E105_Tma_02

My Professional Practice: Where am I now' Ethical statement In this TMA all names have been changed and initials have been used to protect identity. The setting, children and parent have given their consent for me to carry out activities and observe their child. I am aware of the principles of confidentiality and all information collected is confidential. Participants were told that they could withdraw at any time. Section 1 Introduction I currently work as a nursery nurse in a private day care nursery with children aged between 6months to 4 years. I started of working in the baby room where I particularly gained a lot of knowledge – helping change, feed and stimulate the babies and supervising sleep times. After working for 6 months in the baby I was approached by my manager to become head of baby room, although I was a little nervous I accepted and now am head of the baby room in my setting. My role is to plan activities, observe children, and make sure there is a clean and safe environment for the children in my care. On a day-to-day basis I engage with parents and colleagues. I also manage the daily planning, observations and folder work for each child. My setting provides a warm and welcoming environment with a team who are always there to help. Section 4 My current level of experience for PP6- Leadership and change would be a rating of 2- a little experience, confidence and skills. Although I am taking out a leader role being the head of the baby room and I get on well with everyone at my setting including parents and carers I still am reluctant at telling people what to do as this may cause conflict or confrontation. Sometimes I find it hard to make decisions and don’t have the confidence or courage to put my ideas in front in case they are criticised. I would like to have the ability to make changes in my setting and have the confidence to implement my ideas to help improve the quality of provision in my setting. (KS3) As block 1 (p.24) states whether or not you are designated as ‘in charge’ or ‘a manager’, you are still in a position to reflect on your practice, effect change and influence the quality of provision in your setting. (CS1) Occasionally when I do have the courage to put my ideas forward, I am always afraid they might back fire and not go according to plan. For example I was told to change the room layout of the baby room according to my likeability, although I did spend 2 hours in setting up the baby room I was still in doubt that it might not be liked and not suitable for the babies. After setting up, the room was complimented by most of the staff and even a few parents. (KS3) For PP1- Inclusive practice, my area of development would be to increase my knowledge and understanding of relevant legislations and how these legislations relate to my provision and daily practice. I have previously read about different legislations while I studying level 3 in childcare and the course E100, but still don’t hold much information to hand about these. I classify this as my weak point and find it difficult to understand these legislations. My aim is to establish a culture to promote positive, non-discriminatory and inclusive relationships with and between each chid and family I intend to do this by involving each parent and child to the setting, my aim will be to study more into debt about legislations relating to my practice, and implement these in the meetings I will hold with parents at the setting. (KS3) Good practice means promoting equal opportunities and this can be achieved by implementing anti-discriminatory practices. Therefore it is important to put equal opportunities into action. This involves: a knowledge of equal rights legislation, working in partnership with parents to meet the needs of children who may require additional support, providing a safe and supportive environment where discrimination or prejudice are challenged. Working together and taking part in regular training and staff appraisal and review sessions will help maintain these standards of good practice. As block 1 (P.9) say’s ‘Professional qualifications and training are seen as crucial in raising standards and promoting ways for professionals to work together’. I would also work together with my colleagues and plan activities where children can be encouraged to recognise their own unique qualities as well as the characteristics they share with other children (CS1) In regards to PP4- Safeguarding and promoting children’s well being I consider my self to have a reasonable amount of knowledge, as I have always strived to develop appropriate professional relationships with children and families. I can confidently say that I always provide a safe, secure environment for each child that meets regulatory requirements. (KS3) My opinion is that all children should be provided with first hand experiences, which will encourage learning. The most important thing while working with children is to keep them safe. However individual needs need to be taken into consideration and the environment should be planned to accommodate all needs. My setting has a safeguarding officer and also offers safeguarding training courses, I would like to carry out this training as it will be beneficial to my practice as well as improve the way I work with children. As block 1 states ‘ Today all professionals are trained to realise that they have a responsibility for safeguarding children’s wellbeing’ (cited in block 1 p.10) (CS1) Training and studies will have impact on the opportunities and experiences we have in our day-to-day practice in relation to supporting young children’s learning and development, it will also improve the skills of engaging with parents, colleagues and other agencies and safeguarding children’s wellbeing. References Department for children, Schools and Families (2008) Practice Guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage, Nottingham, DCSF The nations strategies Early Years Department for children, schools and families. Every child a talker: guidance for early language lead practitioners The National Strategies Early Years (2009) Learning, Playing and Interacting, good practice in te Early Years Foundation Stage The Open University (2010) Exploring reflective practice working with others www.dcsf.gov.uk/everychildmatters/safeguardingchildren www.fairplayforchildren.org www.open.ac.uk