Introduction to Working with Children Essay

E1 – Task: Select three different types of setting from the statutory, voluntary and private sectors for children in your area. Introduction: There are different types of childcare settings for example statutory, voluntary and private. Statutory – This service has to be available by the government or local authorities. An example of a statutory setting in my area is Ravenstone Primary School. Voluntary – This service is provided by organisations such as charities and most of their funding comes from donations. An example of a voluntary setting in my area is The Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust. Private – These are profit-making services. An example of a private setting in my area is Abacus Nursery. E2 – Task: Give detailed information on how each setting you have selected for E1 support children and their families. Introduction: Detailed information on how each type of setting identified in E1 supports children and their families. Statutory: Children from the ages of 5 – 11 years can attend Ravenstone Primary School. Their aims include: â€Å"Committed to providing an education for the children of Ravenstone which will equip them for the future. 1. We will do this through providing a range of educational, physical, aesthetic and social experiences. 2. These experiences will be of high quality, grounded in high expectations. 3. They will be constantly monitored and evaluated for their effectiveness. 4. They will be provided in an atmosphere conducive to hard work and good relationships between children and between children and adults. The atmosphere will be such that quality is emphasized at all times in terms of work, behavior and ethos, relationships and the environment.† http://www.ravenstoneschool.co.uk/about/show/our_mission 04/10/2012 This setting aims to support children and their families by offering a breakfast and after school facility therefore parents can drop off their child and go work and when finished pick up the child. Private: Children from the ages of 12 months – 5 years can attend Abacus nursery. Their aims include: â€Å"We particularly welcome cooperation with Kaleidoscope[->0], a drama and movement program which was tailor made for us. The children will learn role play, to discuss topics, listen to others, and deliver to an audience and the general confidence to help them thrive once they will start primary school. Aspect of the Alexander Technique are also incorporated for their physical and mental wellbeing. We believe that learning should be a pleasurable experience. Children learn best within a stimulating, secure and supportive environment that acknowledges and builds on prior experiences. At Abacus we recognize that children develop at different rates and it is important that the child’s individual needs are met. Therefore we ensure careful assessment and monitoring of each child in order for them to reach their full potential. Abacus likes to think that the nursery school is an extension of the home, so it is important that the parents feel included and informed in all areas of the nursery programme. Parents are encouraged to take an active role, this can be anything from supplying empty cereal boxes for junk modeling, reading the children stories ,contributing to cultural events and festivals or joining us on trips and outings. We are very pleased to learn that our children often gain entrance in excellent primary schools, from the independent sector as well as the state sector.† http://www.myabacusnursery.co.uk/aboutus.html – 04/10/2012 This setting aims to support children and their families by offering children a place at the nursery whilst parents can go work and see to their other commitments whilst the children will particate with children, be fed, changed and seen to throughout the day at a set fee per term. Voluntary: Children from under 5s and 16+ can attend The Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust. Their aims include: â€Å"The Covent Garden Dragon Hall Trust was established in 2003 to provide a community facility in the heart of Covent Garden & Holborn, to serve the needs of local residents and the wider public. The overall aim is to develop Dragon Hall as an income generating community resource that will:  ·Enable partnership working in the area to develop around the hub of the venue and establish a consultative mechanism that will enable resources to be pooled, avoid overlap and duplication of services, identify gaps in provision and develop responses to these  ·Provide a venue where a wide range of activities and projects developed by and of benefit to the diverse community of Covent Garden & Holborn can be delivered – initially with a particular focus on providing equality of opportunity for all young people  ·Act as a resource for local residents and other community organisations† http://www.dragonhall.org.uk/home/objectives/ 04/10/2012 This setting aims to support children and their families by offering services to the public at a minimum fee for all ages. This will support children and their families by giving them something to do and keep them occupied. E3 – Task: Describe the main legislation in your country that supports the rights of children. Introduction: In the UK there are many pieces of legislation that is used to protect children and their families. The United Nations Convention on The Rights of The Child 1989 â€Å"The United Nations Convention on the Rights of The Child is an international statement of the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of children. The UN General Assembly adopted the Convention and opened it for signature on 20th November 1989 (the 30th anniversary of the Declaration of the Rights of the