Scotland’s leading flexible childcare charity has been approved to provide SQA qualifications to help combat the critical shortage of qualified childcare practitioners across Scotland.
Flexible Childcare Services Scotland (FCSS) is now an accredited SQA centre and is approved to deliver Social Services (Children & Young People) at SCQF Levels 6 and 7 which will fill a much-needed skills gap in the childcare sector.
In 2019 the National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) found that 71% of employers were struggling to recruit at practitioner level and 48% were struggling to replace lead practitioners.
Nursery closures caused by the coronavirus pandemic has compounded this situation to crisis levels with more and more qualified childcare practitioners leaving the sector to find alternative employment.
Susan McGhee, Chief Executive Officer at FCSS, said:
“The sector has been suffering workforce shortages for some time which was exacerbated by Covid. In response to the pandemic last July we created Scotland’s first national sessional childcare team, a supply bank for early learning and childcare workers, to address the issue. “The accreditation from the SQA means we can now provide full training to plug the skills gap and provide even better care to children and families across Scotland.”
The charity, which also created a revolutionary nursery management system that enables childcare providers to adopt and deliver a flexible childcare model, has strong plans to further aid the industry and hopes to create a new Modern Apprentice Scheme where experienced practitioners will support new Modern Apprentices to gain further experience and qualifications.
FCSS is also working closely with SQA to develop a customised unit: Flexibility within the Childcare Environment, which will be available to support staff induction and professional development as the demand for flexible childcare increases.
The range of new initiatives from FCSS will not only provide a huge boon to the sector but will also provide new job opportunities across Scotland and give children and families greater confidence in the care they can expect to receive.
For more information visit www.fcss.org.uk
