior Communications Officer, has written a blog for us, outlining Children in Scotland’s role and how members of the CLDSC can benefit from membership.

Giving all children in Scotland an equal chance to flourish is at the heart of everything Children in Scotland does.

By bringing together a network of people working with and for children, alongside children and young people themselves, we offer a broad, balanced and independent voice. We create solutions, provide support and develop positive change across all areas affecting children in Scotland.

Without doubt, the COVID-19 crisis has deepened inequalities, delayed or halted services, diverted resources and compounded pressures on families across Scotland. But it has also created opportunities. We’ve seen how the third sector has mobilised, using its knowledge and expertise to work with statutory bodies and help shape local services. We’ve seen the value of networks really come to the fore and the difference that working together can make to communities.

As a member of Children in Scotland, you’re connected to thousands of professionals from across the children’s sector, across healthcare and community support services, education and the arts.

The forums and groups that we coordinate to meet regularly bring together knowledge and expertise to identify solutions and put them into practice. For example, the most recent meeting of our Children’s Sector Strategic & Policy Forum was attended by Deputy First Minister John Swinney. Under discussion was policy development on child poverty, a Scottish Budget focused on National Performance Framework outcomes, family support, mental health and child rights in education. The forum also focussed on the progress made on UNCRC incorporation, the publication of the Bill and what it will mean for children in Scotland to have their rights enshrined in Scots law.

Our members have access to some of the best training opportunities the sector has to offer. Now adapted to a comprehensive online learning programme that includes a number of free webinars, we deliver CPD where it matters most. But we also focus on self-care for practitioners as we know that the people who support children and young people need to look after themselves too.

Our Children in Scotland Magazine and our Members’ News provide essential reading for the sector. The magazine offers news, features and opinion as well as content updating you on the latest policies, projects and good practice, while the fortnightly Members’ News delivers exclusive insight from our staff and our members to share learning and forge connections.

Our Parliamentary Monitor keeps track of activities at Holyrood and Westminster to keep you informed of the latest policy developments relevant to children and families in Scotland, across the UK, and in Europe.

And our legal helpline with our partners at Gillespie Macandrew offers Children in Scotland members legal advice and guidance in free 30 minute consultations.

All of these benefits and services are available to our members through our Members’ Hub. Our website and social channels update on current projects and our participation work with children and young people.

For more information about our work in the last financial year, our Achievement Report for 2019-20 (PDF) includes detail on the projects and partnerships made possible by the knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment of all of our members.

Thank you for supporting Children in Scotland, and if you have any queries regarding membership or any of your benefits, please get in touch.

Catherine Bromley

Cbromley@childreninscotland.org

Senior Communications Officer
Children in Scotland

CLDSC Members can access Children in Scotland resources through their membership. Once you have identified an opportunity you can contact us at contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk for details.

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 23 September 2020

CLD Practitioners Health & Wellbeing Blether – 29 September 2-3pm

This blether is all about you! Information from the CLD Standards Council (CLDSC) Covid-19 Surveys highlights areas impacting on your health and wellbeing as practitioners including: volume/pace of work; return to face-to-face delivery; and job security. The CLDSC Code of Ethics will frame the discussion giving an opportunity to share issues of concern as well as time to discuss strategies and support.

To attend the Blether, register on Eventbrite

Surveys closing soon – have you responded yet?

Online Professional Learning
The CLD Standards Council is reviewing our online learning provision. We are keen to gather your views and details of use of professional learning online, and the i-develop service in particular. This information will help us support the professional learning needs of CLD practitioners and to update the i-develop platform accordingly.

Please complete the Survey of Online Professional Learning

Supervisor Training and Support
The CLD Standards Council is planning to support students through the creation of a Scotland–wide placement supervisor professional training and development qualification. Help us shape this work by completing one the following surveys:

All of the above surveys will close on Friday 2 October.

Youth Work Education Recovery Fund Now Open

The Youth Work Education Recovery Fund will enable the sector to support young people in some of the country’s most vulnerable communities engage and re-engage with vital learning opportunities.

