Play Strategy For Scotland: Learning About Play - Investigating Play Through Relevant Qualifications In Scotland

Section A: Introduction,Methodology & Context

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to report

The Scottish Government National Play Strategy for Scotland - Our Vision was published in June 2013 followed by an associated National Play Strategy For Scotland - Our Action Plan (2013a) in October 2013. In November 2013, the Play Strategy Implementation Group (PSIG) was set up to ensure delivery of actions within the plan. This research report relates primarily to Action 7.1 -

"task a working group to review current levels of play training provided to school and nursery staff and to recommend how elements of play rights, theory and practice could be incorporated in both the initial professional training and career long professional learning and leadership" (Scottish Government, 2013a, p.20). In order: "to ensure that all education manager, school and centre leaders, school staff and early years practitioners are adequately trained on the importance of play and are able to support qualify play opportunities in their setting," (Scottish Government, 2013a. p.20).

However, during the research process it became apparent that the report also relates to four additional action points from the plan. The literature review for this research contributes towards a medium term aim of:

7. 2 "Commission and publish an evidence/literature review on links between play and children's attainment, achievement, wellbeing and learning across all ages, stages and abilities. - To build knowledge, and increase awareness amongst educators, parents and carers of the impact of outdoor and indoor play and active learning opportunities on children's learning and development at all stages of education" " (Scottish Government, 2013a, p.21)

9.2 "Promote the Play Strategy: Our Vision to universities delivering the B.Ed. and M.Ed. and the Childhood Practice Award" (Scottish Government, 2013a, p.29)

9.8 "Investigate how the skills of the play workforce could be utilised more widely to develop quality of play opportunities in a range of other settings." (Scottish Government, 2013a, p.32)

9.9 "Map career long professional learning opportunities available to play workforce across

Scotland to identify gaps and ensure quality" (Scottish Government, 2013a, p.32)

At the first meeting of the PSIG a number of action points, including action 7.1, were identified as requiring immediate action; the Scottish Government was able to provide additional funding to ensure that any actions would be resourced.

A steering group to look at action 7.1 was formed from representative organisations from the group: Grounds for Learning; Play Scotland; Scottish Childminding Association (SCMA); Scottish Government; Early Years Scotland (formerly Scottish Pre-school Association (SPPA)), and was led by the Scottish Out of School Care Network (SOSCN). The group pulled together an initial proposal as to how the work should be undertaken; this was then further discussed with a wider group comprised of additional representatives from Scottish Qualification Agency (SQA), Edinburgh College and the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). SOSCN was awarded the contract to undertake the research, which commenced in March 2014.

1.2. Contextual Background - Play, UNCRC and articles 31, 28 and 29 within the context of school and nursery

Action 7.1 is based within the Play Strategy's school and nursery domain and is specifically looking at how play can be incorporated within these settings. Aileen Campbell MSP, Minister for Children and Young People, in her Ministerial Forward to the Action Plan acknowledges that "play… is an essential part of a healthy, happy childhood, taking place within the home from birth, through formal and informal learning, and in community settings through the use of public spaces and services" (Scottish Government, 2013a, p.4).

The Strategy also acknowledges that play is a "key element in effective learning, thereby developing [children's] physical, cognitive, emotional and social skills" and that children should experience "opportunities … to explore, be active and enjoy the learning opportunities provided by play throughout their lives" (Scottish Government, 2013a, p.14). The opportunities for informal and formal learning through play are clear in the play strategy and associated action plan; these documents also highlight that learning environments, such as schools and nurseries, play an integral role in delivering play opportunities not only from an educational perspective but also from a 'free play" perspective.

This report recognises that play is a fundamental right for children under Article 31 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child:

"Children's play is any behaviour, activity or process initiated, controlled and structured by children themselves; it takes place whenever and wherever opportunities arise. Caregivers may contribute to the creation of environments in which play takes place, but play itself is non-compulsory, driven by intrinsic motivation and undertaken for its own sake, rather than as a means to an end. Play involves the exercise of autonomy, physical, mental or emotional activity, and has the potential to take infinite forms, either in groups or alone. These forms will change and be adapted throughout the course of childhood. The key characteristics of play are fun, uncertainty, challenge, flexibility and non-productivity. Together, these factors contribute to the enjoyment it produces and the consequent incentive to continue to play. While play is often considered non-essential, the Committee reaffirms that it is a fundamental and vital dimension of the pleasure of childhood, as well as an essential component of physical, social, cognitive, emotional and spiritual development." (General Comment Article 31, (United Nations, 2013)

When discussing the rights of children, and for the purposes of this report, it should be remembered that Article 28 of the UNCRC (UNCRC, 1989) states children have a right to free primary education and Article 29 states that:

"Children's education should develop each child's personality, talents and abilities to the fullest. It should encourage children to respect others, human rights and their own and other cultures. It should also help them learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people. Children have a particular responsibility to respect the rights of their parents, and education should aim to develop respect for the values and culture of their parents" (UNCRC, 1989).

