Early learning and childcare: national induction resource

Section One

Introduction

Welcome to your career in Early Learning and Childcare (ELC). Working with children to help nurture their development, support their learning, and shape positive futures is exceptionally important.

The earliest years of life are crucial to a child’s learning and development and have a lasting impact on outcomes in health, education and employment opportunities later in life.

High quality ELC, including childminding, can make an important contribution to children’s outcomes, particularly when they are growing up in more disadvantaged circumstances. It is also critical to supporting children to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and to closing the poverty-related attainment gap.

We know that children benefit most from high quality, sensitive, responsive and stimulating interactions, provided by highly qualified and knowledgeable practitioners. We also know that the best experiences for children are found where professionals hold higher-level qualifications specific to early childhood, or those with a background in early years methodology, and - in settings - where there is a range of staff with complementary skills. Ongoing continuous professional learning (CPL) further enables professionals to fulfil their own potential and equip our young children to do the same.

Realising the Ambition – Being Me explains that the early childhood curriculum is holistic. It values children and early childhood. From the age of three, Scotland’s Curriculum for Excellence provides children and young people with a Broad General Education. At its centre are four fundamental capacities. These capacities reflect and recognise the lifelong nature of education and learning. They:

• recognise the need for all children and young people to know themselves as individuals and to develop their relationships with others, in families and in communities;
• recognise the knowledge, skills and attributes that children and young people need to acquire to thrive in our interconnected, digital and rapidly changing world; and
• enable children and young people to be democratic citizens and active shapers of that world.

Scotland is already leading the way across the UK in its ambition to have a highly qualified and regulated profession, and this resource has been developed collaboratively with leading organisations to support you during the initial stages of your career in ELC. This resource must be used if your employer provides funded ELC, however it is also available for use by settings where families purchase ELC themselves. It sets out the support you can expect your employer in your new role, and provides links to the suite of national resources which are available as you develop in your role. It has been developed specifically to support staff working in ELC centres rather than in childminding settings.

We know that our professionals are working really hard to support children and their families, and to provide safe and nurturing settings. This is of particular importance at this time as we continue to experience the lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. All children, young people and their families have been impacted by the pandemic, but research by Public Health Scotland shows it has not affected everyone equally. We know that there is a greater impact on families with low-incomes and children under the age of five. In this resource you will be able to access resources which were developed following the pandemic to support children’s speech and language. Specific guidance for the continued safe operation of providers and staff is available, including links to further resources, developed by Public Health Scotland: Health protection in children and young people settings, including education, which is currently being reviewed.

As a new member of staff, it is important that you understand how to support the safe care of children when there are competing pressures. Additional reflection questions in section two of this document can help you to consider safety and risk assessment as a key part of your role.

The Quality improvement framework for the early learning and childcare sectors implemented in January 2026, developed jointly by the Care Inspectorate and Education Scotland/HMIE, also contains a range of quality illustrations to support high quality, safe environments for children (more information about this is included in the Leadership section of this resource). This self-evaluation framework supports quality improvement in ELC settings. It can be used by all ELC services, including childminders and school age childcare providers.

A key aspect of supporting children’s emotional attachment within the setting is family involvement. Ensuring parents and children are welcomed into the setting together and that families are able to share children’s experiences in person will support positive and effective relationships.

To further support our professionals, Early Years Scotland provides a Team ELC Wellbeing Hub; a resource which sets out vital information for the sector on maintaining their wellbeing.The Wellbeing Hub has been accompanied by a series of online events and recordings which provided practical advice in the shape of a self-care toolkit.

The Mental Health & Wellbeing Learning Resource for Early Years Professionals has also been developed by NHS Education for Scotland. This resource is for use by early years professionals and for the first time brings together helpful resources for your role in supporting babies, infants and young children’s mental health and wellbeing. The resource will be especially helpful to those working with children from birth to age 5 but may also be useful for those working with older children.

The resource also helps professionals to identify their own wellbeing needs and provides useful signposting to other resources and supports to help professionals manage their own wellbeing.

Investment in Early Learning and Childcare

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and Getting it right for every child (GIRFEC) form the basis of our national approach to supporting children and are critical to our commitment to Keep the Promise. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 (the ‘UNCRC Act’) commenced fully on 16 July 2024. It made Scotland the first country in the UK, and the first devolved nation in the world, to directly incorporate the UNCRC into domestic law. It is a landmark piece of legislation in making sure Scotland is the best place to grow up. You can find out more about this on the Children’s Rights page of the Scottish Government website. You can also use the Children's Rights Skills and Knowledge Framework to build or reflect on your children’s rights knowledge and take a children’s human rights approach to your practice.

