Month: May 2021

Volunteers’ Week Scotland 1st – 7th June 2021

Volunteers’ Week Scotland 2021

 This year Volunteers’ Week Scotland is being held on the 1st – 7th June. We would like to take this opportunity to say a very big THANK YOU! to all the CLD Volunteers out there.

“During an exceptionally difficult year, people from all corners of the UK have taken the time to volunteer and make a huge difference to people and their communities – just as they do every year.

Volunteers are always active at the heart of every UK community. They are behind many of the services we all rely on. Some have been volunteering online from home, others in person with a local charity or organisation. Their crucial efforts have not stopped, despite the uncertain times we find ourselves in, and will continue as an important part of the nation’s recovery.

That is why on this 37th annual Volunteers’ Week it’s time to say, ‘Thank You Volunteers!’ We want to recognise all of those who have continued delivering vital work as volunteers over the past 12 months but also all those who usually volunteer but have not been able to because of the pandemic.”  (Volunteers’ Week Scotland)

How can YOU become involved in our CLD Volunteers’ Week Campaign?

In this age of social media, and through publications such as ‘What Scotland Learned’ we have been given a small peek into the world of CLD Volunteering, and want to share the impact far and wide. One of the ways we will be doing this is to work in partnership with the CLD Standards Council, and the wider CLD sector to create a #CLDVolunteers2021 Virtual Wave across Scotland. To help us achieve this we ask that you include the #CLDVolunteers2021 to any social media posts during Volunteers’ Week Scotland.

We have also created a Volunteer Virtual Wave Padlet to track the reach of #CLDVolunteers2021. We would encourage you all to also go into the Padlet and track the location of your social media posts and any other Volunteer Thank You events. We’ve included instructions on how to do this in the attached brief ‘How To’ Guide.  Padlet ‘How To’ Guide.docx

If you do not have access to Padlet, then please either tag our team into your social media post, or email Dehra.Macdonald@educationscotland.gov.scot with details of the event and we will ensure it’s placed on the map on your behalf.

Whichever option you chose please try to include the following #s

#VolunteersWeekScotland

#CLDVolunteers2021

#BecauseOfCLD

If you are including photos in your Twitter posts remember you can tag in our Education Scotland CLD Team and the CLD Standards Council without using up any of your characters by tagging them in the photos @edscotCLD and @cldstandards. The attached brief ‘How To’ Guide will explain how to do this. Twitter ‘How To’ Guide.docx

We will be posting a daily ‘Meet the Team’ post sharing the Volunteering experiences of some of our Education Scotland CLD colleagues.

The CLD Standards Council are also keen to highlight some of the fabulous work CLD Volunteers they’ve done.  If you know a volunteer you’d like them to showcase with a CLD Volunteer Practitioner Spotlight feature on their website, please email contact@cldstandardscouncil.org.uk

There are many different ways you can become involved in Volunteers’ Week Scotland 2021. https://volunteersweek.scot have lots of ideas, and free resources on their website. We can’t wait to celebrate all the work your volunteers do as Team CLD!

National STEM Network for CLD Practitioners

National STEM Network for CLD Practitioners

Education Scotland, Learning Link Scotland, Youthlink Scotland and Glasgow Science Centre are working in partnership to establish a National STEM Network for CLD Practitioners.

The first meeting will take place on 1st June at 10am until 11.30 and will focus on highlighting available resources, breakout rooms to meet others, network and share resources on STEM and Climate Change.

We will be seeking practitioners’ views on the value of a STEM Network for CLD and consulting on our proposed aims and objectives, as follows:

  • Open to all CLD, cross sector and all organisations (ie. Local Authority, Voluntary sector, Colleges)
  • Focus in 2021 on climate change linking to COP26
  • Key focus on supporting confidence of CLD Practitioners in STEM
  • Increasing understanding that STEM related learning opportunities are everywhere
  • Increase knowledge and resources in all areas of STEM- Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths
  • Effectively sharing resources and improving CLD practitioners knowledge of available resources
  • Peer support role and networking opportunities with STEM focus

Sign up here:

National STEM Network for CLD Practitioners (office.com)

 

Mental Health Awareness Week 2021

Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental Health Awareness Week 2021 (10th – 16th May) saw the Education Scotland CLD team celebrate the impact that CLD has on raising awareness of mental health for learners, families and communities.

Mental Health Awareness Week 2021

As the theme of Mental Health Awareness week was Nature, the Education Scotland CLD team participated in a team walking steps challenge and shared photos of local nature throughout the week.

Over the course of the working week, four members of our team walked over 205,000 steps, enjoyed the time outdoors in all weathers and took some wonderful photos some of which will be at the bottom of this post.

Encouraging others to spend time outdoors and think about mental health, we released a podcast with CLD Talks.

Mental Health Awareness Week with Julie Beckett – CLD Talks (podcast) | Listen Notes

Education Scotland Mental Health Wakelet has been created to share practical, free resources for practitioners, parents, carers & young people:

Mental health & wellbeing : supports for practitioners, parents, carers & young people – Wakelet

Education Scotland are funding a series of mental health webinars for all school staff across Scotland. Sign up info and previous webinar recordings can be found here:

Education Scotland Webinars (place2be.org.uk)