Cache Diploma Level 3 in Childcare and Education Essay Example
Cache Diploma Level 3 in Childcare and Education Essay Example

Cache Diploma Level 3 in Childcare and Education Essay Example

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  • Pages: 12 (3043 words)
  • Published: October 1, 2016
  • Type: Essay
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When working which children it is important to have good professional relationships. This may be with your colleagues, other professionals, parents and the children themselves. It is our responsibility as practitioners to insure that the best care is provided for each and every child which means we must treats them all as individuals and as equally as possible. We also must create a friendly, welcoming environment for the children in our care which will come from having a good working relationship with our colleagues.

This will come by us being open and honest about any issues that by had arisen and also being friendly to one another. This is the same for parents. Parents are interested in how their child is developing and will be willing to work with you as long as you let

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them. You must make them feel welcome and encourage them to have their own say about how you are helping to educate and care for their child. Lastly and most importantly for the children themselves. It is a practitioner’s duty to make the children feel as happy and cared for as they possibly can. As a practitioner we must understand that some children need more support them others.

There are many different issues which contribute to maintaining professional relationships with children and adults, one of the most important is confidentiality. This is extremely important to build relationships with parents as they need to trust us as practitioners to keep any information they give about their child within the setting. To do this we need to provide an environment in which the parents feel they can speak to

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us about anything about their child.

Also to ensure all information on the child is kept in a safe and secure place out of view of the main classroom. We would also need to get the parents’ permission for any photographs, any documentation about their child and also to get the parents’ permission to pass on relevant information to other professionals. Another key issue is communication. Parents are the experts on their child and therefore have the most knowledge about them, which will help us as practitioners to care for their child. To maintain a good relationship with them we must always be honest and specific with information we give.

Also we need to keep parents up to date with everything that their child is doing within the setting. Communication does not have to be speaking to the parents it can also be written, in this instants the information needs to be well presented and clear.

In our career as childcare workers there will be many instants when we will work in multi-agency teams. One benefit of a multi-agency team is that each person within this team has the opportunity to share their expertise in their field to work together to do what is best for the child.

For example if one professional notices something that the others had not this could help them to father help the child in their development. Another benefit is for the families. If a multi-agency team is in place they can help to arrange any appointments the child may need to attend so they don’t clash and at times that are suitable. Also if needed

they could arrange rest bite care, which would provide time for other members of the family to get the rest they need and also to spend quality time together. Working in a multi-agency team is a good opportunity to learn different skills from other professionals. The skills we will learn will improve our practice with children.

Reflective practice within the setting is helpful as it proves an opportunity to look back at what you have done within the setting and how well it went. This gives the opportunity to plan the next targets we would like the children to achieve in the term ahead. It also gives the chance to highlight any problems that may have arisen in the setting, such as during a fire drill.

Another benefit of reflective practice is that as a team we can identify any strengths and weaknesses within staff members and can adjust how different activities are carried out. At will also help to point out if any staff members need any training in certain areas. “In 1998, Gibbs depicted reflective practice in a cycle. By relating this cycle to childcare the practitioner can review and improve their practice after thought and discussion”, this is stated by Tassoni et al 2007.

There are many principles that underpin working with children. All of these principles have been influenced by the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Children and are there to ensure car and education for all children. According to Tassoni et al 2007 the first and the most important principle being the welfare of the child. This means that the child’s best interests are the most

important part in our work with children regardless of any other issues that may arise. Keeping children safe and maintaining a healthy and safe environment is also another key principle.

We do this within our own settings everyday by checking that all equipment is safe to use, cleaning any water that is spilled and also by simply watching the children as they go about their day. Working with the families of the children is also important as they spend the most time with the child and therefore have the most knowledge of their child. We must understand that parents are interested in their child’s development so we must have an open, honest relationship with them and listen to any concerns they may have. As childcare practitioners we must value diversity within our setting.