Alongside this we have provided record levels of investment to tackling child poverty - a national mission for Scotland. Research also shows that affordable, flexible and high quality ELC also supports parents to increase their earned incomes by facilitating access to training, learning and paid employment, which further supports our ambition to give all of our children the best start in life.

Funding Follows the Child (FFtC) is the policy framework that supports the delivery of ELC and ensures that the funded ELC entitlement is delivered in high quality settings. It is a ‘provider neutral’ approach, underpinned by a National Standard that all services must meet in order to be able to offer the funded entitlement. For families this means that they will be able to access high quality funded ELC with the provider of their choice, subject to availability. The criteria of the National Standard focuses on what children and their families should expect from their funded entitlement experience and ensures that a high-quality service will be delivered.

Purpose of the Induction Period

There are some fundamental attributes that we expect from staff entering the ELC sector. Regardless of the extent and nature of your previous experience, you will have been recruited because you:

• are highly motivated and have a commitment to improving outcomes for children and families;
• consistently show your interest, enthusiasm, and enjoyment in working with young children;
• are eager to learn and understand the need to develop your knowledge and skills;
• demonstrate patience, compassion, warmth and kindness in your interactions with children;
• understand the trust afforded to you in safeguarding children and respect the need for confidentiality; and you
• demonstrate strong personal values, both inside and outside of the workplace.

For more on the key attributes that everyone working with children, young people and their families should have, see Supporting Scotland’s Children – Core Knowledge and Values.

The purpose of induction is for you, with your employer’s support, to build on these attributes and to develop your understanding of the following:

• how to develop trusting relationships with children and their families to support learning and development;
• your role as part of a team and how to develop good communication with your colleagues;
• your responsibilities in keeping children safe and who to speak to if you have concerns in relation to a child’s wellbeing and particularly to safeguarding;
• the ELC policy context, including the background to the increased investment and how we expect this to impact on outcomes for children;
• your responsibilities in respect of professional registration with the Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) or the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS), and the associated requirements around Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) and qualifications;
• how to identify and engage with learning opportunities; and
• the codes of practice for social service workers or teachers.

Mentoring Within Your Setting

In addition to this National Induction Resource your employer should assign you a mentor – someone to whom you can turn to for advice and support within your ELC setting. This could be your manager or another experienced colleague working alongside you.

Section two of this resource sets out some reflective questions that you might like to explore, together with your mentor, and an example of an induction checklist that could be used and adapted. Each setting will also have its own induction procedures, and further support can be sourced from SSSC’s comprehensive Guidance for Mentoring in Childhood Practice. This is based on proven, research-based effective practice, and is designed to help settings reach their potential and in turn, help to support the continuous professional learning and development of its professionals. Further support for mentoring is available on the SSSC’s online resource ‘Leadership in Social Services’ (more on this on page 15).

Professional Regulation of Early Learning and Childcare

Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme

As part of your recruitment process for your role in ELC, you will undergo a Disclosure Scotland criminal record check and will have to be a member of the Protecting Vulnerable Groups (PVG) Scheme. When someone applies to join the PVG Scheme, Disclosure Scotland carries out criminal record checks and shares the results with individuals and their employers.

The checks will highlight:

• whether you are barred from regulated work in the role you have applied for;
• whether you are under consideration for listing for that type of regulated work;
• unspent convictions;
• spent convictions for certain offences;
• unspent cautions;
• if you are on the sex offenders register;
• relevant information from the police; and
• prescribed civil orders.

A PVG scheme membership is continuously checked unless you decide to leave the scheme (for example, if you stop doing “regulated work”) or your scheme membership lapses. From April 2026 PVG scheme membership will last for 5 years. Anyone who is currently a PVG scheme member will be notified when they are transitioned to the 5 year scheme. You should keep your record up to date if for example, you change jobs or move house. This means that Disclosure Scotland can contact you quickly if needed and information is sent to the right place. You can find out how to manage your PVG membership details on the Disclosure Scotland website.

If Disclosure Scotland are advised of new information which means you might have become unsuitable to work with children or protected adults, they will tell your employer. More information on the PVG scheme can be found here.

You can follow Disclosure Scotland on X, Facebook and LinkedIn, and sign up to their quarterly e-bulletin, to stay up to date with what’s happening in Disclosure Scotland.

Registering with the Scottish Social Services Council

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) is the regulatory body for social service workers, this includes those working in the ELC profession in day care of children service settings (other than teachers). Those working in childminding services are not required to register with the SSSC but are regulated by the Care Inspectorate. Teachers are registered and regulated by the General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS).