In terms of play being "driven by intrinsic motivation and undertaken for its own sake" with a key characteristic being "non-productivity", we are arguably met with a dilemma when considering a child's right to education which does have specific outcomes and is more likely to be structured and led by adults, especially in the primary years and beyond.

This report takes account of the fact that children have the right to daily play opportunities with no specific outcomes and at the same time also have the right to an education with specific outcomes, so when play is looked at in terms of learning environments this dichotomy has to be considered and resolved.

The National Play Strategy in some ways recognises this when it acknowledges that "the greatest potential for free play in schools is outdoors before and after school, during break times and, through out of school care" (Scottish Government 2013b, p.19). Yet that is not to say that play is not within the learning and educational component of a child's day- Scotland has a long tradition in early learning of learning through play and Curriculum for Excellence (Scottish Executive, 2004) promotes more playful learner-led approaches within the more formal education settings of nursery, primary, secondary and special schools.

Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) (Scottish Executive, 2004) promotes a more playful approach to learning, often, through the concepts of active learning and outdoor learning, and whilst they may not adhere wholly to the definition of play as being "non-productive" they are going some way to make "productive" learning a more fun and playful experience. A child-led curriculum should also ensure that children are able to exercise their rights to be listened to (article 12) (UNCRC, 1989) and right to freedom of expression (Article 13) (UNCRC, 1989) through whatever means they choose.

Therefore, when considering the education and childcare qualifications in Scotland, this report will look at not only free play theories but also learner-led playful learning methods and child-development theories and consider how they are incorporated into education and childcare qualifications; this should ensure a richer understanding of how play is incorporated in education and childcare qualifications.

Later in the literature review, there is a case study which discusses the Finnish education system which places a much greater importance on free-play as part of the school day, and there is also focus on break or play time research studies.

This report also relates to the following aims of the national Play Strategy Action Plan (Scottish Government, 2013a)

"Outcome: All children and young people enjoy high quality play opportunities, particularly outdoor free play in stimulating spaces with access to nature, on a daily basis in school, nursery and early learning and childcare.

Impact: All school staff, and early years practitioners will receive play training, as part of their initial education and career long professional learning. They will have sufficient skills, knowledge and understanding of play to support play opportunities. Al schools and settings will have well designed, inclusive spaces for play in local communities. Education managers and leaders in school and early years settings demonstrate their commitment to increasing and developing play opportunities and to supporting staff to do so through priorities in the improvement planning cycle, ethos and community life of their establishments and their own professional learning" (Scottish Government, 2013a, p.20).

Research questions

Three main research questions framed the research and literature review undertaken:

1. To what extent is play covered in formal qualifications within education, childcare (and play) settings? (Action 7.1)
2. Are there existing courses or units in qualifications or CPD courses relating to play that could be integrated into other qualifications where there is little/no evidence of play? (Action 7.1)
3. What potential is there for the playwork qualified workforce to support play opportunities within more formal education/settings other than their more usual play/childcare settings? (Relating to Action 9.8)

However, the process and findings of the research also address the following additional questions:

1. What does the literature tells us about the benefits of play? (Relating to Action 7.2)
2. Where are the gaps and how can professional development opportunities be extended in studying play? (Relating to Action 9.9)

2. METHODOLOGY

It was agreed that the action point should be divided into two main strands of work- the first to look at how, and if, play is included and covered in formal qualifications for all professionals working with children within early years, education and childcare settings in Scotland (an expansion beyond that of the original remit of nursery and school staff).

The professional qualifications to be looked at in this section relate to teachers; daycare of children (nursery, playgroup and out of school care) workers; residential childcare workers; pupil support assistants; childminders and playworkers.

The second strand was to compile information on play training providers offering Continuous Professional Development (CPD) play training for professionals, separate to any formal qualifications, and the play training that they offer. (The training section contains a separate discussion of the methodology used for this strand of work.)

Internet searches were undertaken for the providers and course content of education and childhood practice degrees, as well as the content of the other non-degree level professional qualifications. Unlike other qualifications looked at over the course of this research, the course content of degrees varies between providers, although they must ultimately fit appropriate guidance. Other qualifications, such as SVQ, NCs and HNCs, often have standard approved units which are delivered by all providers, hence it was not felt necessary, or possible, to contact each individual provider of these qualifications, of which there are many, as they will all be delivering the same units, albeit in slightly different ways. The time restriction of the research also did not allow us to contact each individual qualification provider.

