Support_Programmes_for_the_Promotion_of_Children's_Develpment_Ccld_403

SUPPORT PROGRAMMES FOR THE PROMOTION OF CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT – CCLD 403 It is best to consider all information as confidential when working with families and children as giving out information that should not have been given out can have serious repercussions. This could seriously damage the reputation of the setting as parents will lose trust. It is also important that staff adhere to the confidentiality policy and are given information on a need to know basis. Not everyone needs to have all the information of every child in the setting. All information in my setting is stored in a locked cabinet in the manager’s office of which the access door is coded. All personal information received is protected under the Data Protection Act 1998. This prevents personal information from being used inappropriately. It is important that data recorded on children’s progress and development is reliable and valid. More than one observation should be made on a child and observations should be made during different times, in different situations using different methods and only exactly what is seen should be recorded and not what is known about the child. Observations can be made during various situations such as when a child is interacting with adults or parents, playing alone, playing in pairs or small groups, playing alongside others, during different times of the day or week or whilst engaged in different types of play. Different techniques for recording can also be used and there are strengths and weaknesses to them all. Checklist – This is a structured assessment to show children’s development. It is used to assess in a particular area and is a good way to record developmental milestones in more than one child to show how they vary. A checklist is used by ticking any skills that a child shows and it must be appropriate to the child’s age. The advantages are that it is easy to use, simple, quick, can be self designed, can be repeated to check progress and can be used on several children. The disadvantages are that it is closed data, does not give a rounded picture, doesn’t record any behavior, only records the skills assessed and can make children feel that they have failed if they do not or cannot complete a task. Written Record – This is written in the present tense and gives a brief description of what the child is doing at a particular time. It is used to provide a record of events as they happen by writing down as much as possible of what is seen and heard during an allocated time. Start and finish times should be recorded and it should only be a few minutes long. The advantages are that it allows for spontaneous observations, is easy to do, needs only a pen and paper, provides open data and can record anything of interest. The disadvantages are that it can be difficult to get everything down on paper, needs to be written up afterwards and can only be used for a short time. Time Sample – This helps to gain a more complete picture of a child as they as assessments are carried out at regular intervals over a period of time. Time samples may look at general activity or specific behaviour therefore it should be decided what is to be sampled, the length of time in between and the number required. The advantages are that it is open data, it is simple as the observer watches the child at a decided time and records it, can record activity over long periods and more than one child can be observed. The disadvantages are that other adults may need to be involved, it requires good timekeeping and significant behaviour or important information could be missed. Event Sample – An event sample records any behavior that it has been decided to focus on. A chart should be designed to suit and when the behaviour happens, it is recorded. This can show the frequency or pattern of a particular behaviour if there is concern with regards to the child who is demonstrating it. The advantages are that it is quick and easy to use and provides open data. The disadvantages are that it may need help from others and needs careful planning.