Get involved as a learning destination Children's University Scotland

Inspiring learning

Children's University learning providers are organisations and people who provide fun, extra-curricular learning experiences. They provide high-quality learning activities and experiences, designed to engage, educate and inspire children aged 5-14. When learning providers register with CU Scotland, children can collect credits and awards for engaging in these fun activities at home, in the community and at school during break times.

There are no hard and fast rules about what a learning provider can be. Whether it's a brilliant science organisation that provides free learning worksheets children can do at home, a provider of educational online games for children, a historic building families visit in the holidays or a leisure centre that provides countless opportunities for children to learn and grow their skills. If it involves learning for young people, we want to work with you. There's minimal admin involved - register now to find out how we can help children recognise the learning you provide.

Once you register your activities, a member of our team will get in touch to find out the best way to help children collect credits for your activities.

THE BENEFITS OF BECOMING A LEARNING DESTINATION:

What makes a CU learning provider?

Put simply, it’s anywhere that a child can take part in high-quality, fun, innovative and engaging learning activities and experiences outside of normal school hours.

It could be provided after hours at school at a sports session or art club. Or maybe it’s a nature trail around a local park. It could be indoors at home, a museum, science centre or library. Or outdoors at a local attraction, stadium or beach.

In fact, we believe learning happens anywhere. We want to help children who are taking part in Children's University in Scotland to be able to recognise and celebrate as much of their learning beyond lesson time as possible.

What's involved for learning providers?

It's really simple. All you need to do going forward is to agree to sign or stamp children's Passports to Learning, if they ask you to do so. This is how children collect their credits. They're the experts, so they'll be able to guide you as to how to award a credit in their Passport.

If you don't think this will be possible (for example if your activity is family-led, if there are no staff at your site or if your activities are available online), don't worry. We can have a chat with you about the best way to ensure children can collect their credits for taking part in your activities.

Register your activities with CU Scotland

This whole process is straightforward and completely free.

1. Tell us a bit about your organisation and the activities you offer. We use a simple form to gather this information - you can find it at the end of our Welcome Pack or in our online form.

2. If you're using the Welcome Pack, send it back to us by email or post.

3. We'll ensure the activities match our guidelines (below). If needed, we can chat this through with you by email/phone or during a visit.

4. If your activities are free, very low cost or provide options to ensure cost is not a barrier to participation, we'll add you to our online list of learning destinations and get back to you to confirm. Now our members can view your opportunities, and you can provide Passport credits if children ask you to. (If we can't add you to our list - children can collect credits at your venue with a reflective diary or worksheet. We'll talk you through this when you sign up)

5. You're all set! You can request our logo as well as posters and stickers to promote your involvement and let families know they can collect credits with you.

Guidelines for new learning destinations

To become a Children's University Scotland learning provider, activity providers should:

Offer activities for children aged between 5-14 years old, on a voluntary basis and outside of normal school lesson hours.
Host fun, interactive and collaborative activities, with clear learning outcomes that promote a range of skills.
Promote learning that broadens horizons and raises aspirations - we want to expose children to new ideas and new places that will open their eyes to new possibilities.
Offer opportunities for progression, boosting children's confidence and self-esteem.
Provide a safe, secure environment for learning with properly trained staff.
Be low cost or free to participate, or offer options so that children who may face financial barriers can take part, so there is no barrier for children to take part.

MORE INFORMATION FOR LEARNING PROVIDERS

If you want to know more about becoming a learning provider, find answers below or get in touch.

Is there a cost involved to register as a learning provider?

No, it's completely free to register as a learning provider with Children's University Scotland.

How do CU Scotland publicise providers?

We ask all large learning destinations to display the Children’s University learning destination logo when they join. This promotes your involvement and lets our members know they can collect credits at your venue.

We can provide our learning destination logo, free of charge, as an A4 poster, an A6 window sticker and digitally.

As well as this, if your activities are free, low cost or you provide alternative options for children who may be facing disadvantage, we'll list your organisation and activities on our online members portal, Aspire, so our member families and schools can search for them.