A list of all primary education qualification and childhood practice degree providers was collated through previously held contacts and online searches, and each was initially contacted by email. The contents of the email provided information about the National Play Strategy and associated Action Plan (Scottish Government, 2013a and 2013b) (with internet links to each), the specific aims of the research relating to action 7.1 and a request for further information about the course content of the qualifications. This initial email was sent in May 2014. Response rates from education qualification providers were low and none were forthcoming with further information and the email was re-sent in June. All childhood practice degree providers engaged with the research and sent relevant information.

To address the low response from the teacher training providers a shorter online survey was produced which gained three responses from the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Stirling and these are included in the Play in Education section.

Individual interviews were conducted with a number of key individuals representing General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS), Glasgow College, Play Scotland, SCMA, SkillsActive, Scottish Pre-school Play Association (SPPA), Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA), Scottish social Services Council (SSSC) (2 interviews), and the Universities of Caledonia, Dundee and University West of Scotland. Further email correspondence and interviews were conducted with additional representatives from Creative Star Learning, SkillsActive, the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Gloucester, Leeds Metropolitan and Sheffield Hallam.

As the research progressed it became apparent that it would be useful to talk to recently qualified primary teachers as well as PSAs. A focus group was held with three PSAs and two teachers, both of whom had qualified within the past five years (one of whom had graduated with a BA (Hons) in education, and the other had qualified with the PGDE). Both the PSAs and teachers worked in the same primary school in Glasgow. This is in the Play in Education section.

The literature review includes material for a first scene-setting, contextual section. Data relevant to the workforce in childcare and in teaching, is set out, including statistics on the staff and children involved, a description of the regulatory framework, including the role of The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC), the Care Inspectorate, and Education Scotland, the role of Sector Skills Councils, including SkillsActive and, again, SSSC in this specific role.

In later sections further literature is included and reviewed, this includes further contextual material on the Standard for Childhood Practice (QAA, 2007) used in the introduction to the analysis of the degree level courses developed to meet this standard in Scotland.

The Section on Play in Education, covers the role of the General Teaching Council for Scotland, lists teacher training courses and discusses a range of relevant literature relating to teaching standards, the curriculum for excellence and early learning and childcare. This literature, however, is analysed within this section in order to bring out where play is covered within education guidance and standards, and brings in the relevant national policy frameworks.

At the heart of this enquiry is play, therefore, the theoretical literature review covers a brief historical background to the emergence of child development theories and practice relating to play, as well as learning, followed by a brief discussion of the main play theories and theorists, including the role of playworkers and associated principles. Next, there is a focus on break time or playtime, covering examples of literature and resources on play and the playground or street play. There is then a further scoping of child development, play and learning: classic and modern theories and theorists, studies and new emerging paradigms. The review closes with a case study on how teachers support play in and out of the classroom in a Finnish school, within the context of the importance of play within the Finnish educational system. The focus on break time in school and the case study on the Finnish school system are intended to extend thinking beyond an either/or play service or education service, and beyond the early years in looking at the needs of older children.

The purpose of the theoretical review is to provide relevant context and to develop evaluation criteria which goes beyond, for example, simple adherence to the playwork principles as a measure of play content. Given the limited time and resources for the research, the play or child development and learning theories literature review is an indicative scoping exercise, in order to pull out key terms and concepts for the evaluation criteria, as well as to demonstrate that play is well understood to be integral to child development and learning.

All of the information received on courses from the degree level/ post degree level childhood practice providers are compiled in tables 1.1 - 8.1 in the Appendix. These tables are then the subject of analysis, in the results section using the criteria developed from the research questions and the literature review (there are three specific thematic analysis tables, relating to this section, tables numbered 32 to 34 in the appendices).

For other qualifications for staff working with children and young people and regulated by the SSSC, research was conducted into both the National Occupational Standards (NOS), and course descriptors on the SSSC website or SQA website.

This information was used to compile the tables (16-31) for relevant qualifications and roles, including any units found to be relevant for play, as well are any core or mandatory units. These units are all hyperlinked to source NOS or SQA descriptors. These are then analysed, using the evaluation criteria, in the results section, with further analytical tables numbered (35-48) in the appendices.

Tables 9-15 contain qualifications which do not "fit" into specific categories but which are relevant and they are analysed in the results section.

All of the main points from the above research findings are brought to the final discussion, alongside the findings from the play in education section, the training survey, the interviews, and literature review.