The fund will be administered by YouthLink Scotland and is open for applications from Community Learning and Development services working with young people to build confidence and skills; support their mental health and wellbeing; and those that address the poverty-related attainment gap.

Funding awards of £20,000-£60,000 are available, with the aim of strengthening youth work and schools partnerships, increasing access to outdoor learning opportunities, and increasing the youth work provision for families and communities disproportionately disadvantaged by Covid-19.

Click here to apply

College Development Network Virtual Bridge sessions

CDN has partnered with Jisc to bring you Virtual Bridge, a brand new series of webinars. A direct response to the current crisis, these sessions have been designed to support college staff in delivering remote learning and teaching, but also have lots of great information for CLD practitioners not in a college setting.

The 30-minute sessions are now running twice a week (Tuesday and Friday, 11am) and anyone can join for free! You can also view past webinars on the CDN YouTube Channel

SCQF – Professional Learning Opportunity

Looking for some Continuous Professional Development hours towards your CLDSC Registration commitment? Interested in Credit Rating a piece of CLD Learning you are developing? Or, interested in Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) then SCQF may be able to assist you

Please click here for the upcoming workshops

Programme for Government Commentary

The CLDSC is a member of Children in Scotland, who invited us to contribute a CLD perspective on the Programme for Government for their members. The blog is published here.

Welcoming the programme’s positive references to CLD, and commitment to a Lifelong Learning Strategy, we highlight the challenge of ensuring that it engages individuals, families and communities as real partners, and links to strategies for community empowerment. And we argue that the challenge posed by the pandemic must be used as an opportunity to engage, connect, educate and empower.

Kickstart Scheme

Kickstart is a UK Government Scheme that provides funding to employers to create 6 month job placements for 16 to 24 year olds who are currently on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment.

Please visit the UK Government website for further information

Any organisation, regardless of size, can apply for funding; organisations employing less than 30 Kickstart roles need to apply through an intermediary representative organisation. SCVO is offering this service to third sector organisations or you may be able to access support through your local authority

Please visit the SCVO website for further information

Join Us at the Scottish Charity Awards Ceremony!

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 Celebrating Communities Award at this year’s #ScotCharityAwards. Sally Magnusson is presenting live and there will be surprise special guests too.

The ceremony is being held online on Friday 25 September and we’d like to invite you to join us for virtual pre-ceremony drinks reception at 6pm. Get your gladrags on, top up your glass and join fellow CLDSC members to celebrate the work of CLD in the voluntary sector. The ceremony is scheduled to take place form 7-8pm and we hope to watch together as it will be live streamed on YouTube.

To join us on the night, please register on Eventbrite

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 16 September 2020

CLDSC Practice Placement Guidance

Academic Year 2020-21

Due to the continuing Covid-19 situation, we have updated our Guidance relating to CLD Practice Placements in Academic Year 2020/21.

Please click here for the Updated Guidance

CLD Blethers

Delivering in partnership with CLD colleagues in Education Scotland, we have not one, but three blethering opportunities to tell you about!

  1. CLD Practitioners Health & Wellbeing Blether – 29 September 2-3pm
    This blether is all about you! Information from the CLD Standards Council (CLDSC) Covid-19 Surveys highlights areas impacting on your health and wellbeing as practitioners including: volume/pace of work; return to face-to-face delivery; and job security. The CLDSC Code of Ethics will frame the discussion giving an opportunity to share issues of concern as well as time to discuss strategies and support.

To attend the Blether, register on Eventbrite

  1. Blended Learning/Digital Engagement Blether – 5 October 2-3.15pm
    Online/blended delivery and engagement are hot topics just now. With some brief inputs from other practitioners, this blether will focus on how you’ve maintained engagement with current learners and encouraged new learners to participate – what’s worked, what hasn’t? It will also create the opportunity to identify strategies and professional learning needs.