Currently, you must register with the SSSC once you have started in your ELC role. Your registration category will reflect the position (role and responsibilities) to which you have been appointed. You will register in one of the following SSSC Children and Young People’s worker categories:

• Support worker in a day care of children service
• Practitioner in a day care of children service
• Manager in a day care of children service

The term ‘day care of children service’ is the collective name for services where support is provided to children during the day. It includes school age childcare but does not include residential care.

To apply for registration you need to complete an application online on the SSSC Website. In most cases, once you start a role, you must apply for registration and have it completed within the first three months. If your application isn’t approved within the time limit it could affect your ability to work. There is an annual fee for registering with the SSSC, along with annual declaration that registrants must complete to stay registered. Before these are due the SSSC will contact you with a reminder. You may wish to check with your employer if there are any local arrangements in place which provide financial support towards paying this fee. It is important that you complete the annual declaration and pay your annual fee (if applicable) in order to remain eligible to undertake your role.

It can take some time for the SSSC to process and approve your application and to add your name to the Register. The annual fees for registering with the SSSC can be accessed online.

As part of the registration process, the SSSC check that applicants are of ‘good character’ by assessing the information you provide within your application for registration and the PVG scheme. When establishing ‘good character’ the SSSC take into account a range of matters including any current or previous convictions or police charges as well as disciplinary processes, dismissals, resignations etc. More information about the conditions for registration are available on the SSSC website.

Workforce Mobility and Qualifications

The Scottish Social Services Council (SSSC) supports a flexible and adaptable social service workforce. As part of this approach, the SVQ Social services (Children and Young People) and SVQ Social services and healthcare are recognised as having shared core learning outcomes. This means that workers holding either of the SVQ social services qualifications at SCQF 7 can use it to register and work in either sector.

This flexibility allows practitioners to move between adult and children’s services more easily, supporting career development, recruitment and retention, and ensuring that services can respond to workforce needs. Where a worker moves from adult social care into the children and young people workforce, they may be required to complete additional learning to ensure their knowledge and practice align with the expectations of working with children. The SSSC provides guidance on the continuous professional learning (CPL) required during this transition on the Continuous professional learning for registrants section of their website.

By following the prompts, users can identify the most relevant CPL and understand how their existing qualifications support their move into the children and young people workforce.

SSSC Codes of Practice

The SSSC have developed the ‘Codes of Practice for Social Service Workers and Employers’ (the Codes of Practice) which set out clear standards for professional conduct and practice that social service workers, including early years workers, must meet in their everyday work.

When you register with the SSSC you must agree to follow the SSSC Codes of Practice for Workers. You are responsible for making sure that your professional practice meets all of the required standards. This includes your practice within work as well as your conduct outside of your work. You should familiarise yourself with the Codes of Practice as soon as possible. SSSC may take action against registered workers if they fail to meet the standards of character, conduct and competence necessary for them to do their job safely and effectively as set out in the Codes of Practice.

The Codes of Practice are part of the wider package of legislation, practice standards and employers’ policies and procedures that social service workers must meet.

Qualification Requirements

The SSSC specify the qualifications you must already have, or be working towards obtaining, as you progress through your ELC career.

Staff registered with the SSSC as a support worker will be expected to have or be working towards a relevant Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) level 6, (Scottish Higher equivalent). Staff registered at practitioner level will be expected to have or be working towards a relevant SCQF level 7 and those registered as manager or lead practitioner will be expected to have or be working towards a relevant SCQF level 9 qualification (degree-level).

Details of the different routes to achieving the qualifications for ELC professionals are available on the SSSC careers website, where you can click on each route and find out more about course content, teaching methods, entry requirements and relative benefits of each route. Qualifications may be available as full time, part time or through open learning.

You may have experiences and learning which might be built upon to support you in your learning journey. Your preferred learning provider will be able to help you determine if your experiences and learning, formal or informal, or if any existing indirect qualifications, may be considered through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and contribute towards achieving your ELC qualification.

Continuous Professional Learning

In addition to staff qualifications, Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) is an essential component of ELC quality. Evidence suggests that good quality CPL helps ensure staff are aware of effective practice and are continually supported in the workplace. This reduces staff turnover and there is some evidence that this can have more impact on quality than a professional’s initial training and education.

The SSSC Codes of Practice for Social Service Workers require workers to take responsibility for maintaining and improving their knowledge and skills. SSSC has recently updated the CPL requirement to focus on knowledge and skills depending on role and career stage, instead of a set number of hours or days. Registrants will confirm they’ve completed CPL every year as part of their annual declaration.