Child)†. http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publication-pdfs/betterlifeleaflet2012_press.pdf 04/10/12[->1] This Convention includes around 48 articles which everyone must follow as it’s the law. Article 31 – â€Å"Every child has the right to relax, play and join in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities† As a practitioner you have to follow this Article. An example of following this article is, you have a child who has a sight impairment and the children are playing football a way you can make sure the child is included into the activity is by getting a special ball which has sound effects which will make sure the child is included. This Legislation protects children and their families and their rights to be included. Human Rights Act 2000 -The Human Rights Act introduces into UK law the rights and freedoms set out in the European Convention on Human Rights. It mostly came into force on 2nd October 2000. http://www.redp.org.uk/legislation/dda/ – 11/10/12 â€Å"The Act was not designed specifically to protect children but they are accorded the same rights as adults. This means they have the right to dignity, respect and fairness in the way they are treated. Thus a setting is not able to use corporal punishment (smacking and caning) even if a parent consents to it, because it is seen as degrading and a violation of a child’s right. The Human Rights Act means that parents of children are also protected.† Penny Tassoni, page 115, 2007. This legislation supports the rights of children and their families by reassuring that the child and their family have a right to dignity respect and fairness. Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 -An Act to make provision in connection with the protection of children and vulnerable adults. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/47/contents – 11/10/12[->2] â€Å"This Act comes into force from autumn 2008. It is designed to make sure that adults working with children and other vulnerable groups are vetted not just in childcare organisations but also in other organisations such as junior football clubs. This Act may make a difference to the way settings use volunteers and also services, although the current standards make it clear that any adult who has not been checked with the Criminal Records Bureau must never be unsupervised with children.† This legislation supports the rights of children and their families by reassuring that the child and their family have a right to be protected from anyone who may harm them; also ensuring safeguarding vulnerable groups is enforced. Equality Act 2006 -This Act is relatively new and comes into force from Autumn 2007. Penny Tassoni, page 116, 2007. â€Å"A key part of the act is the establishment of the Commission for Equality and Human Rights. It will enforce equality legislation on age, disability and health, gender, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation or transgender status, and encourage compliance with the human rights act 1998. The Commission for Equality and Human Rights will replace the following commissions: Disability Rights Commission, Equal Opportunities Commission and the Commission for Racial Equality.† Penny Tassoni, page 116, 2007. This legislation will support children and their families by making sure there protected from being discriminated for their age, disability, gender, race, religion and so on. E4 – Task: Describe the recognised principles and values that underpin working with children. Introduction – EYFS and the CACHE put together The CACHE Statement of Values which is rules or code of conduct that underpins our everyday life when working with children. Principles 1.The welfare of the child is paramount – As a practitioner you will need to follow this principle to make sure you’re being professional. For example, a child discloses that their mum hit them last night, to make sure that the welfare of the child is paramount is by making sure you follow your settings policy and keep what the child has told you confidential as the welfare of the child is at risk. Also by you doing this you are focusing on the welfare of the child and treating children opinions and their concerns seriously. 2.Practitioners contribute to children’s care, learning and development – As a practitioner you will need to follow this principle to make sure you’re being professional. For example, when putting together activities you need to be aware of all the stages of development, so that you are involving all the children so that they’re stimulated. Children need stimulation and challenge to learn and develop. If you are not aware that every child develops at different paces you may put together an activity which is too hard for the child; the child will get frustrated because there not succeeding in the activity and will get upset if they see the other children completing the activity but their stuck on it because it’s not suitable for their development rate. 3.Practitioners work with parents, guardians and families who are partners in the Care, Learning and Development of their children – As a practitioner you will need to follow this principle to make sure you’re being professional. A way you can work with parents, guardians and families with the development of their child is by respecting their traditions in child care practices make the family feel welcomes and part of the setting. You can achieve this by having mini meetings with the children and parents about the development of the child and you can gather information about the child by doing regular observations so when you have a meeting with the parents you and the parents can discuss how to improve certain aspects of the child’s learning so that it’s learning at her/his full potential. Also create a wall where children can put photos of their family and different cultures to make sure there’s diversity in the setting. Values 1.Celebrate Diversity – As a practitioner you will need to make sure in your setting you aim to always present information about different traditions, festivals, and customs to children. You can present information about different cultures and ect. By having a wall where children can display pictures of their culture, traditions and also family members. Another way is by having different outfits for example an African traditional outfit. 