Blog by Maree Todd MSP, Minister for Children and Young People

20th February 2020

I am excited to be entering 2020 as this is, of course, the year when children's entitlement to funded early learning and childcare will nearly double.

From August 2020, all 3 and 4 year olds, and around a quarter of 2 year olds, will be eligible for 1140 hours of early learning and childcare a year. funded by the Scottish Government and local authorities. That's 30 hours a week if taken during school term time, or 22 hours a week year round.

Across the country, local authorities have already started to introduce some extra hours, as they phase in the 1140 hours. I've really enjoyed meeting children and families that are accessing these hours already. Parents have told me about the extra opportunities their children are able to access through extra hours of funded ELC, and about the impact it's having on their children's communication and confidence.

January marked the launch of our parent marketing campaign. You’ll hopefully start to spot the ‘This Much’ adverts on bus stops or in your social media feeds. The campaign is designed to help families understand their child’s entitlement. It directs families to the Parent Club website so that they can get the information they need to make informed choices.

But we know that another, very important, source of information is those who work with families. Parents and carers will often come to professionals that they trust, with their questions about ELC and other things. We want to make it as straightforward as possible for you to be able to support them, so the Parent Club website is a tool for you too. It has information about the ELC entitlement, as well as links to each local authority website, so that parents can access local information about funding or application forms.

I know that the ELC expansion is already having a significant impact for many practitioners, and we are working with partners to find further ways of supporting you. I wanted to bring to your attention a few recent resources that you may find helpful:

>our '12 Steps' leaflet that highlights different ways you can access support with recruitment.
>our ELC National Induction Resource

provides comprehensive information about training, qualifications and registration requirements. It also includes a three month checklist of what to cover as part of an induction process.
>To support continuous professional learning, we are developing a range of online modules which will available to everyone in the sector later this year.

Look out too for our refreshed national practice guidance. We know that Building the Ambition is very well regarded but as we expand funded entitlement, it’s time for a refresh. The refreshed resource will:

>reflect the rationale for the ELC expansion programme; include a stronger focus on under threes by incorporating relevant material from ‘Pre-birth to Three’;
>have a stronger focus on child development and what children need from staff and their environment to support their development;
>include more on trauma-informed practice; and
>help to support a more coherent understanding of child development and play pedagogy right across early level of CfE.

The resource will be called ‘Realising the Ambition’ and paper copies should arrive in settings in mid-February.

I am grateful to the many colleagues from across the ELC sector who have supported us to develop these resources. At the moment, working groups including representatives from all parts of the sector are looking at how we can recognise the prior learning of those wishing to join the ELC workforce; and how we can better support leadership development. I look forward to receiving their advice and ideas later in the year.

Very best wishes for 2020, and thank you all for your fantastic - and vitally important - contribution to improving children’s lives in Scotland.