Principles and Values of working with young children Essay

Principles 1. The welfare of the child is paramount. Within my role I have to support children and help them achieve their goals, from tying their shoe laces to providing skills to help young people to live in the community. I have to make sure all staff promotes a warm, caring, supportive, positive and tolerant atmosphere. This is to help work on raising the child’s self-esteem, self-confidence and self-worth. I have to be very creative in my role at a moment’s notice, adapting to different situations. It is essential that I have excellent communication skills when interacting with children, teachers, parents, social workers, police etc. I must show empathy, and make sure i am aware at all times of confidentiality 2. Practitioners contribute to children’s care, learning and development and this is reflected in every aspect of practice and service provision. Organise residential activities, onsite and offsite (making sure the risk assessment in complete) Carry out domestic duties, and encourage children to be independent by guiding and showing children domestic duties i.e. making beds, tidying their room Ensure you guide children to ensure they have a regular hygienic routine At all times, make sure the children’s individual primary social emotional and physical needs are met Assist with the breakfast and evening meals supervision and process, making sure they have a balanced diet, and are aware of the importance of a balanced diet Support children’s social and life skills including personal hygiene, social behaviour and independence. Key worker for individual children – Assist in assessments of pupil needs and  maintain pupil care plans and records. Contribute to annual reports and reviews and any other relevant procedure. Meet with Key child on a weekly basis to carry out support sessions, this enables us to address specific issues the child may have Identify specific pieces of work to look at with key child i.e. self-esteem work anger management strategies Ensure essential information file is up to date Ensure key child’s views are fully recorded Health requirements are to be fully up to date with any changes in medication or time of taking dosage etc. Plan and agree individual targets with key child (reward charts) 3. Practitioners work with parents and families who are partners in the care, learning and development of their children and are the child’s first and most enduring educators Promote effective communication between the school, children and their carer’s and ensure that children and their careers are involved with or are aware of children’s targets, complaints and other procedures Create and maintain a positive line of communication with parents Attend meetings where appropriate Produce reports on incidents, concerns etc. and communicate effectively as necessary. I.e. Child in Need Meeting Complete a daily log for every shift detailing how the child has spent there day noting: positive behaviour, negative behaviour, health, hygiene, what activities they have taken part in and diet. Values 1. The needs, rights and views of the child are at the centre of all practice and provision. On admission, each child is schooled for a period of time in the class room. During this time an in depth assessment of academic ability, social skills and behaviour is carried out. This is using a ‘boxhall profile’ which includes behavioural, work and social needs will be programmed specifically to the child’s needs. A keyworker is assigned to an individual child, so we can spend time with the individual child and find  out their needs etc This can be just spending time with a child playing football, or an organised support session, where we take them out of the building, maybe for a hot chocolate. All information is recorded and passed on to the relevant people, if needed. 2. Individuality, difference and diversity are valued and celebrated. At our setting when a child starts at our setting, we have a ‘care plan’ that we go through (A copy has been sent for evidence). This includes the following: Young person background Family contact Equality, diversity, culture, religion, language and race Communication – how they like to communicate Health Identity, self-awareness and emotional well being Mealtimes Hygiene, including bedtime and waking up routine Behaviour – how they view their behaviour and how we can help them Activities – What they would like to try Independence – There goals and what they would like to achieve Transition Plan – How they would like to move on, and what they feel is best for them Each Keyworker is assigned to get to know that individual child, this could be by creating the care plan, support sessions and activities. Each child is encouraged to thrive in what they are interested in, and try new things. If a child celebrates a certain religion, then we would always accommodate them in their beliefs. This could be in a casual way, either over dinner: where they would help make a dinner of their choice, or an outing that would show us how they celebrate their religion. When a child celebrates a birthday, we organise a birthday cake of their choice, and they have a present which is presented to them with everybody present. 3. Equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice are actively promoted. We do not discriminate against staff or pupils on the grounds of their gender, disability, race, religion or belief, nationality, ethnicity or national origins, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or  maternity. This is in line with the Public Sector Equality Duty from the Equality Act 2010 and covers both direct and indirect discrimination. We promote the principles of fairness and justice for all through the education that we provide in our setting.  Through positive educational experiences and support for each individual’s point of view, we aim to promote positive social attitudes and respect for all. Our school aim is to tackle discrimination and promote equality of opportunity and good relations across all aspects of school life. We do this by: Creating an ethos in which pupils and staff feel valued and secure; Building self-esteem and confidence in our pupils, so that they can then use these qualities to influence their own relationships with others; Having consistent expectations of pupils and their learning; Removing or minimizing barriers to learning, so that all pupils can achieve; Actively tackling discrimination and promoting racial equality Regular consultation with parents/carers and members of the local community, so that they are well informed of our policy and procedures; Making clear to our pupils what constitutes aggressive and prejudiced behaviour; Identifying clear procedures for dealing quickly with incidents of prejudiced behaviour; Making pupils and staff confident to challenge prejudiced and aggressive behaviour We do not tolerate any forms of discriminatory behaviour including direct or indirect discrimination, harassment or victimisation. Should an incident occur, we will act immediately to prevent any repetition of the incident and do all we can to support that person in overcoming any difficulties they may