2.Equality of Opportunity – as a practitioner you should respect children individuality and give them the right type and level of care. An example is that you have a child who is partially blind; you will need to plan your activities different so that the child is involved and you’re able to give them the right level of care. E5 – Task: Explain the importance of valuing and respecting all children in the setting. Introduction – When working as a practitioner it is important to value, respecting all children in the setting. When working in a childcare setting it is important that you have a clear understanding of diversity and inclusive practice. As a practitioner you will discover when working with children that every child has different needs and a different personality. For example one child may not like broccoli and another may like broccoli it’s all about taking time to realise the little things to make your job easier and therefore you’re making sure the setting is diverse. Inclusive practice when working with children is very important. Inclusive practice is making sure that every child in the setting is included in activities and given a chance, for example a child who’s got a disability will receive special help to make sure their included in everything and helpe d with things they find hard to finish and do. An example of how you can plan to meet the individual needs of a child and their family is to do observations; observations will determine such things as how a child learns and also what they like and dislike, once you know this it will make it easier for you to plan for children and their families making sure that every child is included. An example to show how you can avoid making assumptions about children and their families, a child may have a bruise and you may jump to conclusions straight away and say that one of the parents has hurt the child, which will cause problems due to you jumping to conclusions without consulting the parents. To avoid making assumptions you should always ask the parents first and also go to your supervisor or manager if you’re worried about a child’s safety. Because even though the child has a bruise she/he could of easily fallen over and hurt themselves. C1 – It is important to listen to children’s views and value their opinions because if you don’t listen carefully you could miss out on important information for example that someone is harming them, as a practitioner children look up to you therefore you need to show respect, listen and value their opinions because it’s your job to look after these children and if a child is trying to share important with you and you ignore them there going to feel frustrated and won’t want to disclose any information with you again because they got rejected last time. E6 – Task: Describe three professional skills that will support you work with children Introduction – when working with children it’s important to have professional skills which will help the setting run smoothly. The three professional skills that will support my work with children are being reliable, good communications skills and diversity & inclusive practice.  ·Reliable – this will support my work when working with children because children need a routine and stability and if you’re not on time and always missing days at work it’ll mess up the settings routine and children will feel unsettled. Also it’s unprofessional and your managers will not take you seriously.  ·Good Communication Skills – this will support your work when working with children because you will understand when speaking with children you should always get down to their level and interact with them therefore they feel more comfortable. Also communication in a setting is very important therefore you should always give people eye contact so that they know you’re listening to them, this also goes for when speaking with parents because you’re looking after their child so they need to know that you’re listening and respect what they’re saying.  ·Diversity and Inclusive Practice – this will support your work when working with children because you will understand that every child is different and you know ways to recognize what they like and don’t like therefore it makes it easier when creating activities because you will know what the children prefer. Also with children of a different religion you can have a wall where children put pictures and stuff of their religion on there so that they feel included. Children with disabilities will have extra support on areas they need so that you can plan activities according to children’s development and capability. E7 – Task: Describe how study skills can support your learning during your training. Introduction – Study skills can support me during my training to ensure I learn at my best. Also by looking into study skills you can recognize how you learn best which will increase your chance of reaching your best potential.  ·Note taking – this can support me during my training as whilst in class getting taught I should take notes so when I’m looking back to do an assignment I can re-cap on what was learnt in that lesson. Also by looking through your notes again it will help you take in what you’ve learnt.  ·Research – this can support me during my training as researching up on information needed for my assignments; this will mean I’ll be reading about the same thing through different sources for example books, internet and magazines and newspapers. This information will support my work.  ·Time management – this can support me during m y training as learning how to deal with time is a very important skill I can use at work or placement. I will learn how to manage my time by setting myself goals to reach within a certain time also when doing assignments I will need to balance out my work and also my work will have deadlines which I will need to meet. I will need to learn to be organised as I have deadlines and if I don’t meet them I’m jeopardising my chances of successfully completing the course.  ·Referencing – this can support me during my training as I will need to reference all my work if I found it from a source, for example if I found a piece of information on the internet no matter how small it is if I don’t reference it I’m jeopardising my work being classed as plagiarism which can also jeopardise me passing my course as I’m copying someone else’s work.  ·Reading aloud – this can support me during my training. If I read aloud pieces of information and notes I have taken this will help me to remember information and be more confident with my points. A lso it will help me when I go to placement or work as I will be more confident. D1 – Task: Explain why the practitioner should develop and maintain appropriate relationships with parents and other professionals Introduction – As a practitioner it is important to maintain professional at all times in every case As a practitioner it’s your duty to support children effectively, by this I mean to avoid emotional attachments; because if you and one child get close and one day you’re not in, the child will be upset as it’s used to you being around and the other staff will find it hard to support the child. Also even though it’s hard, try not to have favourites as the other children will feel left out as you’re not giving them the same amount of care. Another important aspect of maintaining a professional approach is to keep information confidential; this is important because there’s a policy in place which states information should be kept stored away and confidential to make sure the children’s safety is protected. The Data Protection Act 1998 – â€Å"It is the main piece of legislation that governs the protection of personal data in the UK† http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_Protection_Act_1998n 25/10/2012[->3]. To make sure you maintain confidentiality in a setting you should make sure you avoid discussions which involve sharing information about a child to anyone expect your manager and the child’s parents and always make sure if you’ve written down information about child or received a letter about that child or it’s family always store away the information in the child’s file and cabinet to make sure that the information is safe and no-one else can get ahold of that information. Also make sure that you follow the Data Protection Act 1998 and your settings confidentiality policies. Another way to maintain appropriate relationships with parents and other professionals is to build a good relationship between parents and other professionals, by you having good relationships with parents and other staff members will make sure that every feels happy secure and comfortable in the setting. Also this will benefit the children as parents disclosing that the child might have a problem one the day will ensure that the child is receiving the best care possible. D2 – Task: Discuss the characteristics of working in a multi-agency team Introduction – the characteristics of working in a multi-agency team is very important that you all work together to make sure the child is receiving the ultimate support. As a practitioner and working with a multi-agency team for example maybe a physiotherapist, speech therapist, signers and social workers the first thing you need to make sure is running smoothly is the communication between you the practitioner and the multi-agency team because you’re working together to ensure the child is receiving the right support and also protecting the child’s safety; a way to make sure this is happening is maybe suggest a weekly meeting to discuss important information which is confidential between you and the multi-agency, this way you’re certain that the communication is there also that information is safe and secure between you and the multi-agency. Also the information that is shared between you and the multi-agency should always be locked away and secure as it contains confidential information about the child which could affect the child if the wrong person got hold of it, so make sure that its locked away in a cabinet with a lock, protect your pc with a password and only discussed on a need to know basis. When you interact with the multi-agency make sure that you present all the relevant information you have found out so for example if you did an observation print of a copy for the multi-agency because this information could help the child progress and remember to always give feedback. B1 – Task: Explain why it is important that practitioners understand the limits and boundaries of their role when working with children Introduction – As a Level 3 practitioner is it important that you know your boundaries when working with children E8 – Bibliography Tassoni,P., (2007).Childcare and Education Level 3 1st edition , Heinemann http://www.ravenstoneschool.co.uk/about/show/our_mission 04/10/2012 http://www.myabacusnursery.co.uk/aboutus.html – 04/10/2012 http://www.dragonhall.org.uk/home/objectives/ 04/10/2012 http://www.unicef.org.uk/Documents/Publication-pdfs/betterlifeleaflet2012_pres