ELC settings have a statutory requirement to ensure that staff engage in appropriate induction and training to undertake their role; this is something that the Care Inspectorate monitor in inspections. Your employers will therefore be able to advise you on relevant CPL for your role and of courses that should be available to you.

Developing and enhancing your skills and knowledge is key to ensuring we deliver the highest quality care and learning to our youngest children. To support your professional development the Scottish Government has worked with the SSSC to develop a ‘one stop shop’ Continuous Professional Learning Portal, specifically for the childcare profession. The portal brings together learning resources from a range of training providers including the Care Inspectorate, Education Scotland, Scottish Government and SSSC. Those include modules on speech and language development and responding to additional support needs. All resources are quality designed to support your practice.

The SSSC has a free smartphone-based app called Mylearning, available to you as another mechanism in which to record learning in a way which suits you. Whilst it is important that you tell the SSSC about any learning and development you have undertaken, it is equally important that you tell them what you have learned and how this has impacted on your work.

Education Scotland also provide a summary of ELC resources, browsable by subject, including guidance, frameworks and CPL.

Outdoor Learning

Outdoor play and learning is an integral, every day, part of ELC in Scotland and a fundamental part of growing up in Scotland. It is our vision that children in every ELC setting will spend as much time outdoors as they do indoors, and time outdoors will happen every day. Confident, skilled practitioners who are engaged and committed to outdoor learning will be key in the achievement of this vision.

Space to Grow and Thrive, developed with a number of sector partners and published by the Care Inspectorate, is a framework guiding high quality indoor and outdoor childcare environments that support children’s wellbeing, development, play and learning.

Scotland’s Outdoor Learning Directory coordinates a number of partners – including Scottish Forestry, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency, Historic Environment Scotland and national parks - to provide a single portal to services supporting outdoor learning. This includes access to a wide range of training opportunities and events.

Another particularly useful resource to support more use of the outdoors is the Out to Play practitioner guidance on how to utilise local outdoor space to enhance children’s learning. Four additional chapters have also been published:

• Out to Play - childminding settings guidance;
• Out to Play - guidance for out of school care providers;
• Out to Play - guidance for practitioners supporting children with ASN; and
• Out to Play - caring for our outdoor spaces.

Additional Support Needs

All children and young people need support to help them learn and the nature of the support needed will be different for every individual child. ELC practitioners are in a unique and important position to influence children’s development, and have the capacity to create environments that encourage equality and inclusion from the early stages. ‘Building confidence in identifying and responding to additional support needs’ is a free online module within the SSSC CPL Portal that provides focused learning on how to support children with additional support needs and their families.

Further resources that you may find useful when working with children and families with additional support needs are noted below:

• Early years professionals hub – Enquire;
• Advice for professionals in Scotland - Enquire;
• Resources Archive - Enquire;
• ASN Signposting Tool for Childcare Professionals - SSSC;
• Autism Toolbox - Scottish Government, Education Scotland and National Autism Implementation Team;
• Children in Scotland - Working Together- Equality and Equity Modules; and
• Embedding effective ASN provision into funded ELC - Improvement Service.

Speech and Language

Supporting children’s speech, language and communication is an important part of inclusive practice. Early communication skills contribute to children’s wellbeing, relationships and learning, and practitioners play a key role in creating language rich environments and identifying concerns early. ‘Supporting the development and progression of children’s early language and literacy’ is another online module that you may find helpful.

Further resources that you may find useful to support children’s speech and language include:

• Speech, Language & Communications Factsheet - Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists;
• Chatting Together resources - National Early Language and Communication Project Team; and
• Language Learning Interactions resources - SSSC

Food and Nutrition

In line with the National Standard, settings must have a clear and comprehensive policy for the provision of healthy meals and snacks for children. This should be consistent with Setting the Table nutritional guidance and food standards for ELC providers in Scotland, and should ensure that individual cultural and dietary needs are met. An audio recording of the updated guidance is available under alternative formats. A recorded webinar and accompanying Q&A doc are also available.

After reading or listening to the guidance, reflecting on what you’ve read and applying your knowledge in your practice setting, you will be eligible to apply for a SSSC CPL+ MyLearning Badge. To be awarded, you will have to provide evidence of how working through the guidance and implementing some of the practical examples is relevant to your professional learning.

All staff involved in handling, preparing or serving food must receive appropriate food hygiene training. The Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS) is responsible for improving and protecting health and wellbeing through education, training, and qualifications in Environmental Health. Details of food hygiene training providers across Scotland can be found on REHIS website.

