Unit 201 Child and young person development

Unit 201 Child and young person development

Outcome 1 Know the main stages of child and young person development

1.1 – See table.

1.2 – Throughout children’s development, activities and milestones can link into more than one learning area. To give an example of this, I draw on an activity I carried out and observed, involving a child who attended a nursery I was an employee at. It was a creative activity based around a book. First, we had to read the book, which encouraged the child to use their literacy skills as they handled the printed pages with interest. The reading also linked to personal, social and emotional development as the child climbed onto my knee to listen to the story. They were one of my key children, who I had a duty to build a special bond with. After we had finished the book I brought it over to the creative table. The child followed me and sat down. I gave them some paper and a paint brush and indicated to the page they could copy off. The picture was of a bear. The child used their fine motor skills to dip the brush into the paint and to move it around the paper.

Another example of an activity which could link into multiple developmental areas is role play in the home corner. Children acting out things they have seen in the home environment shows an understanding of their world. The children might use numbers when counting the number of apples they can find in the fruit bowl or how many bowls they need to feed all of the dolls. By playing together and sharing they are developing their personal, social and emotional skills. The children will talk as they play and make noises, meaning they are communicating.

Outcome 2 Understand the kinds of influences that affect children and young people’s development
2.1 –There are numerous aspects that can affect children and young people’s development. Examples of these are as follows:

D) Background
If children are “looked after” or in care, and have been for quite some time, it could greatly affect their development. The child may remember being given up by their parents and they may blame themselves for this. The child will miss its mother and father and may misbehave for any other family. This will cause the family distress and may force them to give the child up. Then, the child’s emotions and behaviour will spiral out of control. They may begin to lash out at school, meaning they get themselves into trouble. They may even end up in inclusion or worse, excluded from school. Their grades will be affected because of this, and in turn, this will impact on their future. The child could isolate themselves, afraid to trust anyone, meaning they will struggle to build bonds and friendships. They could feel very lonely. It is important that they receive lots of support from teachers and carers.

If a child comes from a background of poverty, it could create self esteem issues. This could be due to the fact that they may face bullying at school if they are not dressed in the latest trends, or don’t have the latest model of phone etc. The child would become very withdrawn and this would affect their social development and ability to forge friendships. On occasions like school trips, the child may miss out if their parents cannot afford to pay for them to go. Again this would affect their social development and understanding of the world, if they are unable to travel outside of their own environment. However, most schools provide funding for those families who are less fortunate than others, in order to promote equal opportunities.

E) Health
Children with a visual or a hearing impairment will have to adapt their life to cater for their needs. They may develop at different rates. In school, they may be referred to the Special Educational Needs department, where they can receive help from specially trained and qualified members of staff. For example, if they have a visual impairment, objectives and instructions relating to school work may be recorded on a CD and played back to the child. This will ensure that they are given the opportunity to reach their full learning potential and achieve good grades. The child’s confidence may suffer as an affect of their impairment, they may find being in busy environments such as school quite distressing. They might struggle to make friends or could even suffer bullying from children who do not understand their disability.

A child who is diagnosed with a serious and chronic medical illness is at greater risk of developing emotional problems. Unlike a child who has a temporary illness such as the flu, a child with a chronic illness must cope with knowing that the disease is permanent, incurable and may even get worse with time. They may be unable to understand why the sickness has occurred and may assume it is a punishment for being "bad." He or she may become angry with their parents and doctors for not being able to cure the illness. The child may need lots of time off school to attend appointments and to rest at home. This will affect their school grades as they will miss out on parts of their learning. If they are not integrating with other children, they may not have had the opportunity to make any friends, meaning their social and communicational development could be delayed. Illness will obviously affect a child’s physical development as well.

F) Environment
If a child and their family move to England from another country, the child will face many factors that could affect aspects of their development. The education system in England will be very different from the one that they have been used to back home. This will mean the child could be confused when they begin attending a British school, and will require extra support to help them to learn and achieve effectively. For example, Acklam Grange school have a Personalised Learning Centre which is where children who have English as a second language can be referred. Foreign children may struggle to integrate and to make bonds with children if they are shy or unsure, because of the language barrier. This will cause delays in their social and emotional development.

In some cases, children have no previous education before they start at mainstream school. This could be down to them moving around a lot or due to them being home schooled. These children will struggle with the routine of the school day, finding their way around the school building may be challenging and allowances should be made by teachers while the children are settling in. Children who have been used to staying at home may find large groups of children overwhelming and this may make them reluctant to interact with their peers, causing affects on their social and emotional development.

