CALA Matters: November 2014
We hope everyone enjoyed The Gender Agenda on Thursday, 13 November in Greyfriars & Stratherrick Free Church in Inverness. It was a record turnout for CALA and our keynote speaker, Gary Wilson, was fantastic; we've had a lot of good feedback. More importantly, he has got people thinking more about the problems surrounding raising boys' achievement, even for those who thought they may have been already aware of all the issues.
We've put up a brief report on the CALA blog and shall be putting a full report on the website in due course. If you managed to fill out your evaluation survey before leaving, that’s great. If not, you can still do so online. Please do take a few minutes to do this – it’s such a help for us planning the event in future years to come. You can access the survey here.
Because our AGM & Conference was so much later this year we've had to leap into the busy pre-Christmas mode. It looks like a lot of our members are having fun creating Christmas-themed activities with the children.
If you'd like to share any of these stories on our blog, or advertise an event, and you're a CALA member, you're very welcome to do so (permissions for images, of course). Last year we shared some of the Christmas cards the children had made, and we could maybe do that again?
Remember, if you sign up for the blog emails, which you can do so on the blog homepage (top right), you'll be kept up to date with everything that's going on. You'll need to click on 'confirm follow' when you get your confirmation email but that's all you have to do! Let us know if you need any help?
We'll get another newsletter out before we break up for the holidays - a fun Christmassy one. All contributions welcome!
Best wishes
Janine, CALA Communications & ICT Support Officer janine@careandlearningalliance.co.uk
SSSC PRTL Training & Learning
Have you been undertaking Post Registration Training and Learning (PRTL)? Undertaking PRTL, writing about it, and submitting it to SSSC, makes sure you continue to be suitable for registration. Find out more on the CALA Blog.
Childminders
CALA is now welcoming applications from childminders who can become Associate Members of the organisation. As a special introductory offer, we are able to offer a half-price discounted membership of £12.50 (usual cost: £25). You can find out some of the benefits of becoming a childminder member of CALA, including resources, support, training & insurance, on our website.
Little Storks
We've got a new Baby & Toddler group running which meets every Friday, 10:00-11:30 at Crown Church, Inverness.
The group is aimed at Polish parents and carers but all families and their little ones are very welcome. The dates are on the CALA Calendar and you'll find contact details there too.
Frugal Fun Friday #FFF
Mairianne's been getting great feedback on her #FFF ideas and this week she even added some audio which you should take a moment to listen to - it might make your day!
Practitioners Zone
Last time we told you about our 'Useful Reports, Briefings, and Statutory Guidance' page which we thought might be useful. This time, we thought we'd highlight our 'Useful Subscriptions' page which lists some of the e-newsletters you might want to consider signing up for.
We've added in the Children's Champions Briefing Note which contains lots of very useful information & links compiled by Calum Munro, Policy Lead, Highland Children's Forum. If you're not already on it, Calum would be happy to add you to his subscription list. You'll find his email address included on the page.
If you have any additions to add to this list, please let us know?
Training
Self Evaluation Training
There are still places available on the Highland Council Self Evaluation Training courses in Fort William, Thurso and Portree - FREE to all Early Years practitioners working in Highland. Find out more.
Promoting Positive Behaviour in the Early Years
Still places available on the 24th November (Thurso) & 10th December (Portree). FREE training session for all staff who work in a CALA member, or CALA managed, centre. As a special one–off treat we are opening this workshop to childminders who are perhaps considering taking out membership with CALA. Find out more.
Find out more about Courses in Highland
Find out more about Courses in Moray
Find out more about Childminder Training
Find out more about Online Courses
Find out more about CALA Childcare Solutions
Current Vacancies
We're looking for men and women to work as relief childcare workers in a variety of settings (Nursery, Play Group, Out Of School or in a Family home) from £7.20 to £11.45 per hour.
Find out more about working for CALA Staffbank.
Find out more about volunteering with CALA.
Dates for your diary
24th November - Promoting Positive Behaviour in the Early Years. Find out more.
27th November - HMRC webinar for childminders. Find out more.
4th December - WithScotland webinar - Sense making in child and family social work teams. Find out more.
4th December - HMRC webinar for childminders. Find out more.
10th December - Promoting Positive Behaviour in the Early Years. Find out more.
13th December - The Likely Dads. Find out more.
19th December - End of Winter Term (Highland & Moray schools)
5th January - Start of Spring term (Highland & Moray schools)
10th January - The Likely Dads. Find out more.
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