Sharing Practice and Networking

To stay up-to-date with progress with policy developments in ELC and network with likeminded professionals, you may also want to register with the Knowledge Hub (KHub). Facilitated by Scottish Government, this provides an online space to discuss issues and share knowledge relating to ELC in Scotland. To join the group, please sign up to Knowledge Hub and then visit the group’s homepage, select “Request to join” and complete the relevant information.

Leadership at All Levels

The General Teaching Council for Scotland (GTCS) Professional Standards define leadership as the ability to:

• develop a vision for change which leads to improvements in outcomes for learners, and is based on shared values and robust evaluation of evidence of current practice and outcomes; and
• mobilise, enable and support others to develop and follow through on strategies for achieving that change.

Highly effective leadership is essential to ensure high quality practice which meets the needs of our children and young people. ELC professionals at every level, and in all forms of ELC provision, have a role to play in this. Whether you are responsible for heading up a setting, managing a team, or supporting the development of the children in your setting, it is important that you have a clear recognition of what is meant by ‘highly effective leadership’, what this looks like in practice for you and your setting, and how it can be continuously improved.

We know that when an organisation supports a culture for the development of leadership at all levels - often referred to as distributed leadership - outcomes for people who use services are improved. By enhancing your leadership knowledge and skills, you can empower your colleagues and work more effectively to support positive life outcomes for children and their families. Strong leaders are able to build and sustain relationships, encourage and motivate staff, improve understanding and skills sets, confidently manage change, and much more.

Recognising that research shows that children have the best experience in ELC where there is a range of staff with complementary skills and higher level qualifications, the Scottish Government has provided funding to local authorities for the Equity and Excellence Lead role since 2017. Equity and Excellence Leads play a critical role in supporting children to close the poverty-related outcomes gap by:

• being an additional resource over and above usual staffing for a setting;
• not being tied to a settings' adult-child ratios and therefore having greater flexibility and reflection time for this purpose;
• working directly with children and families and not focusing on managerial responsibilities; and
• leading and supporting pedagogy in a setting, upskilling fellow practitioners.

Leadership Resources

Leadership skills are necessary at all levels of practice, and should be developed throughout your career to improve outcomes for children and their families. There are many different types and styles of leadership, and you will recognise which elements of your knowledge and practice to develop to best meet the needs of the children within your setting.

A range of approaches, tools and resources are offered to support leadership development in both the ELC and teaching sectors, and we have developed a Leadership and Management Development Toolkit to collate these for each level of leadership; emerging, established and accomplished. Many techniques are applicable to multiple professions and can be transferred and applied to a range of roles. It is open to you to choose whichever pathway, tools and resources you find most helpful for you on your leadership journey.

To help professionals recognise the key elements considered as central to strong leadership the SSSC has defined the following six leadership capabilities:

• Vision
• Self-leadership
• Motivating and inspiring
• Creativity and innovation
• Collaborating and influencing
• Empowering

Familiarising yourself with the range of behaviours and actions which can demonstrate leadership capabilities will help you to recognise the key elements of a strong leader, and assist you in reflecting on your existing skills and knowledge. A further illustration of the types of attributes and other factors that might be found in a strong ELC leader can be found in the SSSC Leadership Logic Model.

The Leadership in Social Services resource was also created by the SSSC. Anyone can use this resource to learn about leadership. Whatever your role, this website will help you find resources and information to develop your leadership skills and support the leadership of others.

The website has different formats including text, videos, audio, and tools for you to complete as well as links to other organisations.

The website is split into two sections.

1. My leadership invites you to take four simple steps to complete some activities and reflect on your leadership and develop your knowledge and skills. The website introduces you to six leadership capabilities which show the different elements that make up effective leadership in social services.
2. Leading others supports you to explore how you can use supervision, coaching and mentoring to support people to develop their reflective practice, grow as professionals and understand the impact they have on people around them and the individuals they support.

It is important to keep a record of your learning to support your development. This should include the activity, what you have learned and your reflections on how you will put this learning into practice in your workplace.

There are two SSSC Open Badges which help you to recognise the leadership knowledge and skills you have developed through using the resources in this website. These are straightforward ways to collect, manage and share evidence of your continuous professional learning.

You can also access learning activities, high quality programmes of learning and materials that support professional learning and leadership on Education Scotland’s Professional Learning page. This includes Self-directed professional learning, such as:

• Professional Learning Activities (PLA) (requires creation of a log in to access);
• Leadership+ webinars; and
• Leading professional learning resources.