2.2 – Describe examples the importance of recognising and responding to concerns about children and young persons development

It is vital that any concerns staff have about a child are investigated and monitored, in order to effectively safeguard them and to encourage positive development. To give an example of why, I will draw on an experience I had when working in a nursery. I was the child’s key carer and so it was my responsibility to observe her development, to ensure that she was thriving and getting the most out of her time at nursery. Looking at past observations and watching her play, it became apparent to me that the child should be attempting to take steps by her age. However, the child had not shown any interest in pulling herself up or supporting her own weight at all. I carried out activities to test this, encouraging her to stand up at the walker and put her feet flat on the floor. The child struggled to do this, as her feet appeared to slope inwards when she was stood up, supported. I expressed my concerns to my room leader, she urged me to pass my observation onto the child’s parent. That evening when the child’s parent came to nursery, I explained what we had noticed. The child’s parent stood her child up and looked at her feet; she noticed what I meant about the unsteadiness. The parent thanked me for informing her and said that she would book a doctors appointment for her child. After the doctor had seen the child’s feet, they referred them to a physiotherapist. After a session of physiotherapy, the child was fitted up for Pedro shoes, which would support the sole and arch of her foot. From then on, the child attended regular physio sessions and wore her shoes. After a few months, there was a visible difference in her feet and she had started pulling herself up. A few weeks after this, the child was walking steadily. The parent could not thank our nursery enough for highlighting the issue in her child’s development.

Another example which highlights the importance of recognising and responding to concerns would be: when a child was referred to the Personalised Learning Centre at Acklam Grange. The student was struggling in lessons, especially in English. They were known to sit at their desk all lesson and refuse to do any work. At first, this behaviour was mistaken for defiance and the student would often be sent out of class. The child had a particular bond with their history teacher and expressed a great interest in the Second World War. The student was given a homework task of writing a poem about the war. When they handed their piece of work in, their teacher noticed the way the student had written their D’s backwards and the way their spelling was inconsistent. The teacher referred the student to the PLC, where they were supported on a one-to-one level. After this referral, the pupil was diagnosed with dyslexia. From then, the proper means of support were set in place for the student and things greatly improved, from their behaviour to the quality of their school work. It is vital that concerns are expressed throughout the school, so that everybody can work together to do what is best for the child and to help them achieve their full potential.

Outcome 3 Understand the potential effects of transitions on children and young people’s development
3.1 –Transitions which are experienced by most children and young people are as follows:
Starting nursery
Moving on to primary School
Starting secondary school
Puberty
The beginning/ending of relationships
Entering the world of work.

3.2 – Transitions which may only experienced by some children and young people are:
Bereavements
Separation of parents
Birth of a sibling
Moving house or area
Chronic illness

3.3 – Describe examples of how transitions may affect children and young person’s behaviour and development

Transitions of any kind will affect children and young person’s development and behaviour. An example would be when a pupil at school had experienced bereavement. The girl’s brother had been ill for quite some time and had been hospitalised. Unfortunately, he had lost his battle with a disease and passed away in November 2013. The girl was off school for quite some time and was home schooled. After two months of this, the girl decided she was ready to come back to school. As a student she had previously been very bubbly, confident and hard working. On returning to school, the girl discovered that her best friend had become part of another group and no longer wanted to hang around with her and do things that they used to do together. This made the student very emotional and withdrawn. She blamed herself for being off school for so long and for losing the friendship of her best friend. The student lost all motivation and her grades began to slip. Teachers were aware that this was out of character for the girl and so referrals were made to ensure that she received the support she needed. The student was sent for counselling every week which helped her to come to terms with her brother’s death. Her confidence improved again and she found new friends to hang around with. Her development was back on track socially, emotionally and intellectually.

Starting secondary school can be a very daunting experience for children. There are many big changes from primary school. Many teenagers "go backwards" for a while as they learn to adjust to all the new changes. Young people who have been at the top of the school in primary school feel important and valued. When they start secondary school it is usually a much bigger place with many more students and they are at the bottom rather than the top of the school. In primary school students often have only one teacher to relate to for most of their subjects, and one classroom. At secondary school they usually have different teachers and classrooms for every subject and this can be very confusing. Their primary school friends may be going to different schools or be in different classes so they may need to make new friends. A young person may show stress in the following ways:
Being irritable and short tempered
Being disagreeable or not wanting to talk to their parents
Sometimes wanting to be treated as an adult, other times wanting to be a child again
Changing behaviour in order to impress, e.g. silliness or rebelling against parents
Tummy aches, head aches or not wanting to go to school.
It is very important that teachers provide a welcoming atmosphere for new students and that parents are supportive by providing reassurance and giving the child as much control as you can, so they feel they can handle the situation.