To attend the Blether, register on Eventbrite

  1. Challenging Poverty Week Twitter Blether – 6 October 12-1pm
    To promote Challenge Poverty Week (5-11 October), we’re hosting our very first Twitter Chat! Using the CLD Competences as a guide, we’ll look at key areas of CLD practice in relation to addressing the causes and highlighting the impacts of poverty. The Poverty Alliance will also be taking part. Search for the chat on Twitter by using #CLDChallengePoverty and don’t forget to follow @CLDStandardsCouncil and @EdScotCLD too!

COSLA launches Blueprint for Scottish Local Government

CoSLA believes that the Blueprint will “allow Local Government to build around an ambitious vision for Scotland’s future – one based on the empowerment of people and communities”.

The Blueprint argues that “decisions should be made from the community up, not from the top down. In making the voice of local people heard and acted upon across all public services, we can address the huge health, social and financial costs of persistent inequality in this country.

We also recognise that engaging a representative group from across our communities can be difficult and that we need to be realistic about the work and time involved in ensuring that the voice of people heard is reflective of the wider community”.

Community Development Alliance Scotland Annual Conference: Action, Impact and Change

Speakers at CDAS’s conference on 7 October include Doreen Grove (Scottish Government), Anna Clarke, President of the International Association for Community Development, and Phil Prentice (Scotland’s Towns Partnership). There’ll be time for discussion on key themes including influencing decision making, human-rights and inclusion.

To learn more and register for the conference, please go to the Community Development Alliance Scotland website

Shaping the future of Adult Learning in Europe: EPALE Community Conference

6,7 and 8 October

To learn more and to register for the conference, please go to the EPALE website

Community Conversation: Making Rights Real

17 September, 10am -12pm

Making Rights Real is a new grassroots human rights organisation in Scotland, and with the Scottish Human Rights Commission and the Participation and the Practice of Rights project is hosting this event for people living in Scotland who may be experiencing human rights concerns.

For further information, please visit the Making Rights Real website

And finally, Thank You!

Our Virtual Meet-Up in aid of Macmillan last week raised £75! Those attending pooled information and experience of implementing Coronavirus CLD Guidance and delivering blended learning.

We also heard about a free 2-day online event being run by Co-operative College Learning Live (sessions include What is Co-op Learning, Social Action Showcase and Making Knowledge Together Through Radical Learning – all with a global slant). And of course a sweet treat recipe or two was shared too!

Guidance for CLD students and programme providers for academic year 2020/21 – September 2020

This guidance has been updated – please see UPDATED Guidance as of March 2021

Please see the following advice from the CLD Standards Council Scotland (CLDSC) in response to the disruption to delivery of CLDSC approved programmes caused by the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak. Due to these exceptional and rapidly changing circumstances, this guidance is intended to manage and minimise disruption to CLD students attending Scottish Further Education Institutions (FEIs) and Higher Education institutions (HEIs) whilst seeking to ensure that the quality of CLD learning programmes is not compromised.

This is the guidance at September 2020.

COVID-19 Placement Guidance Academic Year 2020-21 Sept20 (PDF)Download

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 09 September 2020

Adult Learners Week 2020

This is Adult Learners Week and not even a global pandemic can keep Adult Learners Week down! Have a look on Twitter for all the latest goings on. Use the Hashtags #ALW2020 and #AdultLearningMatters to hone in on all things adult learning. Why not follow some of these amazing adult learning organisations and supporters:

Scotland’s Learning Partnership @SLPLearn
Learning Link Scotland @LearningLinkSCO
WEA Scotland @WEAScotland
Lead Scotland @leadscot_tweet
Education Scotland @EdScotCLD

You can also have a look at the Education Scotland Adult Learning Wakelet

Join Us at the Scottish Charity Awards Ceremony!

