Simon Massey, Head of Engagement & Learning at Children in Scotland, discusses some of the upcoming changes to the Children in Scotland Learning Programme and Membership Service, and how continuing to support the children’s sector remains at the core of plans.

March is nearly upon us, and for many this period signals change and renewal – not just with the change of the seasons and the welcome sunshine – but also rolling us towards a new financial year, with new budgets, and new offerings across the sector.

It’s undeniable that financial challenges remain for everyone working with children and young people in Scotland, so here at Children in Scotland, we’ve been thinking about the best ways we can make this ‘new year’ pack the most punch for our members and colleagues seeking learning, development, and engagement opportunities.

What’s in store for members

In 2025/26 members will continue to receive a wide range of benefits including our bi-annual member-only publication, Insight, quarterly Voices Forum meetings, input into consultation responses, helping to shape our 2026-31 Manifesto and discounts on various Children in Scotland activities. We hope to see our recently-launched member’s LinkedIn Group grow as the year progresses, providing the opportunity to connect with other members.

We remain committed to supporting as much of the children’s sector as possible, so will be investing in our free offers to the sector, which includes:

• Membership for organisations with an annual income of under £50,000
• Member Learning programme events and Voices Forum meetings (free for Members)
• 11 eLearning modules
• Participation and Engagement Guidelines (linking to an eLearning module)
• Learning opportunities via the Open University x Children in Scotland Learning Portal.

Members will continue to get discounts on any of our open Learning Programme events, commissioned training, consultancy, and advertising offerings.

Our new Learning Programme

One of the big changes for members this year is our expansion of the Member Learning Programme, which is free for members to access. These events will run more regularly and will be a mix of Children in Scotland expertise and practice-sharing opportunities from our members.

Our wider sector learning programme, which is open to both members (at a discounted rate) and non-members, will also be under development this year. New opportunities will include:

• An open webinar programme to primarily focus on child protection and UNCRC / participation and engagement
• Our Annual Conference on 28-29 May, bringing together a wide range of voices from across the sector in its innovative programme
• A developing eLearning Hub, with three more modules by April, totalling 11 modules
• Our commissioned training offer.

Commissioned training

In response to changing demand, our previously widely-varied webinar programme will from April be focussing on child protection, delivered through our long-running partnership with Barnardo’s, and UNCRC and participation and engagement, using our own staff’s expertise. Instead, these varied topics will be offered through our commissioned training offer – an area of growth for Children in Scotland over recent years. We have learned that organisations want bespoke in-house training so that their staff can have the same learning opportunity and really embed knowledge and skills across the organisation at an affordable per-person cost. This will allow us to tailor our approach to individual needs, while continuing to deliver a high-quality training experience with our expert course leaders.

In the meantime, we’ve still got four more open webinars running until the end of March – including UNCRC, understanding harmful sexual behaviour, children’s rights and child development – as well as our 3-day trauma residential in Stirling. Plus, free Pupil Support Staff events and a meeting of the Suicide Prevention Participation Network.

Adapting to better serve the children’s sector

Going into 2025/26, my teams and I have reflected and planned, with a view to refocussing our offering on what has worked best for both the sector and us as an organisation.

I hope you can see that we continue to work hard to support the children’s sector, even though we are having to make the changes I’ve outlined. Despite our prices increasing slightly, they are still so much cheaper than events put on by some of the other providers out there, and every penny that comes into Children in Scotland gets reinvested in the work we do. Your involvement in our activities, helps us continue as an organisation.

If you’re in any doubt about how to access your member benefits, or want to feed back on any ways we can better support you as a valued member, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at membership@childreninscotland.org.uk.