Throughout the document there are hyperlinks to relevant websites or Scottish Government policy papers. The references section includes website links for all of the childhood practice degree level and postgraduate courses, as well as teacher training courses. The appendices can therefore be viewed as an extensive information resource on the content of relevant play and care qualifications in Scotland.

3. CONTEXT: WORKFORCE, CHILDREN, SETTINGS AND REGULATION

Education and Skills General Statistics

Scotland is understood to be one of the most well educated or qualified workforces in the world, so this is the context of the full range of qualifications from SQA level 5 to Master s level, which specifically relate to this inquiry. "In 2013, Scotland had the highest proportion of usual residents aged 16 to 64 with an NVQ Level 4 or equivalent and above qualification (Higher National Certificate, Higher National Diploma or degree level), at 39.4% (1.3 million)" (ONS, 2014) .

Teachers, Schools and Pupils Statistics.

There are over 50,824 FTE teachers in Scotland, with 1,212 specifically pre-school teachers and 23,029 in Primary Schools, 23,695 in Secondary and 2,020 in Special schools (Scottish Government 2014b, Table 1.1. p.6). There are a total of 5,004 schools in Scotland, of which 2,449 are Early Learning Centres (note, this includes partnership centres providing early learning and childcare), 2048 are Primary schools, 362 are Secondary schools and 145 are Special Schools (Scottish Government, 2014b, Table 1.1, p.6). There are 101,463 children in Early Learning and childcare settings, and 676,955 children in all of the other school settings (Scottish Government, 2014b, Table 1.1, p.6).

Scottish Government: Figure 1: Age profile, school based teachers, 2004 to 2014 (Scottish Government, 2014b, p.8).

The age profile for teachers in 2014 shows a peak at age 56, nevertheless the proportion of teachers aged 50+ has reduced in the last ten years and there is also a peak forming now in the early thirties (Scottish Government, Chart 1, 2014b, p.8). The average (mean) age of primary, secondary and special school teachers was 41.6 compared to 42.1 in 2013 (Scottish Government, 2014b, p.10).

Scottish Government Figure 2: Age profile registered early learning teachers, 2004-2014 (Scottish Government, 2014b, p.8).

Chart 2 shows the age profile of GTCS registered ELC teachers, where known, as at September 2014, with a peak in the number of ELC teachers aged between 56 and 58 (Scottish Government, 2014b, p.9). Other less high peaks are at age 42 & 48, then again the early 30s.

Men make up 23% of teachers, with 29% in promoted posts and they are in 26% of depute and head posts, however only 4% are in early learning and care posts (Scottish Government, 2014b, p.10). 13.9% of teachers were working part-time, with the rate higher amongst females (16.2%) than males (6.1%) (Scottish Government, 2014c, p.10). In terms of ethnicity, 2% of teachers (no data for ELC) were from an ethnic minority and there was no data on disability.

For children, 88% of pupils were recorded as being White-Scottish or White-other British. The largest other ethnic backgrounds include White-Other (4%), Asian Pakistani (2%) and Mixed (1 %). 140,542 pupils (21% of all pupils) had an additional support need recorded. "This will include pupils in special schools and those in mainstream schools with a Co-ordinated Support Plan (CSP), Individualised Education Programme, Child Plan or some other type of support"(Scottish Government, 2014b, p. 15). That figure of over one in five children having an additional support need of some kind recorded, suggests that a great deal of consideration should be paid to issues of inclusion and support, within teacher training.

Education Scotland HM Inspections:

All early learning and childcare stand-alone centres, primary schools (including those with nursery classes), secondary schools (including community learning and development (CLD) as part of secondary, and aspects of transition), special schools, independent schools and all other schools, are inspected by HM Inspectors through Education Scotland, as set out in the "School inspection framework document", (Education Scotland and HM Inspectors, 2011).

In early learning and care settings "We evaluate the centre's capacity to improve and answer the following questions.

• How well do children learn and achieve?
• How well does the centre support children to develop and learn?
• How well does the centre improve the quality of its work?

In providing answers to these questions, inspectors use quality indicators from 'The Child at the Centre' to support evaluations and provide information on how the centre can improve. We also indicate any continuing engagement activities" (Education Scotland, n. d.)

Education Scotland and the Care inspectorate (see below) also conduct joint inspections within early learning and childcare services.