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 Celebrating Communities Award at this year’s #ScotCharityAwards. Sally Magnusson is presenting live and there will be surprise special guests too. The six finalists in the Celebrating Communities category are listed below:

  • Cyrenians – Flavour and Haver Community Cook School – improves health and wellbeing by helping people develop skills and confidence around cooking through free cooking classes, supper clubs and community cook clubs across Edinburgh, Fife and the Lothians.
  • Headway East Lothian SCIO – supports brain injury survivors and their families/carers. To increase community engagement and improve health and well-being levels the team devised an art project with participants and art tutors, using inspiration from nature to create a two week art exhibition.
  • Milan Senior Welfare Organisation – delivers essential services meeting the social, cultural, language and care needs of older people in Edinburgh. Milan provides the only registered day care provision specifically for South Asian communities in Edinburgh, as well as a carers support group.
  • Perth Autism Support (PAS) – supports autistic young people and their families and delivers training across Scotland, with services based on listening to children and families and ensuring resources are what they want, at a time that is right for them.
  • Space & Broomhouse Hub – addresses poverty in South West Edinburgh, last year opening a new community hub and developing Broomhouse Home Farm to create the opportunity to grow high quality local food on a site, run by local residents, bringing in young and old, to community growing activities.
  • Supporting our Community – a community hub in South Lanarkshire helping families struggling to access support and offers intergenerational activities that encourage community participation, reduce isolation and signpost to other agencies.

The ceremony is being held online on Friday 25 September and we’d like to invite you to join us for virtual pre-ceremony drinks reception at 6pm. Get your glad rags on, top up your glass and join fellow CLDSC members to celebrate the work of CLD in the voluntary sector. The ceremony is scheduled to take place form 7-8pm and we hope to watch together as it will be live streamed on YouTube.

To join us on the night, register on Eventbrite

SCVO Webinar Q&A with Professor Jason Leitch

The webinar is now available to watch online here: SCVO Webinar Please feel free to share with colleagues.

There’s also a blog on the SCVO website summarising the key messages from the webinar and helpfully highlighting key answers to commonly asked questions by taking you to the exact spot on the webinar e.g. Can our organisation’s AGM be held indoors?; What is the advice for reopening community centres?; Are community support groups allowed to restart and meet?

Upcoming Webinars from SCVO include:
Access to Community Facilities – 15 September
DigitShift – Delivering effective online learning – 17 September

Virtual meet-up 11 September 1-2pm – Put the Kettle On for MacMillan

Don’t forget to register for our next virtual meet up which will combine a good old blether about anything and everything related to CLD while raising a coffee cup and a few pounds for Macmillan’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning.

A chance to catch up, share stories, get support. There’s a lot going on at the moment, so we’re pretty sure we won’t run out of things to talk about! So, grab your cuppa and cake, consider making a donation. You can register and donate on on the Macmillan site. Please email us at contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk to join in.


Thank you.

Free online course for learners from Lead Scotland

Lead Scotland have announced a new free online course, ‘Everyday computer skills: a beginner’s guide to computers, tablets, mobile phones and accessibility’, produced for and by disabled learners, in partnership with Open University in Scotland (OUiS). The course is designed for beginners and may be useful for participants receiving digital devices as part of the Connecting Scotland initiative.

To learn more and register for the course, please go to the Lead Scotland website.

On 29th September at 11am, LEAD will be hosting a webinar demonstrating ‘Everyday computer skills: a beginner’s guide to computers, tablets, mobile phones and accessibility’. You’ll hear from the people involved in its creation about what the course has to offer, how to support people to use it and have a chance to ask any questions.

Register for this webinar on Zoom.

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 2 September 2020

Scottish Government Programme for Government 2020-21

CLD, and issues that will be of interest to CLDSC members, are well represented in the Programme for Government published yesterday.

See the full programme on the Scottish Government website

We will be exploring implications, challenges and opportunities with committees and members in the coming weeks.

