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1.1 Explain why positive relationships with children and young people are important and how these are built and maintained. Working successfully with children and young people is an important starting point in building a good relationship with them. If children feel valued and comfortable with you they will respond better. This means that children are most likely to enjoy playing, learning and behave well in the setting. The basis to build a positive relationship with children and young people is taking into consideration their needs and adopting ways in which these needs are met. Good relationships with children and young people have a huge effect on how we work with them. To have a positive relationship with children and young people is very important for many reasons such as: Its helps babies and children feel comfortable with practitioners and they can have easy transition. Its helps children’s languages develop because they feel confident in being able talk to us. It gives children and young people a sense of security in knowing there is someone who is understand and cares about their needs. Positive relationships help children to feel secure emotionally and they participate in their play and learning activities with confidence. If we have strong relationships with children and young people then they are less likely to show unwanted behaviour as we understand and meet their needs. Positive relationships with children and young people help us plan according to their development and consider their interests when we are planning. Positive relationships with children and young people help us to respond more effectively because we recognise their expressions, gestures and emotions. Positive relationships with children help to have high self-esteem and it shows practitioner values their self culture and believes. Positive relationships can give children and young people emotional support and they can encourage them to have self-respect. To build a positive relationship with children and young people according to Tassoni you have to underpin some factors which are as follows: • “ communicating effectively • identifying and sorting out conflict and disagreements • being consistent and fair • showing respect and courtesy • valuing and respecting individuality • keeping promises and honouring • monitoring impact of own behaviour on others • keeping confidentiality as appropriate • recognising and responding appropriately to power base underpinning relationships “( Tassoni, 2010, pg 155) Communicating effectively The basis of a strong relationship with children and young people is to have good communication skills and find ways to communicate with them effectively. It is how we adopt the style and ways that we might do according to their age and stage of development. For example responding to a 14 year old in the same way as we do to a three year old is not going to work. So we have to adopt the way which is best and according to their age. Communication is also about how we use expression, body language and gesture. Identifying and sorting out conflicts and disagreements Children have conflicts and disagreements same as adults. As adults we have to find ways to recognise and solve these conflicts in a fair and mature manner. It is important in order for children to trust in us that we can identify difficulties and help them find ways to solve these situations. Being consistent and fair Children and young people rely on us for help. Being consistent and taking charge requires making a decision and sticking to it. It pays us to remember that on a daily basis a child is constantly asking by their actions and reactions. They also need adults to be consistent and fair so that they can understand routines and boundaries that are set for them. It is important for us as adults to be consistent with our attitude and that we do not show them mood swings. Children and young people need to know we will be fair with them in dealing with their disagreements. It is also important for them to know that we listen to them before making any decisions and their needs be taken into consideration before we make our conclusion on any final decisions. Showing respect and courtesy It is necessary to show children we respect their values and show courtesy to them. For example a child that cannot speak English that well we can use some word his/her home language speak and also find other ways to communicate. It is important when speaking to children our voice tone should be warm and courteous. Valuing and respecting individuality As a Practitioner we recognise that respect, patience, honesty, reliability, resilience, trustworthiness and integrity are valued by children and young people. The basis of an anti bias practice is to recognise others individuality. Children and young people have different strengths and stages of development and different ways to respond in situations. To respect and value their individuality show that we are comfortable with their differences. Keeping promises and honouring commitments For children small things matter, for example, to make a promise for a turn on the computer they will remember it in mind and question us on it if we do not keep our promise. These are the basic means for children and for these simple reasons may find it hard to trust us. Children and young people need to know they can rely on us and be able to trust us in daily situations. Monitoring the impact of your behaviour on others Working professionally with children and young people is to monitor our behaviour then if necessary to adopt for their needs. Keeping confidentiality as a approach As part of working professionally with children and young people we have to maintain confidentially in regarding to any information passed onto us by parents or other professionals. This information is helpful for us when we are working with children. If we cannot keep information confidential we will break their trust. If we cannot keep their trust and matters confidential with others that means we can’t have an honest trustworthy relationship with them.