Learn with SCMA

Improving practice and seeking to achieve the best possible outcomes for children is what makes childminding such a high-quality service. As such, the professional growth of childminders is very important to SCMA.  We are proud of the role we play in promoting childminding as a high-quality childcare service and helping our members be the best childminders they can be - supporting the on-going professional learning needs of childminders across Scotland.

Childminders are responsible for keeping their Continuous Professional Learning (CPL) up-to-date and for continually building on their professional growth and CPL. Our team has developed a range of learning resources to help childminders to build upon their existing skills and knowledge. View our range of Learn with SCMA courses.

Are you a funded ELC provider? 

Childminders delivering funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) must also follow the National Standard and allocate 12 hours per year to your CPL. For further information visit our ELC pages.

Looking for a formal qualification?

To be considered as a funded Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) partner provider and deliver 1140 funded hours, you will need to meet the National Standard, which is a set of mandatory quality criteria set by the Scottish Government.

The National Standard states childminders delivering funded hours must have either obtained the benchmark qualification for ELC practitioners or, if they are still within their first five years of delivering the funded hours, be working towards achieving this qualification.

Read more HERE 

Additional Learning Opportunities for Childminders

There are a range of additional projects and learning opportunities to support childminders with their CPL, which help you support the learning and development of your minded children: 


NEW! Free CPL to Enhance and Further Your Learning: Alongside our range of Learn with SCMA opportunities, which are exclusively tailored and bespoke to childminding in Scotland, SCMA members can now also access a selection of new courses from Flick Learning via the 'Further Learning' section of the Membership Dashboard.

These bite-size courses from Flick, which are intended to complement our own tailored range of learning materials, will help boost members' learning a little further and contribute towards 12 hours of CPL a year. Topics include: Food Hygiene (Level 2), Mental Health Awareness and Young People, Online Safety (coming soon), Time Management, Data Protection and GDPR, and much more....


Happy Teeth: As part of SCMA's three-year Happy Teeth project, funded by the Scottish Government’s Oral Health Community Challenge Fund, we are ran a series of virtual interactive sessions for childminders and their minded children called ‘Brush with Freddy’ to encourage children to find the fun in brushing their teeth. Read more about Happy Teeth.


#ThinkSTEM: SCMA worked alongside the Scottish Schools Education Research Centre (SSERC) to develop a range of STEM-based CPL courses, which are available for SCMA members to access online via our easy-to-use e-Learning platform or as Interactive/Virtual Learning. Read more about #ThinkSTEM.