In particular, the Programme:

  • Commits to developing a lifelong learning strategy:
    “We know that COVID-19 has increased the poverty gap for Scotland’s most marginalised adults and young people, and reinforced that we must to do more to support vulnerable young people and adults with few or no qualifications, including those for whom English is not a first language. We will develop a lifelong learning strategy that ensures youth and adult learning are integrated within our wider education and skills system. Implementation of the strategy would seek to increase provision for vulnerable adults by building on existing and creating new learning partnerships between colleges, the Open University and community based organisations.”
  • Highlights that “Our experience during COVID-19 school closures..reinforced the vital role played by community learning and development in supporting young people and families – a role that will become ever more important in our recovery year. As part of our support to the sector we will allocate £3 million to a new Youth Work for Education Recovery Fund, supporting young people to engage with youth work activities that build their confidence and skills, support their health and well being, and address the poverty related attainment gap.”
    And commits to legislation that “fully and directly incorporates into Scots law the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.”
  • Indicates that the Scottish Government wants “to harness the energy of communities to ensure they are a core part of how we do economic development in Scotland” and that “this is also the time to build on the progress we have been making on Community Wealth Building. This is a way of working that looks to reorganise our local economies to maximise local opportunities and resilience – ensuring that local people and businesses have a genuine stake in producing, owning and enjoying the wealth they create.”

Guidance update to support the reopening of indoor Youth Work

The Scottish Government have issued Guidance for the safe running of indoor and outdoor organised activities for children and young people.

View the Guidance on the Scottish Government site


This guidance is for unregulated activities and services provided indoors for children and young people, including babies and toddlers, that are voluntary, 3rd sector, parent or peer led or unregulated providers delivering a service or activity directly to children under 18.

Placement Supervisor Training and Support

CLD Standards Council is currently working with colleges, universities and employers to think about how we can best support students through the creation of a Scotland–wide placement supervisor professional training and development qualification. If you have not done so already please respond to one of the surveys below to help us shape this work:

Virtual meet-up 11 September 1-2pm – Put the Kettle On for MacMillan

Our next virtual meet up with combine a good old blether about anything and everything related to CLD while raising a coffee cup and a few pounds for MacMillan’s World’s Biggest Coffee Morning.
There’s no theme for this Meet-Up; just a chance to catch up, share stories, get support. There’s a lot going on at the moment, so we’re pretty sure we won’t run out of things to talk about! So, grab your cuppa and cake and consider making a donation. You can register and donate on this MacMillan Support page
Thank you.

Digital Inclusion Fund applications now open

There has never been a more important time to end digital poverty, please help us spread the word about this new fund for young adult learners.

£250K CLD programme to tackle the digital divide

The new £250,000 programme has been launched as part of an ongoing effort to address digital poverty.
The Digital Inclusion Fund will be used to facilitate the purchase of laptops, tablets, adaptive/assistive equipment and other devices in order to promote digital inclusion and connectivity, and is open to organisations working with young adult learners.

To qualify, the supported young adult learners must be:

  • Aged 16 to 30
  • Who are actively supported by Community Learning and Development
  • Are not in full-time education, employment or training

Covid-19 has highlighted the stark digital divide that exists in Scotland.

As part of wider digital inclusion efforts, the Scottish Government and the CLD sector have been working to address the digital divide for young adult learners.
YouthLink Scotland, WEA and Lead Scotland will work together with their networks to reach those who could benefit most from support to access digital equipment and the internet. This is a limited fund, we would therefore ask you to prioritise those most in need of this support, and who may not be able to access other similar programmes such as Connecting Scotland.
Access further information about the Digital Inclusion Fund criteria (PDF)
Complete the online application form
The closing date for applications is the 25th of September (5pm).

Wee blether for youth work

Education Scotland are hosting an online Wee Blether on 7 September at 4pm.

This will be an opportunity for schools and youth work practitioners to reflect on the contributions that youth work makes to closing the poverty related attainment gap and discuss how to strengthen collaboration between schools and their youth work partners during the recovery phase.
This blether is for head teachers, teachers, and CLD practitioners.
Book your place on the Education Scotland events page

There is still time to apply for Erasmus+ Youth Funding

Final deadline for application: October 1st 2020.

Erasmus+ is the European Union programme for education, training, youth and sport. Since the current programme started 2014, youth organisations and young people in Scotland have accessed more than 5 million Euros of Erasmus+ funding to support life-changing international opportunities. The current programme is due to end in December and the UK Government will decide whether the UK will be part of future programmes but that means that there is still one more round of funding to apply for.