have. Incidents are logged on our online ‘sleuth’ system. Incidents could take the form of physical assault, verbal abuse, and damage to a pupil’s property. Any adult witnessing an incident or being informed about an incident must follow these agreed procedures: Stop the incident and comfort the pupil who is the victim Reprimand the aggressor and inform the victim what action has been taken If  the incident is witnessed by other pupils, tell them why it is wrong Report the incident to the headteacher or a member of SMT and inform him/her of the action taken. This should be logged on sleuth, and parents contacted Inform the class teacher and Head of Care, of both the victim and the aggressor 4. Children’s health and well-being are actively promoted. Children’s physical and emotional and social development needs are promoted. This is via our ‘care plan’ and organised support sessions. Children are constantly advised how to understand their health needs, how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and to be independent, and look after their bodies. Children are encouraged to participate in a range of positive activities that contribute to their physical and emotional health. If a child is unwell, then they would generally go back home to their parents or carer, but if they can’t then we access the local doctors and other health professionals. Children’s health is promoted in accordance with their care plan and staff are clear about what responsibilities and decisions are delegated to them. If a child needs consent for medical treatment, this is issued before the child starts at our setting. Children’s wishes and feelings are sought and taken into account in their care plan. Care staff always receives sufficient training on health and hygiene issues and first aid with particular emphasis on health promotion and communicable diseases. Staffs receive guidance and training to provide appropriate care if looking after children with complex health needs. Our setting has good links with health agencies, including specialist services where appropriate, such as CAMHS and sexual health services. The availability of such services is taken into account when deciding on admissions. 5. Children’s personal and physical safety is safeguarded, whilst allowing for risk and challenge as appropriate While allowing for risk and challenge to the capabilities of the child. It is essential that we protect children from serious harm and injury. However, children must also learn to be independent and should be allowed to explore their environment according to  their age and ability. Within our setting it is everybody’s responsibility to keep the children safe, and the welfare of the child is paramount. We provide a safe environment that allows appropriate risks and challenges i.e., climbing frames. We allow children to take safe risks but always supervised. We always carry out a risk assessment and always follow health and safety rules. 6. Self-esteem, resilience and a positive self-image are recognised as essential to every child’s development. Self-esteem and positive self-image is recognised as an essential part to every child’s development. A child’s self-image is their view of who they are and what they are like. Within my den sessions we work on self-image and do a body map of themselves and we discuss how they feel when they are angry, sad, happy etc. We discuss the different feelings, and work on areas that are concerning them. It is essential to every child’s development that they have high self-esteem and a positive self-image. If they do, they are more resilient and are able to cope well with difficulties in life. Within our setting we always praise children’s efforts and achievements, and show them that they are valued, 7. Confidentiality and agreements about confidential information are respected as appropriate unless a child’s protection and well-being are at stake. Confidentiality and agreements are respected as appropriate unless a child’s protection and well-being are at stake. All staff has a responsibility to maintain confidentiality at all times. Maintaining confidentiality means that any information given to us should only be passed on in the interest of meeting the needs of the child, according to the policies of the setting. The sharing of information among practitioners working with children and families is essential. It is only when information is put together that a child can be seen to be in need or at risk of harm – The Children’s Act are the laws that aim to protect children from harm in any setting. This legislation is based on the principle that all children have the right to be protected. These are written procedures that aim to protect children in all settings. Confidentiality is also governed by the Data protection Act, which states â€Å"The storage, retrieval  and handling of confidential information verbally, written and electronically to protect the rights of the client. It identifies guidelines and practice and when certain information can be passed on; it serves to protect the child from harm. Within our setting all personal files are locked away and access is restricted to relevant people with the permission of parents, unless there are concerns about the child. 8. Professional knowledge, skills and values are shared appropriately in order to enrich the experience of children more widely. Professional knowledge skills and values are shared. Professional knowledge, skills and values are shared between professionals to enhance the experience of children more widely. Working within a team helps us to share profession knowledge, skills and values. This benefits the children and helps us to give the care the child needs. Within our work setting, we have daily handovers, so we completely understand how the last shift went. We have ‘care meetings’ at least once a month. This enables all staff to share relevant information, ideas and suggestions and plans for the month ahead. It also gives us all the opportunity to take suggestions from each other about their experiences of how they have handled certain situations; taken in a positive way, in can improve our own practice. 9. Best practice requires reflection and a continuous search for improvement. As a professional worker you must take responsibility for your own development and performance. Other practitioners can help and guide you towards best practice, but you will only make good professional progress if you become aware of your strengths and weaknesses. You must want to improve your skills and take responsibility for this. You should try to think about, or reflect on what you do, however, we all find it difficult at times to know how good or bad we are at something and to know our strengths and weaknesses. Most people need the help and feedback of others to do this. The most useful feedback will usually come from a Senior, Head of Care or an experienced worker. You should try to listen to others. Think about what they say to you and be open to suggestions about how you can change and improve how you work. During work appraisals is a good time to identify what your professional improvement needs are and to identify available training  that may be needed.