assignment 013

1. In our setting, it is important for us to work with parents/carers/guardians as this benefits the children that we care for. It may be that the child has an illness or allergy that we need to be made aware of, issues at home or school, behaviour change, additional needs etc. We would expect the parents/carers to let us know about these kind of things relating to their child so that we can provide the best care possible. If we are not kept up to date, we may miss something, eg. We are not told that a child is allergic to a certain food, and we may offer it to the child at lunch or snack time which of course would be very dangerous for them. Also, we as child minders would need to act in the same way, and let a parent/carer know of any changes/ additional needs for their child. If they have sustained an injury whilst in our care, been unwell, behaviour issues, or if their school have notified us about something that we need to pass on to the parent. Good communication is key in our workplace. To try and give parents as much information as possible, each child has their own book in which we record what they have eaten, the times their nappies were changed and what time they had a nap. We also write about the activities they did, their mood and behaviour, or if they have achieved any next steps. This is so that the parents can read about their childs day, and it is also a good record for us to keep track of their progress etc.
2. It is important for us to work with other professionals as they also have some involvement in the childs life. This may be a social worker, doctor, school teacher etc. The child may have additional needs and require extra assistance at school, so their teacher would need to be made aware, and we would make sure to help the child as much as we can at our setting.
If there are issues at home, the child may have a social worker who we would also be in contact with and we would share information or we would pass on any concerns that we have about abuse or neglect etc. If we did not do this, ultimately the child would suffer as they will not get the help that they need.
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4. We also work with our colleagues to share information and advise of anything that we think could benefit the child. For example, if I see a child do something such as take their first few steps, but their key person misses it, I would let them know so that they can work with the child to help them with their walking, and also record it in their development folder as a next step they have reached. Of course, we would also have to let a manager know if we saw any behaviour from a colleague that we thought was inappropriate. This is because if we did not report it, it could be dangerous for the children in our care, and we wouldn’t be doing our best to keep them safe and happy in our setting.