Erasmus+ Youth Strand can fund a range of activities including youth volunteering projects, youth exchanges, mobility projects for young people and youth workers, international partnerships, and projects to shape youth policy.

The British Council has provided guidance for applicants and recipients of Erasmus+ funding as a result of the Covid-19 crisis. For example, they suggest that organisations may wish to consider applying for ‘blended’ activities , with virtual elements supported by physical mobilities in the future.

Check out the Erasmus+ site for more information about what you can apply for and how to go about it.

Celebrating the Impact of Adult Learning Photo Competition

EPALE UK Star Supporter Photo Competition 2020 is now open!
The theme is Celebrating the Impact of Adult Learning and how it is benefiting our community.
See full details on the EPALE competition page
The prizes are Instax Cameras with built-in printers. All UK individuals and organisations working in the field of adult education are welcome to participate. Entries will be accepted until 12pm on October 20, 2020.

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 26 August 2020

Message from Gayle Gorman Chief Executive of Education Scotland

The success of recent collaborations – and let’s have more

There is no doubt that 2020 will be a year which we won’t forget in a hurry. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has been felt right across the country, and indeed the world, and not least by those of us involved in the delivery of education in Scotland. As establishments closed their doors, partnership working and the role of CLD practitioners became ever more important. The swift move to a totally different delivery model meant that those working in Community Learning and Development had to adapt to a new way of working very quickly.

The agility and flexibility of CLD practitioners responding to need at a neighbourhood level during lockdown, has been impressive and clearly evident across the length and breadth of Scotland. This rapid shift to a new way of working has brought about new and strengthened relationships between CLD practitioners, school staff and allied professionals. Leading with an intelligence informed approach, these collaborations have achieved so much together in extremely complex circumstances.

The common goal and shared commitment to identify and target support to vulnerable children, young people and families in our communities has ensured vital services were available to those who needed them most.

There have been many examples of that support: from providing childcare hubs; food hubs; preparing and delivering free school meals; supporting learning at home; and, many more things besides. There are also many examples of where practitioners’ commitment to shift CLD services online enabled learning to continue, with new services developed to respond specifically to learners needs amid the Covid-19 crisis. I am very proud of what the sector has achieved and you should be too.

All of this work has created a strong legacy upon which to build and I am optimistic that we can all work together to further develop these collaborations.

I don’t want to single out any one example, but I was very interested to see the multi-agency approach Dumfries and Galloway Council took to offer online Q&A sessions for children, young people and parents during lockdown highlighted on twitter. Education, CLD, social work and others, working side-by-side to provide online support for learners and families.

So much has been learned, so much has been achieved – and there are now opportunities to capitalise on these effective collaborations. Let’s make the most of this new found momentum and take it forward into our recovery and renewal.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your enormous efforts. I hope you have managed to get some time over the summer to rest and relax and that you are ready to take on the challenges of the next session – whatever they may be.
Gayle Gorman
Chief Executive, Education Scotland

Shape CLD in Scotland – Last call for Committee Recruitment!

Applications to join one of our committees must be submitted by 31 August, so if you’re thinking about applying, go on….you know you want to!

Become a CLD Standards Council Committee Member and have your opportunity to be involved in shaping the way CLD practitioners learn, practice and apply our standards in Community Learning and Development. All appointments will be made for an initial 3 year period. We need people who can represent the increasingly diverse nature of community learning and development practice however, we are particularly interested in hearing from colleagues who are:

  • Newly qualified and/or in the early stages of their career
  • Active in the Third sector
  • Active in broader CLD contexts such as equalities
  • From the Further Education sector
  • Working or volunteering in a rural setting

See the CLDSC Website for more information and the application pack.

CLD Standards Council members publish new book

Congratulations to Karen McArdle, Sue Briggs, Kirsty Forrester, Ed Garrett and Catherine McKay, all long standing members of the CLD Standards Council, on writing and publishing a new book for CLD.

