Lead Practice That Supports Positive

Explain different theories and frameworks of child and young person development. As Believed by Erik Erikson, stages of a child’s development are linked to their social and cognitive development, instead of just being led by their physical needs. He looked at how culture and society can influence a persons development. Basic conflicts are encountered at each stage of development and if these conflicts are not resolved at the end of each stage may result in the child forming a negative effect in the later stages of development (Leadership and Management in Health and Social Care and children and young people’s services, 2nd Edition, Joanne McKibbin and Alix Walton, 2008).

However Abraham Maslow developed a theory called the ‘Hierarchy of Needs’, a five stage model. Each stage has two levels of need- basic and advanced. Maslow’s theory suggests that an individuals needs must be met at each stage before moving onto the next. Maslow believed that a minority of people are able to get to the top of the ‘hierarchy’. People prioritise their basic needs i.e. if a person is made redundant, usually their main concern would be to get another job to pay for the bills rather than seeing it as an opportunity to progress in other areas. if a person is depraved of their basic needs are likely to have a fixation on a particular set of needs i.e. well paid, successful adults who grew up extremely deprived may fixate over keeping enough food in their fridge.

Sigmund Freud claims that a child’s relationships with their parents greatly effects the way the child develops morally. We learn how to behave socially acceptable through the modelling of others. If a child witnesses a parent/carer behave negatively then the child may feel that it is acceptable to treat other people like this. Freud stressed the importance of childhood events. He focused on mental disorders. according to Freud, child development is described as a series of Psychosexual stages (Three essays on sexuality 1915) He outlined these stages as Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency and Genital. He explained that each stage plays a role in adult personality. If a child does not experience and complete each stage could develop a fixation that could later influence adult personality and behaviour.

Within Bexley all Early Years settings it is a requirement that they all follow the same Early Years Foundation Stage framework (EYFS). This particular framework covers all 7 areas of a child’s development for the ages of 0-60+ months. Each area has sub-sectioning to be reviewed regularly for each individual:

*Personal, Social and Emotional development
*Communication and Language development
*Physical development
*Literacy
*Mathematics
*Understanding of the World
*Expressive Arts and Designs
Within these it details the correct progression that we should expect from each individual. A child’s progress is tracked daily/monthly/termly so that Health Care professionals can be notified if any of these areas are either not being met or not at the pace expected for the individuals age. This means that children/young adults can receive some form of support through their setting.

Explain the potential impact on service provisions of different theories and approaches. Relevant theories and approaches have been incorporated into the everyday running of my setting, bringing the children up using a holistic and people centred approach, We work alongside the local authority and parents/carers to ensure that all regulations are being followed. The Children’s Act 1989 – This allows us to know that both children and parents/carers are receiving the support that they need. It also explains to us as a setting, what we should be doing to help the children (Ofsted), all of this has become a legal requirement to ensure that the children have the ideal environment for each individual to develop in. The children have an input about their care, which is visible through-out the setting and all forms of progress is monitored.

Critically analyse the move towards outcomes based services for children and young people.
Sure start centres are known to have a positive effect on both children and parents. Any concerns that a parent/carer may have can be picked up by outreach workers and other agencies who attend the centres for example Health Visitors etc. Children and families can be referred to support agencies such as SALT or positive steps. However these assessments are carried out over short sessions and you are unlikely to receive prompt attention because evidence needs to be gathered before the referral process.

The main aim of Sure Start is to offer support to parents from pregnancy and give young children under four from the most disadvantaged areas the best possible start in life. It will aim to promote the physical, intellectual, social and emotional development of pre-school children to ensure they can flourish at home and when they get to school. The centres are open to all parents, carers and children, many of the services are free, you can get help and advice on a child and family health, parenting, money, training and employment.

Sure Start services are provided through a holistic approach, bringing health, education and parenting support services together in a coordinated way. It is designed and delivered at a local level through a network of local statutory agencies and community-based voluntary organisations working in the fields of health, early education and family/parenting support. The core services are; outreach and home visiting, family support, primary and community healthcare and advice, good quality play, learning and childcare experiences for children, both group and home-based and support for all children in the community, recognising their differing needs

The types of services and support offered varies, but can include: Ante natal support and advice, post natal support including breastfeeding support, programmes for babies and young children such as baby massage, baby yoga, play sessions, programmes for parents such as parenting courses, nutrition, nurturing, fathers groups, support for ethnic minority families and health related support from midwives, health visitors and speech and language therapists All Sure Start projects now provide a Developmental Programme for two to three year olds which aims to enhance social and emotional development, build on communication and language skills and encourage imagination through play.

The draw back is that many parents believe that if they are entitled to some form of free care then they are going to place their child into a setting, which is fair enough but if a child has a form of special need they are better off in a setting that will be able to cater to their needs which costs more money and that means that they are going to  receive less of an entitlement. Within my setting i had a child who required specialist care but their parents felt that they would benefit more from being in a standard setting. this was not wise because we did not have the resources to cater to the child. the nursery was not structured to accommodate a child in a wheel chair, resulting in the child having to leave us from lack of sustainability to their education.

This can help some children to be prepared for starting pre-school education. The Programme is not intended to be a universal service for all children in the year before starting pre-school education but is aimed primarily at those children who are likely to benefit most from this support. (nidirect.gov.uk, Sure Start services)