Effective Communication – Level 9
Ability to demonstrate and use a selection of skills in contexts which include a degree of unpredictability.
Students should be able to communicate directly with children, young people and parents/carers using skills to elicit and impart relevant information. For example, responding to enquiries, taking and acting on referrals, talking to children in families they are working with. This includes accurate recording of information (knowing what to include and what to leave out.) This involves use of appropriate IT systems. Any recording should differentiate between fact and opinion.
Students should have an understanding of the potential risks a child might be exposed to and how a child may attempt to convey his or her experiences using verbal or non verbal indicators. Practice teachers and tutors will be required to make clear links between the material on child development and communicating with children. Students need to be able to respond appropriately to the child and the information. This includes knowledge of child protection procedures and their roles and responsibilities, and the roles and responsibilities of other professionals.
Students should be able to demonstrate that they are clear about the purpose of contact with children and their responsibilities. For example, they should be able to articulate why they would see a child without his/her parents being present and what actions they could and would take (under guidance) if access was denied.
Where students are not in a practice learning opportunity where they have direct involvement with children or parents, there may need to be links with other agencies/ teams in order that the student can co-work/be allocated a case involving children or their parents. There are imaginative ways which practice teachers currently facilitate learning within and between teams and these methods can be built upon.
During practice learning opportunities, students need to have the opportunity to present information about child care and child protection both formally and informally. This might include making a presentation to a team meeting, a Children’s Hearing, or a Case Conference.