The book is called The impact of Community Work – How to gather evidence
It provides essential guidance for professionals and pre-qualifying students on how to gather and generate evidence of the impact of projects in the community.
Including case studies from diverse community settings, it provides easy to implement, practical ideas and examples of methods to demonstrate the impact of community work.
Considering not only evaluation, but also the complex processes of evidence gathering, it will help all those involved with work in the community to demonstrate the impact and value of their work.
The book is available to buy from Policy Press

EPALE Community Stories initiative

The EPALE Community Stories initiative has helped communities share the issues and challenges they have been facing since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
So far, they have collected 78 stories from 28 countries, including entries from older people, librarians, museum curators, language teachers, and more.
You can read a sample of stories and download a summary on the EPALE website.

If you’re a member of EPALE, you can contribute your own experiences – they’re particularly keen for more UK stories. If you’re not, why not join –it’s free and has lots of Adult Learning resources and information.

Adult Learning webinar – 2 September at 11 am

Education Scotland is hosting a webinar for Adult Learning practitioners with inputs from Lead Scotland, Learning Link, local authority CLD provider, CLDSC and more…
If you’d like to join in, you can register on Eventbrite.
Or see other events Education Scotland are organising on their Professional Learning Events pages.

Free online events and training for community and youth groups to help get your voice heard

The UK Parliament offers free workshops and presentations on how to take action and be heard on the issues that are important to your group.
You can book an online session for your group and feel the benefit of first-hand expertise guiding you to a rich understanding of UK democracy. There are a range of workshops to choose from and each can be tailored to suit your group’s needs.

Find out more at: https://learning.parliament.uk/outreach/community-and-youth-groups/

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 19 August 2020

CLD Standards Council – Get involved!

We’re moving forward a lot of work areas this year and we’d love it if some of our members could get involved. We have set up a range of short term working groups, all taking place between now and March 2021. Each group will meet virtually and there may be some tasks to do between meetings. The frequency and duration of working group meetings will be agreed by each group.

Examples of areas we’re looking for your experience and input to include:

  • Practice Placements – creation of a Supervisor Training Course
  • i-develop – reviewing the platform and content
  • Youth Work SVQ – reviewing the existing SVQ to take account of the updated Youth Work National Occupational Standards.
  • Approvals Process – moving our existing Approvals process from Guidelines to Standards
  • CLD Career Pathways – developing the work highlighted in our recent report.

We also have an ongoing Equalities Reference Group that we’d love you to join.
For more information on the working groups, have a look at the detail on i-develop
If you’d like to get involved, or to find out more, please email contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk

Survey of Online Professional Learning

The CLD Standards Council is reviewing our online learning provision. We are keen to gather your views and details of use of professional learning online, and the i-develop service in particular. This information will help us support the professional learning needs of CLD practitioners and to update the i-develop platform accordingly.

Please complete the Survey of Online Professional Learning

Professional learning and development is an essential activity that enhances the quality and impact of CLD practice and is an ongoing requirement for registration with the CLD Standards Council. Increasingly professional learning is conducted through online means – for collaboration, personal research, keeping up to date, as well as formal learning courses.

The CLD Standards Council provides the i-develop platform to support professional learning. However, it has been several years since there was a significant service update and there has been increased use for various groups and purposes.
So we want to hear from you so that we can improve the support and service provided. If you haven’t used i-develop in ages – tell us why !

Please also pass the survey link on to CLD colleagues.

Supervisor Training and Support

Thanks to everyone who has responded to one of the surveys on Supervisor Training and Support included in last week’s newsletter. The closing date for responses is 4 September. We would particularly appreciate some more responses from former students who have completed their course within the last 5 years.
In case you missed it last week, CLD Standards Council is currently working with colleges, universities and employers to think about how we can best support students through the creation of a Scotland–wide placement supervisor professional training and development qualification.
Responding to one of the survey’s below will help us shape this work:

If you or your organisation is interested in finding out more about CLD Practice Placements and what’s involved, get in touch!
You can email us at contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk

A Review of Coherent Provision and Sustainability in Further and Higher Education: Consultation Response

The CLD Standards Council recently contributed to the review of provision and sustainability in Further and Higher Education. This review is being led by the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) who is the national, strategic body that funds further and higher education, and research in Scotland. They have been asked by Scottish Ministers to review how best we can secure coherent provision by post-16 education bodies and the undertaking of research, in these changing times.
Further to the Cumberford-Little Report, One Tertiary System: Agile, Collaborative, Inclusive and our recent CLD Career pathway review we were keen to ensure CLD and its component parts, were included in our response.
You can find our response on the website.