The Social Services Workforce Statistics:

Table A: Scottish Social Services Council - Breakdown of qualifications held by relevant staff on the register

	Registers			Total
Qualification Categories	Manager	Pract.	Supt Wk.
Managers in Day Care of Children Services
BA Childhood Practice	211	9		220
PDA Childhood Practice	1			1
Post Graduate Diploma Childhood Practice	16	1		17
SVQ 4 playwork	55	0	2	57
SVQ 4 CCLD	278	20	1	299
Practitioners in Day Care of Children Services
HNC Child Care and Education	336	4148	84	4568
HNC Early Education and Child Care	117	3579	127	3823
SNNEB	268	2671	78	3017
SVQ 3 Children's Care Learning and Development	107	2095	124	2326
SVQ 3 Children's Care Learning and Development with playwork		9		9
SVQ 3 Early Years Care and Education	124	1477	41	1642
SVQ 3 Playwork	97	452	46	595
Support Workers in Day Care of Children Services
NC Early Education and Child Care	1	5	98	104
SVQ 2 Children's Care Learning and Development		10	174	184
SVQ 2 Early Years Care and Education		6	90	96
SVQ 2 Playwork		8	150	158
HNC Additional Support Needs (Supporting the individual)			15	15
NPA Playwork and childcare			227	227
PDA in Education Support Assistance at SCQF Level 6			42	42
Grand Total	1611	14490	1300	17401

(Source SSSC, personal email correspondence, January 2015)

This list only includes those people who have met their qualification condition. Also it only shows the highest qualification for an individual- it does not show the total number of people who have that qualification. For example, someone may be registered with a BA in Childhood Practice but also have an SVQ 4 in Playwork- their SVQ4 will not be recognised in the data above. Also, there will be many more people who will have since achieved the qualifications or currently undertaking them but this will only come to light when they have to re-register.

The SSSC reports that there are approximately 1,400 people who may now have the Childhood Practice Award, in all its iterations, but this is not reflected in the figures as this has been achieved during the period of registration with a condition^[1]. A condition on registration is when a worker has to achieve, within a set time limit, (up to five years) a SSSC recognised qualification for their role.

Bearing in mind that the true figure, for example, of Childhood Practice degree level qualifications is higher than the 211 managers and 11 practitioners listed above, the table shows that 8391 registrants are qualified at the HNC level, with 4568 qualified in the previous HNC in Childcare and Education, and 3823 the current HNC in Early education and childcare. There are 2970 registrants with the SNNEB (which has been phased out) and 2326 with the CCLD SVQ Level, which is in the process of being phased out. Playwork, across all categories and levels, comes in at less than 6% of the total, with 1037 related qualifications. Therefore, for the purposes of this research, given the low prevalence of the specifically playwork related qualifications, it will be interesting to see how much play in both the playwork sense and the wider children's development and learning sense is reflected in the HNC and successor qualifications to the CCLD. This is, as well as in courses for the degree level standard in childhood practice and some of the main other currently accepted qualifications.

The above table covering 17,401 registrations without a condition can be looked at alongside the figures for 2012 - 2013 of overall registrations relating to the day care of children and related services, in the workforce statistics set out in 2013 (SSSC, 2013, p.18).

The figures demonstrate that there was 44,500 staff (SSSC, 2013, p. 7) involved in childcare related roles, working in 9830 settings (SSSC, 2013, p.18). These figures, however, include childminders, who are not part of the register and do not have to meet any qualification requirement, therefore, taking out the data on childminders, then in 2012 - 2013 there were 30,250 daycare staff on the SSSC register. Childminders are expected to follow the SSSC Codes of Practice and are regulated by the Care Inspectorate (see below).

The majority of staff are employed in the day care of children sector (SSSC, 2013 p. 18), while the median age overall is 40.3 in 2013, with the oldest median age in school care accommodation (46) and the youngest in childcare agencies (31.5) (SSSC, 2013, p .22).

The highest proportion of males are in school care accommodation and residential childcare while there are only 3% overall in the day care of children sector and none for childminders (SSSC, 2013 table 8, p. 26).

The largest proportion of managers are in the day care of children sector, with a low proportion of auxiliaries, however 30% of school care accommodation staff are auxiliaries, with a low proportion of managers at 3%.

Less than 2% of the childcare related occupational staff had a disability (SSSC, 2013, p.29) and 1% of daycare of children, childminding, and childcare agencies were Asian (SSSC, 2013, p.28).

The Care Inspectorate (SCSWIS)

The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 also established the first Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care and the Public Services Reform (Scotland) Act 2010 set up the replacement body SCSWIS, more commonly known as the Care Inspectorate. The Care Inspectorate regulates and inspects all social care services to make sure they meet the appropriate standards and carry out joint inspections with other regulators to check how well different organisations in local areas are working to support adults and children. They also ensure social work, including criminal justice social work, meets high standards. It is against the law for care services to operate unless they register with them.

