Develop positive relationships Essay

Learning Outcome 1 : Be able to develop positive relationships with children and young people. 1.1. . Explain why positive relationships with children and young people are important and how these are built and maintained. Developing a positive relationships with children and young people is extremely important as it could impact hugely on their learning, development confidence and skills learnt as they grow. Nurseries and schools have allocated key workers assigned to develop a bond, care for the childs welfare and liaise closely with parents of the child. Children and young people thrive in all stages of learning and development if a positive relationships are in place and maintained. Children and young people need to feel comfortable with the people around them and one another. This will build confidence and encourage them to try new areas of learning at every stage of their development. If relationships between parents, care providers are positive the child will feel secure and can easily separate from parents when needed. Children are more likely to want to participate and enjoy activities if the feel happy and safe in their environment. Positive relationships also alleviate to some degree negative/unwanted behavior, as caregivers are more likely to recognise the initial signs and meet the child’s needs prior to any adverse behavior. Verbal communication between child and adult will also help the child develop language skills and the confidence to express themselves. Practitioners/care providers should try to recognise a child’s needs by their emotions/facial expressions. Knowing the child well – their interests/likes and dislikes will enable the practitioner to responding to its needs and emotions, plan for the child’s future developmental needs and build strong positive relationships. 1.2. . Demonstrate how to listen to and build relationships with children and young people. When building relationships with children we first need to get to know them – how they like to communicate – this may be through facial expressions, body language and gestures especially in the very young. They need to feel  confident and secure within that relationship. When trying to build relationships practitioners need to be consistent and fair – listening to the child and understanding the message they are trying to portray. Children need to know their feelings are important and their needs will be taken into consideration. Practitioners should ensure that their own emotions/feelings (having a bad day/quite and withdrawn) are not transferred on to the child. Building good relationships with parents is important as they too need to feel that they and their children are being treated fairly within the setting and that everything that can be done is being done to assist their child. Being able to identify and sort out conflicts and disagreements fairly and calmly will develop trust between adult and child and will teach the child how to respond to future disagreements with other children. Respect and courtesy should be shown to children and young people at all times to that they may in turn learn how to develop these skills when interacting with others. Practitioners can being to teach children from a very young age how to respect other people (feelings and emotions)/their belongings/teach good manners and how to act in an appropriate way. If children are spoken to warmly, encouraged and shown respect they will in turn develop these skills for themselves. Valuing and respecting individuality will help children to develop their own strengths, talents and attitudes and be accepting of another childs individuality. Allowing children to explore their individuality will show that we respect and are comfortable with their differences and encourage them to try new activities/skills which they may also enjoy. Show that we all accept and encourage individuality in people. To feel secure children need to know that they can rely on their care providers. We should therefore honor all promises and commitments made. Forgetting a promise or changing our mind may cause a child to distrust or become wary of adults. They may feel let down or disappointed. Keeping a check on the way we interact with young people, monitoring their reactions to us will indicate if we need to change our approach or way of teaching. Some children are sensitive, some outspoken and confident etc. Once we know the child we should then adapt our approach accordingly. Maintaining confidentially is extremely important when working with children and young people. Children need to know that they are valued and respected and that if they have worries or concerns they can talk with an adult confidentially. However, circumstances where abuse/neglect have taken place or are suspected, care providers have a duty to report the situation to the appropriate person thereby protecting the child. Documents/reports should be kept locked away. Permission should be sought prior to photographs/information being shared. Personal information regarding a child or young person should not be discussed /given out unless requested by professionals or appropriate authorities. Parents also need to feel that their information or conversations will be treated with respect and confidentiality. Consideration should be given to how care providers speak and give direction to children and young people. Responses should be appropriately given so the child does not feel intimidated or ordered. Children should always feel protected and secure in their environment. 1.3. . Evaluate own effectiveness in building relationships with children or young people. I believe I am able to build positive relationships with children and young people. With younger children, having a calm and gentle manor, making eye contact (at the childs level), expressing concern when needed will begin to form a positive relationships. When possible new children arriving at my setting are offered one to one time so that a strong initial relationship can begin to develop. Spending time with them alone, showing an interest in their skills/activities, encouraging and playing with them whilst trying to form a special bond with the child will help them to see me as a person  they can trust and someone who cares about them. Babies need physical contact to build a relationship – cuddling and talking gently to will reassure and settle . Babies will often cry as they need to be comforted, others may need some kind of interaction for a while. Getting to know the baby, understanding its body language and responding to its needs will help form and build a trusting r elationship. With older children I believe taking an interest in their abilities and skills, talking about their hobbies, listening to them, praising and giving encouragement, showing approval enables me to build strong relationships. Learning Outcome 2 : Be able to build positive relationships with people involved in the care of children and young people. 2.1. . Explain why positive relationships with people involved in the care of children and young people are important. Positive relationships are important because personal information has to be shared regarding the childs education and well-being. Good communication is essential to allow various carers/agenices/schools etc to communicate and pass on accurate information. It allows a childs care to be consistent, identifies needs, monitors the childs progress and ideas and skills can be shared regarding the child. It also shows the parent that professionals and carers alike are all working towards the development and well being of their child. 2.2. . Demonstrate how to build positive relationships with people involved in the care of children and young people. To ensure that positive relationships are maintained all parties concerned regarding the development and needs of a child should be invited to comment, offer advice, make suggestions and pass on information to plan for the immediate and future needs of the child. There are various ways that all parties who have an interest in the child can be kept in the loop – on-line communication, meetings , telephone, written reports etc. Sharing and  recording information is fundamental to a childs progress and to ensure all needs are met. Parents hold valuable information regarding their child so should be kept informed of decisions made regarding their childs emotional and educational development. – their opinion sought and be allowed to contribute in the decision process. Parents should be invited along to meetings, regularly updated and be given the opportunity to talk with all parties involved in their childs welfare. Confidentiality should be remembered at all times.