Education Reform: a CLD response
The CLD Standards Council has been invited to co-ordinate and respond to the Practitioner and Stakeholder Advisory Group’s discussions regarding the reform of Education Scotland and the Scottish Qualifications Authority. To allow practitioners to share their views on the Scottish Education system we are hosting an online event for all CLD practitioners on Tuesday 5 October 11am – 1pm.
If you would like to attend please register on Eventbrite.
Virtual Meet up – reminder
Our next Members Meet up takes place on 29 September 1-2pm.
We have been updating the Learning for Sustainability Theme space on i-develop, and will take a tour of what’s there. We’ll have an input from Glasgow Science Centre about work they’ve been doing with communities to jointly tackle poverty and sustainability issues. 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.
You can register on Eventbrite to attend the Virtual Meet Up.
“The impact of Community Work – How to gather evidence” – i-develop training resource
To support the book written by Karen McArdle, Sue Briggs, Kirsty Forrester, Ed Garrett and Catherine McKay, all long standing members of the CLD Standards Council, a set of training materials has been created and are now available on i-develop.
The book and training materials provide essential guidance for professionals and pre-qualifying students on how to gather and generate evidence of the impact of projects in the community. It provides easy to implement, practical ideas and examples of methods to demonstrate the impact of community work Including case studies from diverse community settings. 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.
We’ll be hosting a CLDSC Virtual Member Meet Up on 23 November 2021 1-2pm – come along to meet the authors and explore the resources.
Click here to register your attendance for November’s Virtual Meet Up.
CLD Collaborative Working Case Study
Sue Briggs (Aberdeenshire Council) and Laura Starkey (Education Scotland) have developed a case study highlighting collaboration in the North Regional Improvement Collaborative (RIC) with CLD.
The case study outlines different educational perspectives to promote the value, outcomes and change that has been achieved, and features Laurence Findlay (Director of Education, Aberdeenshire Council), Kathleen Johnston (Quality Improvement Lead, North RICl), Sue Briggs (CLD North RIC work stream lead & Aberdeenshire Council), Fiona MacInnes-Begg (CLD Lead, Western Isles Council). There are powerful messages about the important role of CLD and the strength of collaborative working at all levels through local authority, RIC and nationally.
The first video, CLD: Achieving Change Through a Regional Improvement Collaboration can be viewed on Education Scotland’s YouTube channel (approx. 9 minutes).
The second video, CLD: Achieving Change Through a Regional Improvement Collaboration can be viewed on Canva.
If you have any questions in relation to either of these please contact Laura Starkey by email –laura.starkey@educationscotland.gov.uk.
SLF Online 21-23 September 2021 – still time to register
‘Renew, Refresh, Re-imagine: Learning from our experiences and looking to the future’.
The Conference Programme includes:
- keynote sessions to inspire and provoke;
- live Q&A sessions with specialist panels, where you will be able to ask your questions;
- sharing practice sessions from practitioners, which may inform your practice;
- sessions giving you up-to-date information and guidance on education policy and recommendations from recent reports;
- opportunities to network with colleagues in facilitated sessions.
To find out more, register and view the SLF Programme 2021, please visit the SLF2021 website.
Rural Communities “Ideas into Action” Fund
The Rural Communities “Ideas into Action” Fund is supported by £1.5 million of Scottish Government funding, delivered in partnership with Inspiring Scotland. It allows applicants to take forward ideas that will test change while linking community action with addressing local issues.
The fund forms part of the wider £3 million fund announced earlier this year in the Scottish Budget, to deliver pilot projects testing innovative ways of delivering Community Led Local Development (CLLD) before March 2022.
The fund is open for applications from Monday 13 September and closes on Friday 8 October at 12 noon. Guidance and application forms can be found on the Inspiring Scotland website.
There are two strands of funding available:-
- Small Grants of up to £3,000 for grassroots rural groups or organisations to support community projects that fit with local needs and are locally led. The process for applying for this funding has been simplified to make it easy for unincorporated groups to apply and both capital and expenditure costs are eligible.
- Large Grants of between £3001 and £50,000 for not for profit organisations to invest in community led initiatives that respond to local need. Again, capital and revenue costs are eligible and these can be delivered in partnership with other local organisations.
Changing the Channel: Communities Channel Scotland and the Social Impact Pledge relaunch today
The redeveloped Communities Channel Scotland website and Social Impact Pledge have been launched today, making them even more helpful to community groups across Scotland in their amazing work with their communities.
Community groups, and anyone who works with them, are invited to visit the website and take advantage of its updated features, such as…
- Straightforward guides to key developments and policy affecting community groups, including climate change, covid-19 and what’s currently happening around human rights in Scotland.
- Easily searchable collections of resources, including tools, ideas for funding and relevant support organisations, to help you carry out your activities and achieve your aims.
- Inspiring examples of community groups in action, covering everything from emergency responses to Covid-19 to creative ways of engaging with people.
- The Social Impact Pledge, which asks public bodies to commit to making changes to what they do that have a direct benefit for communities and community groups.
- All the latest news from, and relevant to, community groups in Scotland.
Click here to visit Communities Channel Scotland
To mark the relaunch, Minister for Public Finance, Planning and Community Wealth, Tom Arthur MSP, has stated his hope that Communities Channel Scotland and the Social Impact Pledge continue to be key online resources for community groups. View the Minister’s statement here.
Further information
Communities Channel Scotland has been developed by Scottish Community Development Centre (SCDC) with funding from the Scottish Government. Read more about the website on Squarespace (log in required). SCDC would like to hear from any group or organisation who has suggestions, news, stories or anything else that could contribute to the website. You can contact SCDC by clicking here.