Working with children from birth to age 5 years 5 of the main points to be considered when planning a safe and reassuring child care environment are: * Making sure it is hygienic and clean, you can do this by sterilizing everything at the end of the day. * Small furniture for children so are able to sit on chairs and get off them too. * Make sure doors and gates are closed so the children do not run off. * Visitors to sign in, this is needed because you can make sure there are no strangers in the building which will be unsafe for staff as well as children. CRB checks are needed to see if people who would like to work with children do not have any criminal records. D2: Two physical needs of children from birth up to 5 years are: food and water and sleep and rest which would keep you alive. Food gives children energy as well as keeping them alive and water helps prevent dehydration. Sleep and rest helps them grow. Two health needs of children from birth up to 5 years are: protection from injury and abuse: child protection and stimulation for example, play and social interaction they are things that would keep you healthy.
Also protection from infections for example immunisations and check if they child has head lice or fleas so they cannot spread it to another child. D3: Two ways to meet the individual needs of babies’ ages 0–1 year are: when a parent tells you their baby aged 3 months only can have formula milk which means the setting will need to make sure they know how to make this sort of milk for the particular baby, but the parent has to provide with the formula.
Another way to meet the individual needs of babies’ ages 0-1 year can be medication. A child may be on medication for a certain illness and it is the parent’s duty to let people who will be looking after their child to know when the child should take its medication. Two ways to meet the needs of young children ages 1-5 years are: one way could be gathering information about what the child likes and or needs, and then using those information to provide the things needed to ensure the needs are met up.
By doing this it would show practitioners have thought carefully on what will be needed to make the child comfortable at the setting and not letting the child feel left out. Another way could be meeting the parents’ wishes can be religious needs such as eating specific food, for example if a child is a Muslim he or she will only be allowed to eat halal food so the setting will have to provide for that child’s need and give it separately from the children who can eat food such as pork.
D4: Two ways a practitioner can develop and maintain relationships with families, one way can be the use of body language for example the use of eye contact. When a parent is talking to you, you should always have eye contact and good body language to show them you are listening to what they’ve got to say, this shows you are interested in what they have got to say and that you will take good care of their children.
Also another way to develop and maintain relationships with families can be respecting the parent’s beliefs and values. By doing this would help develop trust and shows the parents that they can trust the practitioners will not discriminate the child and will be inclusive and help work around the child so the child does not feel left out when they are celebrating different celebrations such as Eid and Christmas.
D5: A practitioner can work in a team with colleagues to support parents by having a set timetable to open the door to greet parents. This way parents will be able to meet all the practitioners and not just their child’s key worker. This will make sure practitioners are co-operative with one another and everything in the class will run smoothly and parents will feel more relaxed. Another way practitioners can work in a team with colleagues to support parents is by having team meetings.
By having team meetings, practitioners can share ideas of what they can do in lessons to help develop children’s learning, they plan activities for a group of children or individuals, together and share information such as what a parent may want for their child for example a mother might want the child to drink a lot of water throughout the day, so the practitioner would tell all the other staffs in the class about it so they can provide water for that child.
Team meetings are really important because they can discuss children’s progress and how children can improve and what a child will need and what they have to meet for improvements. D6: A practitioner can support the protection of children in the setting by familiarising yourself with signs of abuse. Abuse can be from physical to mental. Signs of physical abuse can be burns and scolds such as burns of the backs of the hands, feet, legs, genitals, or buttocks, burns which have a clear shape, like a circular igarette burn. There are other signs such as large oval shaped bite marks. As well as visible signs of physical abuse, children may also show sign of abuse in their behaviour which can be: depression, anxiety, aggression, violence, problems with relationships and socialising, trying to hide injuries under clothing, running away from home and being distant and withdrawn.