The National Care Standards for Early Education and Childcare up to the Age of 16 (Scottish Executive, 2005) form the framework for inspections of the relevant daycare of children services, including childminders, nurseries, out of school care services, while separate regulations cover childcare agencies and sitter services.

Childcare services are graded 1-6, with 6 at the excellent level and any standard below 3 usually requiring immediate action. The Care Inspectorate has power to close down unacceptable performing care services and set specific requirements for improvements, which must be adhered to. Their inspection reports are available to the public on their website. As the extract below show, the majority of providers are graded good or very good.

TABLE B: Summary of graded early learning and childcare services by theme as at 31st March 2014

Daycare of Children services	unsatisfactory	weak	adequate	good	very good	excellent
Quality of care and support	0.1%	0.9%	4.3%	29.1%	57.9%	7.7%
Quality of environment	0.1%	1.0%	4.2%	37.5%	52.9%	4.4%
Quality of staffing	0.1%	1.1%	3.7%	34.6%	54.5%	6.0%
Quality of management and leadership	0.7%	1.9%	6.7%	39.0%	47.3%	4.4%
Childminding services	unsatisfactory	weak	adequate	good	very good	excellent
Care and Support	0.1%	0.4%	4.4%	29.0%	57.0%	9.1%
Environment	0.1%	0.5%	4.1%	36.2%	53.1%	6.0%
Staffing	3.3%	0.5%	4.5%	34.1%	51.3%	6.3%

Source Care Inspectorate (2014). Table 19: Summary of graded early learning and childcare services by theme as at 31st March 2014

Early learning and childcare centres, which are also delivering HM inspected early learning and childcare, have joint inspection arrangements with the Care inspectorate and Education Scotland.

Play services or playschemes with no care function and leisure services for children, for example, swimming clubs or sports clubs are not required to register with the Care inspectorate, as are services operating for less than 2 hours a day. Therefore, some breakfast clubs run by schools or private or voluntary sector providers may not be registered. However, breakfast clubs run by schools will be part of the overall inspection by HM Inspectors from Education Scotland.

The Care inspectorate also produces annual statistics on the day care of children services and the table below is extracted from their 2014 statistical publication.

TABLE C: Extract: Care Inspectorate 2013 Data- Registered Early learning and Childcare Services

			Number of services
			December 2013
	Total services	Of which:
		Active services	Inactive services
Childcare services by main service type:
Childminding	6,185	5,685	500
Children / family centre	139	139	0
Crèche	91	91	0
Holiday play scheme	52	51	1
Nursery	2,442	2,426	16
of which: providing additional childcare e.g. breakfast club	396	395	1
of which: providing no additional childcare services	2,046	2,031	15
Out of school care	691	690	1
of which: providing additional childcare e.g. breakfast club	504	503	1
of which: providing no additional childcare services	187	187	0
Playgroup	324	323	1
Other services	44	44	0
Total	9,968	9,449	519
Total excluding Childminders	3,783	3,764	19

(Adapted from the Care Inspectorate (2014) Table 1a)

Additional Services:

The above figures do not tell the whole story, as many early learning and childcare services provide more than one kind of service, e.g. a private nursery might also provide out of school care, or an out of school care service might provide both a breakfast club and a holiday club. "The most common additional type of daycare in 2013 was breakfast club services: 545 services recorded having a breakfast club in addition to their main type of daycare. Of these 545 services, 93% were nurseries and out of school care (41% and 52% respectively)." And "523 services operated a holiday play scheme in addition to their main type of daycare. Of these 523 services, 69% provided out of school care as their main type of daycare." Also "There were 691 services registered with a main type of daycare of out of school care. As well as these services, 280 other services operated out of school care in addition to their main type of daycare." (Care Inspectorate, 2014, p 8).

Table B shows that there are 2426 active nurseries, the Care Inspectorate (2014) Table 2c (not reproduced here) shows that 1479 of nurseries are provided by local authorities, 766 by the private sector and 181 from the not for profit sector. Most of the 323 playgroups are located in the not for profit sector, 279, while 89 out of school care services are run by local authorities, with again most being located in the not for profit sector (Care Inspectorate, 2014, p. 29).

The Care Inspectorate Table 6 (2014, p. 36) gives a breakdown of the number of children attending in census week and for December 2013, split by service type and compared to their population age range. This table shows that 246,850 children were registered with a childcare service.

Sector Skills Councils

Sector Skills Councils are independent, employer led UK wide organisations. They aim to develop high quality skills standards with employers. They do this by developing the national occupational standards (NOS) for specific roles, within the specific fields of employment they cover. The UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) licences each Skills Sector Council and endorses their NOS by buying their Standards and then making them available to those developing qualifications around the standards.

