Assess the development needs of children or young people

Be able to assess the development needs of children or young people and prepare a development plan. 1.1 – . Explain the factors that need to be taken into account when assessing development. Firstly all development of each child will be child centred so their wishes, feelings and abilities are taken into account before planning anything to help their development (risk assessments / activity planners) When assessing a Childs development disability/special requirements should be made aware of this is because disability might slow their development down. For example people with autism have a lifelong developmental disability that affects how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people. It also affects how they make sense of the world around them.

Age and stage of development should be made aware of, this is usually marked down from birth and is on the Childs records, things such as height, weight and immunisations they have had. By looking back on records we can assess the development to see if they are doing the right things for their age or if they are not developing in areas. The correct help and support can be given early if there are any problems Ethnicity and cultural backgrounds should be known about when assessing the Childs development this is because some ethnic backgrounds do things at different ages for example some religions are strict in what their children can do. Any additional needs should be recorded about a Childs development if things are cause for concern and need to be followed up in the future.

1.2 – . Assess a child or young person’s development in the following areas 1.2 – Physical
This refers to the body increasing in skill and performance and includes: gross motor development (using large muscles), for example legs and Arms fine motor development (precise use of muscles), for example hands And fingers.

We can assess this by seeing how much the child has grown and how much they weigh. Within our workplace we monitor this weekly to see if there is any change in their development which is a cause for concern. Physical development can also be monitored by observing the way children walk, climb, skip use hand co-ordination. By observing them play with toys we can assess their physical development. 1.2 – Communication

This is learning to communicate with friends, family and all others.

By assessing the child speech – saying words with them to see if there is any stutters or letters they can’t pronounce. Seeing how children communicate with other people –family members / peers 1.2 – Intellectual/ cognitive

This is about how children learn, think
And develop ideas. This is one of the areas of development that is strongly influenced by the experiences a child has. Learning the names of animals is only possible if a child has been told them. This applies to almost any knowledge or skill. We can assess this development by children having test within the school at different ages and levels. Involving them in activities to see what they do.

Playing imaginatively and doing role play.
Playing games to see what children remember and understand
1.2 – Social, emotional and behavioural
This is the development of a Child’s identity and self-image, the development of relationships and Feelings about him or herself and learning the skills to live and behave in society with other people. In our workplace we monitor behaviour hourly by filling in record charts which are analysed by behaviour specialists 1.2 – Moral.

Is the process through which children develop proper attitudes and behaviours toward other people in society, based on social and cultural norms, rules, and laws.

Monitoring children’s behaviour and teach them about what is morally right and wrong for example stealing.

1.3 – . Explain the selection of the assessment methods used. The Common Assessment Framework (CAF) is a shared assessment tool for use across all
Children’s Services and all Local Areas in England. It aims to help early identification of need and promote co-ordinated service provision. Common Assessment is for children with additional needs. These are children and young people who, according to the judgement of practitioners, require extra support to help them achieve the 5 Every Child Matters Outcomes: Be Healthy

Staying Safe
Enjoying and Achieving
Making a Positive Contribution
Achieving Economic Well-Being
Using the referral pathways documents for guidance, practitioners should complete common assessment for a child if they recognise that the child / young person have an unmet need at the vulnerable through to complex level. It is for everyone who works with children, young people and families, whether they are employed or volunteers, and working in the public, private or voluntary sector. It is for staff working in Health, Education, Early Years and Childcare, Social Care, Youth Offending, Police, Youth Support / Connexions Service, Advisory and Support Services and Leisure. It is also for practitioners who work in services for adults, as many accessing those services are also parents or carers.

Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) is a behaviour rating scale intended to help diagnose autism. CARS was developed by Eric Schopler, Robert J. Reichier, and Barbara Rochen Renner. CARS was designed to help differentiate children with autism from those with other developmental delays, such as mental retardation. Although there is no gold standard among rating scales in detecting autism, CARS is frequently used as part of the diagnostic process Development of the CARS began in 1966 with the production of a scale that incorporated the criteria of Leo Kanner (1943) and Creak (1964), and characteristic symptoms of childhood autism CARS is a diagnostic assessment method that rates children on a scale from one to four for various criteria, ranging from normal to severe, and yields a composite score ranging from non-autistic to mildly autistic, moderately autistic, or severely autistic. The scale is used to observe and subjectively rate fifteen items. relationship to people

imitation
emotional response
body
object use
adaptation to change
visual response
listening response
taste-smell-touch response and use
fear and nervousness
verbal communication
non-verbal communication
activity level
level and consistency of intellectual response
general impressions
This scale can be completed by a clinician or teacher or parent, based on subjective observations of the child’s behaviour. Each of the fifteen criteria listed above is rated with a score of: 1 normal for child’s age

2 mildly abnormal
3 moderately abnormal
4 severely abnormal
Midpoint scores of 1.5, 2.5, and 3.5 are also used.

