Introduction to working with children

E1 and E2- the three different types of settings which provide care and education for children in an statutory sector, voluntary sector and private sector. Statutory sector: These have to be available for children to attend to by law without having to pay financial fee’s. This is the job of the secretary state, to make sure that the statutory services are provided and available. They are funded by the government. Examples of a statutory sector are public schools. a school can offer children friendship, life skills, an education, skills to work as a team, confidence and help develop P.I.L.E.S. Voluntary sector: these settings are provided by organisations such as charities. They rely on most or all of their funding from donations. They are also staffed by volunteers. This setting does not make any profit and any spare income is used to make their activities more educational. An example of a voluntary sector is brownies, rainbows, guides. Voluntary setting can offer free extra curriculum, safe environment, social skills, working as a team and link to the community and indoor and outdoor fun.

The age range is 5-7years old. They will help support a child’s family by organising a structured routine and if they have a job they will then be able to work late and know that their children are safe. Private sector: An example these setting make their profits from providing their services, like a business. They are inspected to insure that the health and safety of the children is maintained. A childminder can care for children with special needs, personal hygiene, social skills and a safe and controlled environment. This will help support a family if they have a child with special needs as they can be very demanding, so this can offer the family time for a break and having time to go to work. E3- Descibe the main legislation in your country that supports the rights of children Children Act 2004

This is an Act made by parliament in 2004 mainly dbrought about by what happened to Victoria Climbie. It is designed to protect and look after the children by the involvement of agencies such as social services. A duty of local authorities to provide co-operation between agencies and allowed them to find resources to safe guard children’s welfare when carrying out their jobs. This brought out an Act called “every child matters” the five outcomes are: ·Be Healthy

·Stay safe
·Enjoy and achieve through learning
·Make a positive contribution to society
·Achieve economic well-being
References- www.everychildmatters.co.uk and notes from college

Children Act 1989
The Children Act was passed in order to allow the state to intevene in parent-children relations, mainly in the case of abuse and voilence. Parents or guardians could hereby arrested if they were found mistreating a child. The Children Act 1989 was a major step in empowering children with rights. This act imposes a general duty on local councils to provide a range of services to “children in need” in their area if those services will help keep the child safe and well. Some services that are provided by the council are free of charge, although councils can also decide which services you will need to pay for, or contribute to. Disabilty Act 1995

The Disabilty Act of 1995 ensures the rights of the disabled in the United Kingdom. The Disability Act helps to ensure that the rights of disabled in the areas of education, employment, and access to facilties and services. The Disabilty act considers a disabilty to be any long-term mental or physical imparement that affects a persons abilty to perform normal daily activities. Its against the law to discriminate a person with a disabilty. It is considered discrimination if an employer chooses not to hire a disabled person just because of their disabilty, according to the act. References- www.anwerbag.com/diabilityact

Childcare Act 2006
The Childcare Act of 2006 is the main governing legislation for ages 0-20 years. The Childcare Act passed into law on the 11th july2006. The act will help transform childcare and early years services in England for generations to come. The act imposes a range of general obligations on local authorities in relation to childcare for younger children in particular. There are three new local authority duties of particular importance: ·To improve the five every child matters outcome for all pre-school children and reduce inequalities in these outcomes. ·The secure sufficient childcare for working parents.

·To provide a better parental information services.
References- www.dcfs.gov.uk/everychildmatters/childcareact2006 Special needs code of practice 2001
The SEN code of practice provides practical advice to local education authorities, maintained schools, early education settings and others on carrying out their statutory duties to identify, assess and make provision for children’s special education needs. References- www.dcfs.gov.uk/SEN

E4- Describe the recognised principles and values that underpin working with children. C- Explain why the early years practitioner should listen to Children’s views and value their options. the importance of recognizing principles and values that underpin working with children is to make sure that you include all of the children and make sure that the environment you are working in suits them. Some of the examples that are the recognized principles and values that underpin working with children are: ·Being non-judgmental- make sure you show respect to the children and their families. Do not judge them because of their race, beliefs, values or even things you have seen, it is not professional and could have major consequences. If they feel they are being judged it will lower their self-esteem and make them feel as if they dont belong, but if you listen to all of what the child says and listen to their views and opinions they know/feel that your listening them. ·Be confidential- any information that the child or parent has shared with you in confidence they trust you not to tell anyone else about it, and you should respect thier wishes. information should only be shared if the child is in danger of harming them or others, for example, if a child is being abused at home or outside the setting and you have been informed about it, then you should tell the appropriate adult that can deal with the sitiation.