What are our responsibilities as a Children's University learning provider?

As a Children's University Scotland learning destination and a provider of activities for children, you will

Identify an individual within your organisation who will act as the main contact for Children’s University Scotland and who is authorised to provide accurate information about the organisation and the activities offered.
Comply with all relevant health and safety legislation, including maintaining a Health and Safety Policy, and ensure that appropriate public liability insurance in place.
Comply with all relevant child safety legislation, including maintaining a Child Protection/Safeguarding Policy and ensuring that all necessary staff are a) properly trained and b) valid members of Disclosure Scotland's PVG scheme for regulated work with children.
Provide evidence of your policies and practices if requested to do so by Children’s University Scotland (including PVG certification, public liability insurance certification, and health and safety procedure documentation).
Identify and develop appropriate activities that are fun, interactive and imaginative.
Ensure staff are aware of Children’s University Scotland and are prepared to stamp children’s Passports to Learning.
Ensure that learners understand how they can gain Children’s University credits for taking part in your activities.

You're always welcome to get in touch at any time to have a chat, exchange feedback, and explore areas for further development.

Do we need to collect the names of the children that visit?

No, you don’t need to keep records of the credits you’ve awarded. Children do that themselves on their online Aspire account.

What information can we get back?

When children log their activities online, they also state how much they enjoyed the activity — a bit like an online review, and choose some opinion tags to describe their experience. We’re happy to feed any useful, non-personal information of this sort back to you so you can monitor the impact you’re having - just get in touch if you'd like us to share this information.

Learning Providers

Inspiring learning

ENGAGE HARD-TO-REACH GROUPS

We can help you engage and inspire audiences that are traditionally less likely to visit

PROMOTION ACROSS OUR NETWORK

If you provide free or low-cost opportunities, we'll promote your exciting learning opportunities to the schools and families that we work with

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Children's University promotes positive attitudes towards learning that stay with children for life

CELEBRATE WIDER LEARNING

Help children celebrate learning that happens outside the school gates and beyond the curriculum

What makes a CU learning provider?

What's involved for learning providers?

Register your activities with CU Scotland

Sign up online

Sign up with our Welcome Pack

Our national learning partners

Into Film Scotland

Scottish Out Of School Care Network

Historic Environment Scotland

Royal Zoological Society Scotland

Marine Conservation Society

RSPB

Young Engineers and Science Clubs

Scottish Youth Hostel Association

The Royal Society of Edinburgh

Guidelines for new learning destinations

MORE INFORMATION FOR LEARNING PROVIDERS

Is there a cost involved to register as a learning provider?

How do CU Scotland publicise providers?

What are our responsibilities as a Children's University learning provider?

Do we need to collect the names of the children that visit?

What information can we get back?

Register your activities

Get in touch

Learning Providers

Inspiring learning

ENGAGE HARD-TO-REACH GROUPS

We can help you engage and inspire audiences that are traditionally less likely to visit

PROMOTION ACROSS OUR NETWORK

If you provide free or low-cost opportunities, we'll promote your exciting learning opportunities to the schools and families that we work with

MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Children's University promotes positive attitudes towards learning that stay with children for life

CELEBRATE WIDER LEARNING

Help children celebrate learning that happens outside the school gates and beyond the curriculum

What makes a CU learning provider?

What's involved for learning providers?

Register your activities with CU Scotland

Sign up online

Sign up with our Welcome Pack

Our national learning partners

Into Film Scotland

Scottish Out Of School Care Network

Historic Environment Scotland

Royal Zoological Society Scotland

Marine Conservation Society

RSPB

Young Engineers and Science Clubs

Scottish Youth Hostel Association

The Royal Society of Edinburgh

Guidelines for new learning destinations

MORE INFORMATION FOR LEARNING PROVIDERS

Is there a cost involved to register as a learning provider?

How do CU Scotland publicise providers?

What are our responsibilities as a Children's University learning provider?

Do we need to collect the names of the children that visit?

What information can we get back?

Register your activities

Get in touch

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