E-learning Module – Introduction to Reading Schools ELC

Take time to familiarise yourself with the Reading Schools ELC Framework which has been mapped to the new Quality Improvement Framework for Early Learning and Childcare Sectors.

Using the format of the new improvment framework, you will find this document organised under the following four quality indicator headings:

1. Leadership

2. Children thrive and develop in quality spaces

3. Children play and learn

4. Children are supported to achieve

You will find that a number of key areas detailed in the framework capture much of the work that you already do, with opportunities to further explore reading for enjoyment, reading-rich activity, family engagement and staff development.

Use this framework to help begin planning your setting's activity, understand what you setting already does and where you might want to focus your efforts. When ready, you will create an application on the Reading Schools webiste, where an Action Plan template will become available on your dashboard, leading you through the process and enabling you to formalise your planned activities.

We encourage all settings to incorporate their existing appraoches to this process, identifying the work already happening and how it can be used as part of your Reading Schools ELC submission, but we also want to ensure staff have access to variety of different complimentary resources to further support your journey. In response, we have gathered a number of resources below along with our colleagues at Education Scotland for you to familiarise yourself with.

1. Learning to read in the Early Years: A professional support overview

2. Building concepts of print

3. Supporting children to develop a love of reading

4. Developing psychological awareness

All of your local authorities have signed up to Education Scotland's 'Learning to read in early years professional learning programme', including videos, case studes and practice examples, so use this opportunity to explore those resouces in greater detail and how they can support your journey to Reading Schools ELC accreditation.

It might also prove useful to explore what primary schools have been undertaking as part of their Reading Schools accreditation. Visit our Reading Schools community pages to read about some of the fantastic work taking place across Scotland.

Now that you know a little more about the programme and have seen some of the fun and excitement settings can enjoying through their participation in the programme, you can set up your own user account on the Reading Schools website and take the first step towards achieving your very own award.

Create a Reading Schools ELC user account

Once you have created your user account, simply select 'New application +' from your dashboard and you will be able to begin selection actions in your very own Action Plan. Learning outcome 2 will look into this in greater detail.

Remember, as lead contact for your setting you can invite other colleagues to join the application and play their part in helping achieve accreditation. Take some time to familiarise yourself with the process of adding new users to your schools' application and begin inviting your colleagues to assist with the evidence gathering and uploading phase. Click on the following link and scroll down to 'Dashboard FAQs', where you will find instructions on how to add users to your schools' application:

Inviting other users to your Reading Schools application - Dashboard FAQs

Extension: Our FAQs section offers a number of hints, tips and insights to help you on your journey to accreditation. You can always contact us for support, but many questions can be answered by visiting our FAQs section.

It's now time to really start your Reading Schools ELC adventure.

Log in to your dashboard and create an application for your setting, as discussed in Learning outcome 1. This will create an action plan template for you to complete and assign you as your setting's lead contact.

At this stage, it is important to have established your reading leadership group to help steer and inform your Reading Schools ELC journey and complete your action plan. Your children have a key role to play and their voice should be heard loud and clear throughout your participation in the programme.

It is also important to make sure a number of other adults across the setting are involved. They too will have an important part to play in supporting your setting's application and contributing evidence to your submission for accreditation. From your setting's application, you can invite new users to join the application and play an active role in your journey to accreditation (remember, only a lead contact can invite new users, submit your action plan and submit your final evidence plan for accreditation). Take some time to familiarise yourself with the process of adding new users to your settings' application and begin inviting your colleagues to assist with the evidence gathering and uploading phase. Click on the following link and scroll down to 'Dashboard FAQs', where you will find instructions on how to add users to your school's application:

Inviting other users to your Reading Schools application - Dashboard FAQs

We hope you have an amazing time participating in Reading Schools ELC! We're always on hand to provide support and advice, so please get in touch with us if we can help.

You will now have become familiar with both the Reading Schools ELC framework and a number of resources to support your planning. At this stage your Action Plan will be complete and you will be getting ready for the fun part: bringing the magic of stories, songs and rhymes to your children and nurturing their needs and interests.

Fun is the operative word here, up until this point the process will have felt relatively formal, whereas now the focus is on putting all the rich learning and planning into action and bringing the magic to life.

In the first instance, as a 'checklist' of activities to complete (and evidence to gather) you can download a PDF version of your action plan from your setting's application (found on your user dashboard).

Use the following guide to access and download your action plan PDF, which can either be printed or shared via email with your colleagues across the school:

Action Plan FAQs - Dashboard FAQs

This is a handy way of ensuring everyone knows what's expected and still to be undertaken before your evidence plan can be submitted for review.

The Reading Schools ELC programme requires settings to provide a variety of different evidence types to show how they have met the criteria across each corresponding key area. The evidence we ask for can vary, but it helps build a clear picture of your setting’s reading culture and how you have embedded reading for pleasure practices.

In some cases, you will find ‘required’ evidence requirements (this is highlighted at the top of each key area in your evidence plan and denoted by an asterix next to the corresponding evidence field), you will need to supply all of the necessary evidence for these sections in order to complete your evidence plan.