By listening to children, you can help keep children from harm, neglect and abuse, but before they can tell you what is happening they may need time to gather their thoughts and build a strong, positve relationship with you. ·putting the child first- putting the children first in your setting is very important as this can give the child a sense of belonging and make them feel safe. make sure that the child is safe at all times, show sensativity when needed, treating the child as an indivdual by letting them make their own decisions and also providing oppurtunities to help the child reach their full learning potential. Practitioners should always listen to the childrens view and value their opinions so relationships and trust can be developed. ·E5- Explain the improtance of valuing and respecting all the children in the setting. ·Valuing and respecting all children in the setting can help; ·self esteem and confidence

·children reach their full potential
·create a sense of belonging
·create positive relationships
·children feel safe and secure
·Each child is an individual and they have their own personal strengths and weaknesses, some of the children may need a bit more attention that others to understand certain concepts. All children have different needs,if you do not value the needs of a child it can do serious, permanent damage to a child. Every child that is in a setting is different; some may have different religions, colour, sex, disability ect. Every child has to be treated as an individual but respected equally. ·References- Notes from college

·E6- Describe three (3) professional skills that will support your work with children ·Be non-judgemental- do not judge a child because of their religion, sex, colour ect. Treata every child equal no-matter what. The practitioner should know not to judge a child by their religion, sex, colour ect, as this could cause the child to have self confidence issues, then this could cause problems with your relations with the parents. ·Confidentiality- keep everything to yourself, do not share information with people outside the setting unless the children are in danger of harming theirselves or others. Do not share information with peers outside the setting even if they are the parent of the child, this should be left to the setting to organise an appointment for the parent to come in and speak about their child. This is also a part of the Data protection act. ·Good time keeping- being on time is very important as a practitioner as others will then see you as a reliable person and have trust in you. Being a pratitioner you need to be on time because for example, if you are late one day and the other pratitioners are depending on you to supervise childrens play and you do not turn up on time this could affect the staff:children ratios. ·

B- Explain why it is important that practitioners understand the limits and boundaries of their role when working with children. ·It is important that practitioners understand the limits and boundaries of their role when working with children because you need to manage your ·References- Notes from college

·E7- Describe how study skills can support your learning during training. ·
Study skills can be really useful during training as they can help strengthen your knowledge and understanding of what you are learning. ·Note taking- note taking will help you refresh your memory of what you have learnt if you re-read what you have written, also as it is in your own words it will be easier for you understand what you have wrote. ·Research– Research will help widen your knowledge of what you are learning as it has also got a range of answers and opinions, this will make your choice of information wider. ·Text books- Text books will help you with your studying as professionals have written them so you know it is the correct information you are looking for. ·D1- Explain why the practitioner should devleop and maintain appropriate relationships with parents and other professionals · A practitioner should develop and maintain appropriate relationships with parents and other professionals in the setting, here are ways how to do so: ·Develop

·Communication- can be really useful in the setting with the other pratitioners and the childs parents. It is important to communicate with other practitioners so that if there is a problem with the child the other practitioners are correctly informed, also communicating with the parents of the child is important so they know the development of the child also so they can have a trusting relationship. ·Approachable- it is important to be approachable whilst in the setting by parents and other professionals as this can help others feel more comfortable when around you. To be approachable you need to be available when the parents or professionals need you, this encourage parents and other staff to speak to you in confidence and they will know that they are being listened to.

·Respect- this is very important in the setting you must show respect. Not with just the children but also with their parents/careers, other professionals and visitors. To maintain this respect you must show honesty and follow the parents wishes. e.g if a parent/career asks you to follow the childs routine you must follow it, even if it does not fit in with your rountine. Also this can create a strong relationship which can lead to you both feeling valued. 7 ·eye-contact- when communicating with others as well as having approcable body language you should use eye contact. This will give the parents/careers or other members of staff the impression that you are approachable and comfortable whilst doing so. ·References- Notes from college

·D2- Discuss the characteristics of working in a multi agency team ·A multi agency team is a range of agencies that provide different services and/or professions that work together to support children, young people and families. The multi agency team will always use a child centred approach. A multi agency team is most likely to include people from professional backgrouds such as social work, health, education,youth work and police. Children’s, young people and families needs can be different so the services included in the multi agenecy team may differ. Multi agency workning came to be brought about because of a serious case review, which led to a laming enquiry which then led to an act called “every child matters”. Before 2004 the statutory services were organised into three different branches which were health, education and social care. After 2004 all of the statutory services joint together, we now have multi agency working. Health, education and social care are now 3 agencies that work together. ·Benefits of multi agency working are always different as they are taylor made to meet each persons needs, some of these benefits include: ·early indentifacation of a problem so it can be solved faster. ·easier access to services that are needed

·better quality services
·chilren’s, young people and families problems adressed more appropriately

A- Relfect on the importance of a child centred approach in early years setting. A child centred approach can be very important in an early years setting as this will determine what they will be like for the rest of their lives. These are some of the things that will help determine what they will be like in the future: Chilrens interests- knowing what they want to do and how you could help them learn based on them. Sometimes interests can change, if so you should be able to adapt your teaching to thier interests. children having choice- children choose what activities they want to do and how long theya want to do it for.

Also they choose where they want to do the activity, adults should not interfere with this. Children have access to resources- children use their initiative to get out resources that they want and can move freely in and outdoors. Children contribute their ideas to the layout, routine and activities childs voice how, why and what they do is made to thier liking. Adults suppory with transitions- children will either be nervous or confident you will have to support the child on how they feel. curiosity and confidence are more important that knowing things- making conntections between things. Children’s progress is measured by observing what they can do for themselves- make sure they are not pushed into doing things and they don things independantly.