Charity launches new training programme to coincide with mobile phone app
An Edinburgh based charity is hoping to start the childcare career of parents and carers across the country by launching a new mobile phone app and training programme.
Playbase Training offers a range of child development training courses that can lead to students – who are often mums, dads and grandparents – not only learning practical skills but also qualifications.
Its latest course Playbase 3 is accredited at level 3 on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) and can be done at the charity’s Leith base or online, making it accessible to people in their own time and also helps students sharpen up their digital skills.
As well as the new course, Playbase, which was set up in 1999, has launched an app for parents and carers to use.
The "What will we do today?" app, which can be downloaded for ios and android, makes suggestions of ways to keep children entertained on different days and has suggestions for different weather conditions.
Many people are used to communicating by email or on Facebook so it’s just a progression to online learning
Freda O’Byrne, Playbase Training chair, said the app and online course were launched in a bid to skill people up in today’s digital world.
She said: “A report by the Royal Edinburgh Society told us that one in five adults in Scotland do not have basic digital skills.
“We felt that, if we could help our students improve their digital skills and awareness at the same time as they were attending our courses, then we would be truly helping them on the path to further education, training or employment, to accessing services, to finding out about jobs, to becoming fully digital citizens.”
Playbase Training development manager Maria Sherrington added: “Courses are open to everyone with an interest in young children. We are excited by the diversity in our classrooms. A typical class of 12 students regularly has as many as nine nationalities.
“We actively encourage different communities to share their culturally diverse experiences and approaches to parenting and working with young children as part of the learning process.
“We believe this support can also be provided online as students have the opportunity to engage with others in chat rooms and form an online community. Many people are used to communicating by email or on Facebook so it’s just a progression to online learning.”
Find out more about Playbase Training’s courses and app at playbase.org.uk.