Phase 2 of Connecting Scotland has been launched today

This is worth £15 million to help 23,000 more people get online.
This investment phase will prioritise disadvantaged families with children and young people leaving care. These families will get a device, twelve months unlimited data as well as technical support to get online safely and securely.
Households will also be linked with a Digital Champion who will provide six months of training and support over the phone. Suitable recipients will be identified by local authorities and third sector organisations who apply to the programme on behalf of those they support.
Full information can be found on the Connecting Scotland website.

The Connecting Scotland programme is delivered in partnership with the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and local authorities in collaboration with a broad range of local, public and third sector organisations.

Research on communities and active travel

Scottish Community Development Centre has been commissioned by Sustrans to research how and why communities engage (or don’t engage) with active travel projects (view definition of active travel). All types and sizes of community and voluntary organisations across the country are asked to give their views.

Wherever you are on your active travel journey your experience matters: from those who have never even considered an active travel project, to those that are thinking and planning one, to those who have successfully completed one. Whatever your organisation’s focus, Sustrans would like to know how they can work with all sections of our communities to deliver the benefits of active travel to everyone.

Complete the short survey on active travel
Survey closes Friday 28th August at midnight.

CLDSC Member Bulletin – 12 August 2020

CLD Practice Placement Edition

As Scotland’s educational establishments begin to open up, our CLD students and training providers are facing a “new-normal” as they prepare for the academic year ahead. This includes CLD practice placements and how they will be newly constructed and affected. Over recent months the CLD Standards Council has been developing guidance to help support our sector with the practicalities of CLD student placements. More information can be found here:
Guidance for CLD students and programme providers
Restarting CLD Sector Guidance from the Scottish Government

As practice placements are an essential part of our learning journey, in Scotland we have a number of colleges and universities who ask their students to undertake work placements, integral to their CLD course. The essence of learning to do the job well is in grasping the link between theories and what actually happens when we work with people, their communities and the organisations that impact upon their lives. As part of our recent discussions with sector leads we recently posed the question to employers: what’s your experience of supporting CLD students?

Practice Placements Providers

One employer told us that having a student augmented and supported the work of their organisation: “the student undertook some very valuable work …. very worthwhile”. Many placement providers found that having a student was healthy for their organisation as having research undertaken or questions asked about CLD standards within their own context helped to shape and evaluate their services.

Supervisors

Many supervisors take the opportunity to support a student in order to develop their leadership and management experience and reflect on their own practice. Some reported a boost in their own motivation with one CLDSC Member stating: “I was very gratified to see, at first hand, a student with the passion and commitment for and to the values and principles of C.L.D. and its emancipatory potential as well as the insight to be able to bring theory into practice. I was also inspired to revisit theory that had faded in my memory as well as to discover new perspectives.” Other supervisors said that supporting a student helped their professional learning as it challenged them to keep up to date with recent theory and research.

Students

CLD students report that practice placement not only helped them with on-the-job training but that it helped them to grow and develop their professional network. Students have said that they welcomed partnership working and gained from coaching and mentoring around essential paperwork including reflective logs and work-plans.

Supervisor Training and Support

The CLD Standards Council is currently working with colleges, universities and employers to think about how we can best support students through the creation of a Scotland–wide placement supervisor professional training and development qualification.
To help us shape this work we would be grateful if you could complete the following surveys:

Placement Supervisors survey

Students Survey

Survey for people who would like to be a supervisor

If you or your organisation is interested in finding out more about CLD Practice Placements and what’s involved, get in touch!
You can email us at contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk