In July, Mr Graeme Dey MSP, Minister for Further and Higher Education and Veterans announced that the report on the independent review of CLD had been published Learning: For All. For Life. A report from the Independent Review of Community Learning and Development (CLD).

Ms. Kate Still was appointed in December 2023 to conduct the Independent Review of Community Learning and Development (CLD), and ministers will consider and formally respond to the recommendations in due course.

CLD Standards Council Members had a clear contribution to the review and the report is comprehensive, making reference to almost every aspect of CLD and offering 20 recommendations under 6 headings:

• Leadership and Structures – establishing a strategic leadership group.
• Overarching Policy Narrative – developing a clearer and more cohesive policy narrative.
• Focus on Delivery – publish a Delivery Plan by end of 2024
• Budgets and Funding – undertake an assessment of funding
• Developing workforce standards – consideration of HMIs inspection reports to be a standing item on Strategic leadership group
• Demonstrating Impact – annual celebration of CLD successes

There are 15 references to the CLD Standards Council in the report with clear recognition that “The CLD Standards Council, given the limited resources supporting its work, does a good job in raising standards across CLD, raising its profile and supporting those working in the sector”. There is an ask for an enhanced role for the CLD Standards Council and a recommendation that “The CLD Standards Council should be supported to transition towards an independent status more akin to the General Teaching Council Scotland.”.

We are working with Committee Members, Members and stakeholders to consider and respond to all recommendations within the report and have set up two opportunities for members to attend a Have Your Say event where we will share feedback in relation to the recommendations made in the CLD Review report.

Sessions will take place on Tuesday 20 August 2024 via MS Teams and you can choose to attend at 2-3.30 pm or 6.30-8 pm (members only need to attend one session). At the session, we will

• Invite members views regarding the report and its reflection of CLD.
• Review the key “asks” of members through our submissions and consider any connections to the report’s recommendations.
• Discuss the possible impact on the work and role of the CLD Standards Council.
• Gather members views on the recommendations for our formal response to the CLD review report and recommendations.

Please register to join us on Eventbrite.

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 will help you to 

• Increase your awareness and understanding of 
  • the purpose, functions and professional standards of the CLD Standards Council and the requirements; 
  • the benefits of membership, with particular reference to professional learning and development 
  • being a member of the CLD Standards Council; 
  • 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, you have 3 months to complete the programme and you can set your own pace. 

The programme is delivered through i-develop and you’ll be supported by a course mentor.  All the course mentors are members of the CLD Standards Council Professional Learning Committee.  You will also be able to connect with other members who are doing the programme through workshops.

If you’re interested in taking part, complete this PIP Registration Form and we’ll add you to the list!

CLD Standards Council Approvals Committee are happy to announce that they have approved Fife College for the HNC Working with Communities.

Fife College have received full approval from the CLD Standards Council for their part time hybrid HNC Working with Communities. For any practitioners interested but are out with the local Fife area, classes will be available to join online via Microsoft Teams. The course will be 1 day per week in college/online (Thursday 9am-4pm) and 1 day per week on placement (minimum of 6 hours per week). This does not need to be one full day and can be made up of a variety of working/voluntary hours throughout the week and weekends either during the day or in the evenings. It is suggested that those joining from out with the local area would be in suitable employment, or able to source their own placement opportunity (Support can be provided, if necessary).

If you earn under £25k, part time funding is available through the SAAS Part Time Fee Grant. This does leave £206 payable by the student, which can be paid in instalments using Fife College’s payment plan.

To apply for the course, please do so on the Fife College website.

We are delighted that the UHI (University of the Highlands and Islands) BA (Hons) Child and Youth Studies with Community Learning and Development has received accreditation with the CLD Standards Council Scotland. This builds on the well-established BA (Hons) Child and Youth Studies degree and provides an opportunity for individuals in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland to gain a professionally recognised qualification in the sector. UHI are looking forward to welcoming the first cohort in September 2024!

Find out more on the UHI website.

We want to provide an update regarding Wednesday’s public announcements from Scottish Government about Scotland’s Education Reform Programme (news release).

Firstly, the Education (Scotland) Bill was published on the Scottish Parliament website which begins the process of the Bill being scrutinised by Parliament. The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills also provided an update on the future of Education Scotland in response to a Government Initiated Question (GIQ) published on the Scottish Parliament website. The Bill published provides the legal underpinning to support the design and delivery of a national organisational infrastructure for education in Scotland that more effectively supports the system to deliver for Scotland’s learners.

These updates are a significant step forward for Education Scotland, with whom the CLD Standards Council holds a Framework Agreement as per Ministerial requirements. As yet, the position and standing of the CLD Standards Council will need to be considered together with any recommendations that are accepted from the independent review of CLD in Scotland. By way of assurance, please note that the CLD Standards Council staff team continue to engage positively with Scottish Government and Education Scotland colleagues.

The following points provide further information that may be useful for CLD Standards Council Members when considering the impact and implications of these changes for CLD Standards Council members.

Qualifications

Part 1 of the Bill establishes Qualifications Scotland. The new agency will change name from Scotland’s Qualification’s Agency (SQA) to Qualifications Scotland and will:

• replace the Scottish Qualifications Authority, which is dissolved by the Bill
• develop and award qualifications (other than university degrees)
• have an independent Accreditation Committee to regulate qualifications (other than university degrees) and the organisations that award them
• give advice to Scottish Ministers
• produce charters setting out what learners, teachers and practitioners should expect from Qualifications Scotland
• involve learners, teachers and others in decision making through a Board of Management, committees and an advisory council

Inspection
Part 2 of the Bill establishes the Chief Inspector and sets out what they will do and how they will operate. The new inspectorate is to be called His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education.
The Chief Inspector will:

• inspect places where education is provided and education services
• have an Advisory Council
• publish an inspection plan and reports on inspections
• publish an annual report, and reports on the performance of the Scottish education system
• tell Scottish Ministers when a school or education authority is not making necessary improvements

The Bill sets out the following key measures in relation to the inspectorate:

• ensure the inspection of education provision can continue to be carried out by HM Inspectors in the full range of establishments and services as are currently inspected, from early learning and childcare to adult learning 
• Give HM Chief Inspector powers to set the frequency and focus for inspections 
• Retain some limited power for Scottish Ministers to initiate inspection in all areas of the Inspectorate’s remit 
• Require HM Chief Inspector to report annually on the performance of Scottish education so far as within HM Chief Inspector’s remit   

 
Education Scotland will:

• retain the same name and remain as the national education agency with its primary focus on curriculum and providing curriculum design, delivery and improvement which will cover the provision of resources to support high quality learning and teaching.
• support professional learning through a national framework and build on existing and well-regarded national leadership professional learning programmes, including curriculum focused professional learning.
• work with local authorities to inform approaches to wellbeing, inclusion, behaviour and also enabling better support for those with additional support needs.
• use its unique national perspective to inform, share and promote wider approaches to improvement to close attainment gaps as set out in the National Improvement Framework.  
• deliver change and improvement to achieve excellence and equity in education, including Gaelic Medium Education.

The Bill will now be examined by the Scottish Parliament which is a lengthy process, and we will continue to keep you up to date with progress regarding the CLD Standards Council and Scotland’s Education Reform.

As always, thank you for your continued support and contribution to the CLD Standards Council.

What do you get when you take 120 CLD leaders, 12 amazing speakers, 1 central Glasgow venue and throw in a bucket load of passion, enthusiasm and critical thinking? The “CLD in Scotland Conference” of course!

On 17th April, CLD Standards Council and CLD Managers Scotland jointly hosted the CLD in Scotland Conference. It aimed to bring key stakeholders in the CLD sector together to consider strategic issues affecting CLD in Scotland and to consider how these issues should be addressed by the review of CLD.

To get us thinking, we were joined by an array of speakers from across the academic, economic and education spheres.

Some of the key messages they shared and questions they posed include:

CLD: Ready for the Future – Pauline Radcliffe, Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework Partnership

• Recognising real learning’s worth – and where that happens 
• How can your voices be more effectively heard in other “languages” (i.e. different professional contexts)? 

You can see the social media feedback by clicking on the #CLDinScotland hashtag.

Conference slides and resources will be available on i-develop soon.

Photo by bamagal on Unsplash

Together We Create…. and they most certainly did when the CLD Standards Council standing committees came together in February.

Our Committee membership is drawn from across the full spectrum of activity and contexts in CLD. We believe that their combined knowledge, skills, and experience is our most valuable asset, ensuring we are a peer led body working in the interests of the field.

We have an Executive Committee which oversees all our work and ensures that we are fulfilling our responsibilities and effectively representing the CLD sector, alongside three standing committees which correspond to our core responsibilities. Each of the three standing committees are supported by a CLD Standards Council development officer. Here is a brief insight into their current work.

Approvals:

• Three new approvals in the pipeline
• Review of Developmental Approval and Standards Mark processes

Professional Learning:

In 2011, the Standards Council published the first national Continuing Professional Development strategy for CLD. It promoted a “learning culture”, where practitioners, paid or unpaid, are involved in a continuous process of learning, development and improvement. It was updated in 2015 and published with the title “Growing the Learning Culture in CLD: A Strategy Statement and Framework for Action”. This update provides the focus for the next stage of support for CLD practitioners, their employers, learning providers and national partners to work together to achieve the vision of a learning culture. And now it’s time to refresh the strategy again. The content is still very much relevant, but we’ll be having a look at how we can make sure the information is clear, easy to find and directly relevant to those in our sector.

And as if that wasn’t enough, we’re delighted to announce that registration for our next Professional Induction Programme is now open! 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. The programme takes approximately 15 hours to complete over a 12 week period and is due to begin late summer.

Our current PIP participants took part in their first workshop a few weeks ago and here’s how they’re feeling about finding out more about the benefits of membership, support with professional learning and making connections.

If you’d like to join the next PIP course, give us your details on this short form and we’ll be in touch!

Registration:

The registration committee’s strategic objective is to maintain and develop the Registration system and establish members’ services for practitioners delivering and active in CLD. To do this their key outcomes are:

• Promote registration and membership of CLD Standards Council, ensuring equality and inclusion policies are embedded.
• Increase and improve internal and external communications regarding registration, membership, public register, and all registration processes.
• Support cross committee working to improve registration and membership policies and processes.

At present, the registration committee members are working hard on developing new up to date promotional material, following on from the new Information Flyer. They delivered a fun and interactive seminar at SCVO The Gathering last year, and are currently finalising a new presentation, with guidance, for all members to access and use in their areas. This will help increase awareness of the CLD Standards Council, raise the profile of the profession and help members and potential members understand the range of benefits from being part of the professional body for CLD in Scotland.

There are also exciting developments regarding a new digital registration form and the processes to support that. Alongside these activities they are planning to record some suites of vlogs and promotional videos, some on the committees themselves and others on the benefits membership and to highlight the vast array of practitioners and talent that makes up the CLD workforce across Scotland.