1.4 – Explain how to develop a plan to meet the development needs of a child or young person in the work setting. Communication – Before this plan would be implemented meeting would take place with all staff and behavioural specialists, managers, teachers, nursery assistants, keyworkers and speech and language therapists. I would consult his communication passport to see if there were any changes that I needed to be aware of. A note would be put in the communication book for staff to read stating that there was a new plan in place for this young person and where the plan could be found to read and refer to. Staff have to sign that they have read the note in the communication book. The plan would be put in the young person’s file along with a signing sheet for staff to sign once the plan had been read and understood.

The plan would be reviewed on a regular basis and also on a daily basis. If the schedule was not being used or used wrongly, it would show in the young person’s behaviours as there could be a record of more incidents in the morning with him and in-appropriate behaviours. I would evaluate the plan and adapt it if needed to suit the young person if there were any changes that needed to be addressed. I would find this out from observations, checking his file and also by discussions with staff who are working with him – is it working, if not, why, are there any changes needed, does the young person participate etc. Any issues can be resolved as they occur and then be taken back to behavioural specialists to review the plans and implement any changes that are needed.

1.5 Describe what systems are in place at your workplace to promote the development of the young person Monitoring logs are in place on a daily basis for each child. Monitoring logs such as brushing teeth, making bed, being hands free (seconds) making own snacks and breakfast. Each child also has targets to meet which helps them develop and achieve such as going choosing their own fruit and making a smoothie. Going on a bike ride. Washing hair, cleaning room, tidying dishes away after a meal. These goals are reviewed weekly and added upon if the targets have been met on a regular basis or cut down if the targets are not being achieved for example bike riding was not being achieved as the young person was not wearing a helmet so now we have the target of wearing the helmet for 1 minute when this is achieved it will change to 2minutes then 5 minutes until eventually the bike rising target is achieved

CYP Core 3.2.2 – Be able to promote the development of children or young people. 2.1/2.2 – How do we Implement, evaluate and revise the development plan for a child or young person according to own role and responsibilities, taking into account that development is holistic and interconnected. Communication – for this I would prepare a plan for a young person who uses PEC schedules. In his file, I would set out guidelines on how to aid him in the morning from when he gets up to leaving his home to travel to school. The guidelines would give clear indications on how to set the schedule up, where to place it and how to use it. The schedule is placed on the wall near the kitchen doorway in the hallway or where best for each young person. The young person knows exactly that this is where he can find it and proceed to start his day by following the symbols.

The symbols are placed in order for example: make breakfast, toilet, shower, brush teeth, dressed, shoes on, coat, bus, school. The symbols are simple but the young person knows exactly what is expected of him and it is important to him that they be used to stop any behaviours occurring. If they are not available, the young person can also become anxious and this can lead to him being upset and this then turning into incidents. A signing sheet would be placed with the plan so that staff could sign to say that they had read the plan and understood it. Behavioural – for this I would put a plan in place for all staff to follow to monitor a child’s behaviour. This will be filled in every half an hour such things would be recorded… anxiety levels, self injurious behaviour, swearing, hitting other children/ staff. These will get monitored throughout a period by the behavioural specialists who will then analyse the behaviour and come up with activities that could help the behaviour or change the routine to make the behaviour better

2.3 – .Explain the importance of a person centred and inclusive approach and give examples of how this is implemented in own work. These are approaches that include people in decisions of their care planning and life, for example within out workplace the young children would be included in such things as choosing activities and foods. Person Centred Planning discovers and acts on what is important to a person. It is a process for continual listening and learning, focussing on what are important to someone now and in the future, and acting on this in alliance with their family and their friends. As a keyworker it is my job to work closely with the young person and update his Essential Life Style Plan. On a weekly basis we ask the child what is going good, what is going bad and why and what could be better this is called ‘my Chat’ from this we then update the Essential lifestyle plan and set new goal and targets dependent on what the child wants and work on the good and bad points. An example of this is that a young person wishes to have a soft table so he can’t bang his head.

All staff have spoken to management about this and we have a new table. Food Choices. We include the young people in choosing their food choices at each meal we always have a meal that is cooked for everyone but for some reason they don’t wish to eat this there is always an alternative available. Activities- Activities are all person centred around the child each week. Each child’s activity planner is different to another’s. Each night they have one set activity for one of our children it is a drive each night; this calms him down and he wishes to do this as part of his routine. The other boy likes to go out on a walk and not go on a drive so this is put on his planner.

2.4 – . Listen to children or young people and communicate in a way that encourages them to feel valued.

OBSERVATION

How do you encourage children and young people to take part in making decisions that affect their life according to their age and level of understanding. By putting the topic across to them in the way they will understand for example pictures to make choices or one word choices. By making the topic interesting maybe giving rewards and making the choices into a game. Especially for the younger children we have to use things like this as they won’t participate. We need to keep them interested so centre this around there likes for example cars for our young person or animals.