UKCES is an executive non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. It is a publicly funded, industry-led organisation that offers guidance on skills and employment issues in the UK. UKCES is looking to cut the amount of investment in NOS and in changing the NOS statements: "There are plans for a) less dependency on public funding of National Occupational Standards and b) the streamlining of such standards to more generic higher level statements, as a constant criticism of NOS has been about the level of detail. As an example of that streamlining, UKCES has reduced investment in NOS Support from £18 million to £3 million" (UKCES, 2014).

There are two Sector Skills Councils which have relevance to this enquiry: SkillsActive and Skills for Care and Development, delegated to partner Scottish Social Services Council in Scotland.

SkillsActive http://www.skillsactive.com/country/scotland

SkillsActive is the sector skills council for Playwork qualifications (amongst many others) and developed the current NOS underpinning them. SkillsActive has therefore a duty to develop, deliver and promote Playwork. The current Playwork NOS and qualifications are due for renewal in 2015; this process will start in April 2015. At present Playwork qualifications are amongst those accepted as other qualifications for registration with the SSSC. However, when these are updated they have to be reassessed for registration purposes, therefore, when this happens, they will be reassessed against the SSSC developed NOS. We were unable to access the Playwork NOS, as a source, at SkillsActive for review. However, we have reviewed all playwork qualifications, which are based on them in Scotland.

SkillsActive employ a National Manager for Scotland and playwork form only one aspect in their portfolio of work. During the research process the National Manager was on maternity leave for much of it, however they returned to work in December 2014. Play Scotland is represented on the Scottish Executive Committee of SkillsActive.

Skills for Care and Development

Skills for Care and Development is a partnership made up of the leading authorities on workforce development and regulation in the UK; in Scotland, the partner is the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC). The SSSC reviewed, in partnership with other partner sector skills councils across the UK, the NOS underpinning social care qualifications in 2013. This was done on a UK basis with consultation events involving employers and stakeholders- the NOS are written for the sector by the sector. Therefore, as well as being the regulatory and registration body for the social care workforce in Scotland, it also has a duty as a Sector Skills Council to ensure the NOS continue to be fit for purpose and promote its own qualifications, based on their NOS. SSSC have also indicated that any future recognition of qualifications for registration purposes will be assessed against the NOS they have developed in consultation with the social services employers and workforce.

SSSC has no role in promoting playwork qualifications as that is the responsibility of their own sector skills council: SkillsActive.

Wider Uses of National Occupational Standards (NOS):

The SSSC website also mentions that the NOS can be used to help develop and evaluate training courses both in terms of sector and individual needs, by providing the intended outcomes. In addition, it is suggested that this is therefore a good way to market training and impart confidence in it to trainees and the wider public, as well as the organisation's investment in training related to the NOS and this could help with things like: Investors in People (IiP) recognition (SSSC, n.d). For further information about NOS please see SSSC NOS Navigator.

The Scottish Social Services (SSSC) - Regulatory Role

The Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 established the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) in order to provide a regulatory body to oversee the standards and professionalism of the social services workforce, as well as protecting people who use social services.

The following points are amongst the principles and functions of the SSSC, which are to:

• create and promote the SSSC Codes of Practice
• maintain a register of social workers, social services workers and social work students
• remove people from the SSSC Register
• approve courses for people who wish to become social workers
• provide grants and allowances for social service workers' training.
• promote high standards of conduct and practice among social service workers and their education and training (SSSC, website, n. d.)

Relevant staff are required to register with the SSSC, unless they are already registered with a recognised equivalent body such as the General Teaching Council of Scotland. This includes workers and managers in daycare of children services, workers in residential childcare services, school hostels, special schools and boarding schools, care at home services and housing support services. Managers in adult day care services are also on the register as are Social Work students and Care Inspectorate Officers. The register opened in 2003 and in 2014 has over 60,000 people on the register (SSSC, website, accessed, October, 2014).

As well as registering people who work in social services the SSSC regulates their education and training, therefore the SSSC sets out what qualifications are recognised and at what level they are required for specific roles. As part of the above aims the SSSC also has a role in promoting the "difference education and training makes to workers and people who use services" (SSSC, website, viewed 2014) and is undertaking the "functions of the Sector Skills Council; Skills for Care and Development, this includes workforce planning and development" (SSSC, website, viewed 2014).

Social care workers must register according to what their job involves and what they do on a day to day basis, not title, under one of three job functions: Lead Practitioner, Practitioner or Support Worker. Workers are required to have a designated qualification appropriate to the job function; if they do not have this, then registration will be granted on the condition that the qualification is achieved within five years. Unconditional registration is for a period of five years, after which an individual must re-register unless they have changed job function in which case they would need to meet the qualification requirements of the other job, at the point they changed jobs.