This means we must not discriminate against any child because of their race, skin colour, religion or any other factors that could lead to discrimination. Finally all children have the right to equality of opportunities. This means we must treat children as equality as possible and adapt all activities and experiences so that all the children in our care can all be included.

It is important to value children’s interests because this will help to develop your relationship with the child may getting to know them and this will help them to feel valued within the setting.

Also knowing a child’s interests will make doing things within the setting that they may not enjoy as much as other activities more interesting for example if they do not like puzzles we would provide them with puzzles of their favourite

cartoon character and so on. It is also important to value the child’s experiences while they are in the setting as they may affect how the child approaches different activities, such as if they child has been successful in one activity they will be more willing to try it again over an activities they were not as successful with.

If a child has successfully completed a task well they will want that feeling of success again therefore us as practitioners must this task more challenging for them. However we must not make it a huge challenges as if they fail they will be more unwilling to attempt to try again. Then again if the child has had a bad experience they will need extra support when they are attempting the task again.

Sure start was introduced in 1998. Its children’s centres are in place to offer advice and support to parents. They can be accessed from pregnancy until your child is ready to start primary school. At the moment there are 32 sure start centres in Northern Ireland. Two thirds are based in urban areas’ and the other third are in rural areas’, they are mostly found in places of poverty. Each centre caters to the local community, however there are some main services each centre must supply they are health services, help to find training or employment, parenting advice and also most provide childcare. Many of the services they provide are free but some activities many have a small charge. The EPPNI project studied children's progress and development from age three to eight years old and how progress related to their pre-school experience

and family background. Eight hundred children were chosen and studied until the end of key stage 1. Eighty pre-school settings were involved they ranged between day nurseries, nursery schools and playgroups. Each child chosen for this study was given a free place within that setting for the year they would be attending.

There were also a group of children who had no pre-school experience that were also being studied so to compare with the children who had had a pre-school experience. (http://www. iscfsi. bbk. ac. uk/projects/effective-pre-school-provision-in-northern-ireland) E8 As early years practitioners we need to understand that all children are special and unique. This means as practitioners we must treat all children equally however this means we cannot treat them all in the same way. Some children may need more support at times than other children for example if there has been a death is the family or if a new baby has came into the family.

Also children with special educational need may need more support or different measures put into place such as a picture timetable, posters of different languages around the setting or equipment to make things easier for the child. As well as each child being unique each family is unique. Parents may have beliefs which mean they do not want their child part taking in certain actives, such as anything to do with Christmas. Therefore we must respect their views and enforce what they want within the setting.

Reflective practice is important in improving my performance as it gives me the opportunity to recognise my own strengths and to plan for the future how I can use these

strengths. Also it can show any strength I have in one area that could be used in another area. Reflective practice also highlights any of the weakness I have had during my time in the setting which I can then work on until I feel that it is no longer a weakness. It also gives me a chance to see how much a have developed professionally from when I first started in the setting.

Reflective practice lets me see how well or badly an activity has gone and how I can adjust it for the next time I attempt this activity.

One strategy which will improve learning and performance is time management. To be fully prepared and confident in your work you must have good time management skills. It is important to be aware of how much time any task or assignment will take and also take into account that problems may arise. Also you should break each task or assignment into parts which are similar and then work out how much time each part will take.

It is best to start some work straight away as the information we have learned in class is fresh in our minds and will therefore be easier and quicker to write up. Other factors to take into account when managing your time is how you normally work. Such as do you work well under pressure, are you easily distracted or does stress cause you to work more slowly. By being honest with yourself about how you work you can be more accurate with how much time you will need to finish your work and feel

confident in it. Another element of time management is using your time effectively.

For most people sitting for hours at a time solidly working is not the best option, however working in small bursts towards a goal is a better way to work for most people. Also working in structured bursts helps to prevent from getting distracted as your mind is focused on finishing that one task and not several at one time. This will also help you to feel as if you are making progress. Another strategy which improves learning and performance is to make a personal development plan by setting SMART targets for yourself.

This stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timescale. To set your targets you should decide what you want to achieve, gain feedback on your performance and from there see which area’s you need to develop. Other components to consider is the time they will take to achieve and the help you will need. Firstly you must be specific on what areas you need to develop, such as how you interact with parents. Next you must be aware of when aspects of your plan have been achieved, for example have you gained a good relationship with some parents.

Also you have to be sure that your targets are achievable, such as you will not be able to build a good relationship with parents overnight it will take time. Next you must consider wither your targets are realistic, for example not all parents will be willing to make the effort to develop a relationship with you. Finally you must consider your timescale, how long will it take

you to achieve your goal.

Carrying on from E5 there are also the five P’s of the Northern Ireland Children’s Order to consider. The first being paramountcy this is the key principle to consider for all laws and practice with children.

This means that the welfare of the child is paramount and everything we do must be for the best interests of the child. The next element to consider is parental responsibility. It is now understood that parents have the responsibilities for the care of their child rather than rights over them as it once was. This means we must always keep parents informed of any relevant information on their child. The next is prevention which takes into consideration the chance that children by be removed from their families due to them being in a potently harmful situation.

This principle is there to try and keep children with their families as this is the best option for them in the long run. Also this means we must do everything we can to prevent any harm to children in our care. The next principle is partnership, to best meet the needs of the child we must often work with other professionals. The most important partnership is with the parents as they will know the most about their child. Finally is protection, children should always be kept safe and if the child is in danger of harm they will be removed from the situation.

Sure start centres are normally found in places which are depraved where there tend to be a lot of parents on low or no incomes and also young parents.

Start sure supports practice in early year’s settings as they provide free early years education to those who are unable to pay nursery school fees due to being on low incomes. According to the leaflet on human rights developed by the office of the first minister and the deputy first minister and UNICEF children have the right to an education no matter what their parents financial background is.

Sure start also offers many other services for early years such as on hand early years specialists and also quick access to specialists from many different fields ranging from speech therapies to physiotherapies. This will support practice in early years settings as the child is more likely to reach their full potential if they get the help they need as soon possible. Sure start also offers many different opportunities for parents to develop their parenting, such as parenting classes, help to find a job and even stop smoking clinics.

Most of these classes are weekly which gives parents the opportunity to meet other parents within the area which will help to build strong relationships within the community. This will support the early years setting as many of the children will be interacting with children from their community, which will build on their social skills and self-esteem. As well as the children getting to know each other the parents will be able to start building relationships with other parents and could pick up tips from one another on their parenting skills, this will show diversity between how each parent brings up their children.

Also parents may get ideas from others on how to interact and

play with their children better. Furthermore other early year’s settings will be able to gain ideas from how each sure start centre is laid out and the activities they do for their own settings. However as this is a government funding initiative and due to the current economic climate may cuts are being made to sure start centres. According to government figures around 250 sure start centres closed in 201 . Each sure start centre has to provide a certain level care and education for children and if the government feels the centre is not providing this they will close it down. This would affect early year’s settings as some children may not receive the best care or education possible for them due to the sure start centre in their area closing.

Also sure start is only offered to those who are thought to need it the most, even though other families would also gain a lot from being able to have the use of a sure start centre.

From looking at E7 the EPPNI project studied children's progress and development from age three to eight years old, and how progress related to their pre-school experience and family background. Their progress was monitored by the government so they could judge how each child’s early years experience affected their learning through to key stage one.

When carrying out this study there were eighty pre-school settings involved, they ranged between day nurseries, nursery schools and playgroups. Which were given extra government funding and where also closely monitored by the government. Each had to show they were providing children with a certain level of education

but each in their individual fashions. Each child chosen for this study was given a free place within that setting for the year they would be attending. This gave children who many not have previously been able to.

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