2.5 – . Encourage children or young people to actively participate in decisions affecting their lives and the services they receive according to their age and abilities.

OBSERVATION

Explain what you can do to make the child listened to and valued By talking to the child and listening to what they have to say, also being interested in them. I would make eye contact – if they were comfortable with this – to show that I am interested and listening attentively to what they were saying and I would respond sensitively whilst remembering the importance of non-verbal communication i.e.: if the yp looked sad or upset, I would respond to this by saying that they looked sad and asking them if they would like to tell me about it. If I am working with an yp who is non-verbal, I have to listen to the tone and range in his vocals and read his facial expressions. I would also use appropriate language which would be centred in our case around the child’s age for example not using long words that are hard to understand. I would also be positive at all times use a good tone of voice. I would not label or judge the young person

CYP Core 3.2.3 – Be able to support the provision of environments and services that promote the development of children or young people.

3.1 – . Explain the features of an environment or service that promotes the development of children and young people. A safe, stimulating environment is vital. Stimulating things have to be provided for the yp’s to experience and for them to be encouraged to try out and have a go. They need to explore and strive to be independent. Broad and varied experiences are needed that will enable them to explore. The environment should be well planned and organised and take into account each child’s needs and ability and level of development and provide for them accordingly. The child’s interests and skills should also be considered, as should their input – where possible – in the implementation of any decisions made with learning skills and future learning needs. Also, the children must be given the opportunities or challenges for them to be active, to take risks and make mistakes but to learn from them.

3.2 – Demonstrate how own work environment or service is organised to promote the development of children or young people.

OBSERVATION

CYP Core 3.2.4 – Understand how working practices can impact on the development of children and young people. 4.1 – . Explain how own working practice can affect children and young people’s development. A lack of enthusiasm can lead to poor communication and bad planning of the young person’s day. It may also mean a reluctance to follow weekly activity planners that the young persons have as the staff can’t be bothered to encourage them to participate and so they are being held back and being denied choices. We must act as a role model and be positive in our work as the children that we look after can copy what we do which can result in negative things if we aren’t always positive. A positive attitude means that the staff will promote choices, fulfil activities, encourage independence and communicate with all relevant people. This may also lead to incidents with the children.

4.2 – . Explain how institutions, agencies and services can affect children and young people’s development. Services can affect a child’s or young person’s development in a positive way for example such services like speech and language can help a child’s communication. Also advocacy can also help develop a child’s communication for the better. Health and social care professionals are also there to help with any advice on things that they are specialised in. there are also support groups that can be available to children and their families who need this service and counselling these can help them talk about any problems they have then contact other agencies if needs be. There are also networks of charities that provide information for children for example connexions which helps children develop with their education. Within our workplace we have our own speech and language therapist. As a keyworker I worked with her to put pictorial schedules up within the home for him getting dressed and bath time routine. The schedules split the task up into several steps which all staff was to follow the same and with this being a visual schedule the young person could also see the steps himself.

This was beneficial to the young person as the speech and language therapist says that research shows that us all doing the steps for these routines the same could help reduce behaviours such as anxiety and also incidents. It is also beneficial to the child as he can see what’s happening now and next. Services can affect a child’s or young person’s development in a positive way for example such services like speech and language can help a child’s communication. Also advocacy can also help develop a child’s communication for the better. Health and social care professionals are also there to help with any advice on things that they are specialised in. there are also support groups that can be available to children and their families who need this service and counselling these can help them talk about any problems they have then contact other agencies if needs be. There are also networks of charities that provide information for children for example connexions which helps children develop with their education.

4.3 – Give an example where practice has failed where a child has had a long lasting effect or even lost their life In 1999, Chelsea Brown, aged 2, was battered to death by her father. He had a criminal record for violence against children and he was jailed for life for her murder. Her mother was jailed for 18 months for child cruelty. The child’s social worker had visited the family 27 times in the 10 weeks before her death. She had taken the child to a paediatrician who had said that six out of nine areas of bruising had no plausible explanation and at least one was deliberately inflicted. These findings should have triggered a police investigation and prompted further actions by the social services and a multi-agency case conference under Derbyshire county council’s procedures. None of the mentioned ever happened

CYP Core 3.2.5 – Be able to support children and young people’s positive behaviour. 5.1 – Demonstrate how they work with children and young people to encourage positive behaviour. OBSERVATION

5.2 – . Evaluate different approaches to supporting positive behaviour. By promoting positive behaviour in our workplace we must ignore all negative behaviours such as swearing kicking if we give a reaction to a young person who is showing negative behaviours they will think this is being rewarded. By praising all positive behaviours we use techniques such as rewards which are person centred depending on the child’s ability for example some children get rewarded with a small reward i.e. raisin when they have done something good some get rewarded with an activity such as internet time. Some of the more able children have a reward board where they must get tokens to choose activities when they get so many tokens. We work closely with behaviour specialists to see what works for each child. All staff must show there boundaries and work in the same way for techniques to be successful.