New workers have six months from their start date to register with the SSSC. Once registered, workers are expected to undertake annual Post Registration Training and Learning (PRTL).

Ongoing professional development and learning is at the heart of the Continuous Learning Framework (SSSC & IRISS, 2008) which is aimed at both organisations and individuals in the social services workforce and illustrates the attributes of a learning and developing organisation and a learning and developing worker.

The SSSC Codes of Practice (SSSC, 2003) also enshrine the commitment to engage in continuous learning and development, and for organisations to support their staff in doing so.

In addition, the SSSC states that:

"Registration with the SSSC isn't a one off. Our belief is that continuing registration needs to be based on the ability to keep practice, knowledge and skills and competence up to date and we will be introducing a new career long development framework for the whole of the social services sector in 2015." (SSSC, 2014, p. 9)

Workforce development resources

The SSSC website has a wide range of resources on a number of media platforms to support the professional development of the social services workforce. See SSSC (n. d.) Workforce Solutions: http://workforcesolutions.sssc.uk.com/new/chp.html

Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA)

SQA, although an arm's length organisation was established through acts of Parliament, takes guidance from Scottish Ministers in developing its corporate plan, and receives funding support from the Scottish Government. SQA accredits qualifications, other than degrees and approves and quality assures awarding bodies which enter people for these qualifications.

SQA is an Awarding Body in its own right, through devising, developing, validating and reviewing qualifications. SQA plays a key role in the arrangements for the assessment process for people taking SQA qualifications, including issuing certificates to candidates. SQA also plays a strong role in quality assuring the establishments, which offer SQA qualifications.

Scottish Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Levels and credit points

The SCQF uses two measures to describe qualifications and learning programmes

• the level of the outcomes of learning
• the volume of outcomes, described in terms of the number of credits

The volume of an outcome is arrived at by estimating the amount of time required by the 'average' learner, at a particular level, to achieve the outcomes. The number of credits will differ greatly from qualification to qualification, within levels and between levels

Levels

"Each of the 12 SCQF levels can be the location of one or more qualifications. At present these are qualifications of higher education institutions in Scotland and those awarded and accredited by SQA.

Level 1 represents outcomes designed for learners with severe and profound learning difficulties, while level 12 contains outcomes associated with doctoral studies. Increases in level of demand relate to factors such as:

• complexity and depth of knowledge and understanding
• links to academic, vocational or professional practice
• the degree of integration, independence and creativity required
• the range and sophistication of application/practice
• the role(s) taken in relation to other learners/workers in carrying out tasks

Each level of the SCQF from two to 12 has a descriptor, known as the level descriptors, which sets out its characteristic general outcomes under five broad headings:

• knowledge and understanding - mainly subject based
• practice (applied knowledge and understanding)
• generic cognitive skills, e.g. evaluation, critical analysis
• communication, numeracy and IT skills
• autonomy, accountability and working with others "(SQA, n .d.)

The level descriptors are designed to allow broad comparisons to be made but are not intended to give precise or comprehensive statements of required learning at each level. Not all should or have all of the characteristics set out in the level descriptors.

Qualifications set at the same level are only broadly comparable, and this does not demonstrate equivalence of qualifications, " An example of this is Advanced Higher, HNC, and the Certificate in Higher Education all being on level 7. Although these qualifications are all on the same level, they have quite different forms of delivery and assessment rules" (SQA, n. d.)

Qualifications awarded by Scottish higher education institutions, and those awarded or accredited by the SQA, will all be placed on the levels of the SCQF. The level descriptors are available here http://www.scqf.org.uk/features/Framework.htm.

Credit points

One credit point represents the outcomes of learning achieved through a notional 10 hours of learning time the average learner might take to achieve this learning Learners might take less or a bit more time but must meet the outcomes set out. The award of credits is made on achievement of the learning outcomes, not on the time spent in doing so.

Common Core of Skills, Knowledge & Understanding and Values for the "Children's Workforce" in Scotland

The Common Core describe the skills, knowledge and understanding, and values that everyone working (paid or voluntary) with children and young people, and their families should have. These "essential characteristics" are explicitly cross-referenced with the guiding principles of the UNCRC, and the values are taken from Getting It Right For Every Child (GIRFEC). The Common Core allows children, young people and their families to have an understanding of the minimum expectations from people who work with them.

The Common Core were developed through a public consultation process with input from workers and organisations from the children's sector in Scotland and multi-disciplinary Working Group.