The evidence we will ask for includes:

1. Comments – The comment section in your evidence plan is an open text field that allows you to provide us with an overview of what you did to meet the key area criteria. It is important to give us context of your setting too, such as if your setting is small and located rurally, or large and located in a town or city. You don’t have to provide lengthy descriptions or a report, but we do need to see enough detail to understand how you approached the key area, how you planned to meet the criteria and what you did in practice. [Comments is a required evidence type across all key areas]

2. Quotes – The quote section allows you to capture impact. If you have gathered feedback and insights on an activity or particular piece of work, this can be added here, together with a space to include who shared the feedback. Adding quotes can really help us to understand the success of your activities and the impact this has had on your setting, children and their families. If you would prefer to keep the sources of your quotes anonymous, they can be detailed as ‘Child A, ‘Early Years Practitioner B’, ‘Parent of Child C’ or suchlike. [Quotes can be a required evidence type, depending on the key area]

3. Photos – This section enables you to upload photographs of your activities and projects. You can upload multiple images at once, to help streamline the process, through the image uploader fields in your evidence plan. Please remember to label your photos, relating them to the activities you have described in the comments section. We have created a short resource to help you with photo uploads, with a troubleshooting guide and tips on file types/file conversion. [Photos can be a required evidence type, depending on the key area]

4. Videos – This section allows you to upload video content. Some schools choose this option to capture quotes; if you decide to do this, please make sure you populate the quote section with holding text, referring to the video section below. [This evidence type is optional; there is no requirement to include video content unless you choose to do so]

5. Documents – This section is for uploading any documents (Word, PDF, PPT etc.) you feel would be relevant to your submission. This could be a copy of a parent/carer newsletter promoting your setting’s activities, or even a PowerPoint presentation you have used in your staff training. [This evidence type is optional, there is no requirement to include documents unless you choose to do so]

We have produced a short article, consolidating some top tips and things to consider when readying your evidence plan for submission. Much of the information here is covered elsewhere, but it’s a good focus puller and handy to refer back to when you’re gathering and uploading your evidence:

Submitting your Reading Schools evidence article

Extension: We have a number of great articles and case studies on the Reading Schools website, some written by schools themselves, which offer valuable insights into a Reading Schools journey, how schools have approached the framework and what they did to bring it to life in their settings.

Explore other schools’ and settings' journeys for inspiration and ideas:

Community articles

If you are not already aware, Scottish Book Trust's Bookbug programme offers a wealth of resources, activities and support. Now would be a great time to familiarise yourself with the programme and how it can support your journey to Reading Schools ELC accreditation.

Below you will find links to the Bookbug pages on Scottish Book Trust's website, together with information about upcoming training and recording of live webinars with practical advice and great ideas to help you on your journey.

1. Explore the Bookbug programme on the Scottish Book Trust website and find out if your setting already engages in Bookbug sessions and activities

2. Download the Bookbug app for free access to hundreds of children’s songs, rhymes and videos

3. Find ideas and activities to make the most of your Bookbug Explorer Bag, gifted to children aged 3 through their setting. Explore further ideas on using the bags in a mixed-age setting

You can also bookmark the Bookbug training page for easy access to recorded training sessions, information on running your own Bookbug sessions and details on upcoming training that you may wish to attend.

Reading Schools ELC settings will already be undertaking a huge amount of work that can be incorporated into the journey to accreditation, so it's important to spend a little time mapping what you are already doing.

With our framework mapped to the Quality Improvement Framework for Early Learning and Childcare Sectors, you will be able to directly link your existing priorities to your Reading Schools ELC application; this means you don't have to introduce lots of new ideas and activities, you can capitalise on the great work already happening in your setting (it all counts towards your accreditation). It's also important to understand what already works well for your setting and where there are perhaps opportunities to deepen engagement and build on the work already underway.

Using our framework and the four QI headings, start considering what your setting is already doing to promote and support stories, songs and rhymes and where this fits on your journey; the following reflective questions will help:

1. Which reading-related activities bring the most joy and engagement to the children in your setting?

2. How have families and, where applicable, community partners responded to your reading-related activities?

3. In what ways can stories, songs and ryhmes complement your ongoing priorities, such as health & wellbeing, emerging literacy/numeracy and play-based activities?

This will give you a sense of where your setting's existing work 'fits' and help you identify areas you may wish to focus on or prioritise.

Similarly you may wish to reach out to neighbouring ELC settings on the very same journey as you, or your neighbouring primary school that may also be working towards (or has already achieved) Reading Schools accreditation. On commencing this journey, you have joined a growing community of Reading Schools and it's definitely worth taking some time to explore what else is happening nearby (and in other parts of the country). Our Reading Schools Map gives you an overview of participation across Scotland and can help identify settings and schools nearby that you may wish to explore partnerships and/or joint projects with, especially on the subject of transitions (both children coming into setting and those transitioning into primary school).

While you can look at participation in the programme as a whole, it is important to celebrate milestones along the way, after particular activities, children's accomplishments and events that you may already participate in, such as World Book Day, Bookbug Week or local events like Gala Weeks and Fetes. Including stories, songs and ryhmes in your established and ongoing celebrations affirms their value and importance and helps to keep everyone excited.

Achieveing your accreditation will be cause to celebrate not just the effort your setting has made, but also the engagement of your children and their families. Celebrating not only recognises the fantastic work you have done, but it continues to place value on stories, songs and rhymes. It's worth considering at this stage what a celebration might look like for you; will you have a party and invite your families along? Will you celebrate in your setting and share your accomplishement with families at home via newsletter? Will you contact the local press and celebrate publicly? Will you connect with fellow ELC setting that have also achieved their accreditations and celebrate together?

Getting your setting excited about this journey, as well as reading for enjoyment more broadly, is a key component to susutaining momentum and securing engagement, and this can (and should) continue even after you achieve your accreditation.

In the first instance, have fun on the journey; make it engaging, respond to the children's interests and use this opportunity to really spotlight the fantastic work you already do, as well as being able to explore new ideas.

Once you have achieved your accreditation, you'll want to think about how you want to articluate your achievement; we have create a resource to support you with this, with ideas on how you might want to share the news more widely.

If at any stage you have questions or concerns, encounter challenges or would like further support, please don't hesitate to reach out to us.