1,954
7
Essay, 13 pages (3500 words)

Unit 4 assignment childcare essay

Unit 4 Assignment E1 There are many legislations that influence healthy safe and secure environments for early years settings these include: the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 which all settings have responsibilities under this means that settings must meet certain rules to make sure all children our safe. It also means that settings have to be careful that there is no risk of injuries to anyone. This means that everyone in a children’s setting has responsibility for the safety and health of everyone there.

Regarding settings which educate or care for children the Health and Safety at Work Act states: that buildings should be in a good stable position with the safety of the people using it, the building and surroundings should be safe and clean, all equipment of the setting should be stored and used safely and that working practises must promote safety and health of children. Another legislation is the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrence Regulations 1995 this requires the report of setting relating accidents, diseases and dangerous occurrences. It applies to all the settings activities however it doesn’t to all incidents.

The following are the things that must be reported to the health and safety person in the setting. Death or very serious injury to a child, staff member or member of the public, certain setting related illnesses and dieses, an over three day injury and a dangerous occurrence- something that has clearly could have been done but does not actually result in a reportable injury. Another legislation is the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 which states that substances which can injure or make people ill should be used as well as stored safely, for instance substances such as bleach, paints and chemicals.

This legislation states that any potentially dangerous substances or materials must be labelled showing they are hazardous also they must be stored correctly in a locked cupboard. E2 There is many common accidents that children can have and there are many procedures to prevent them as well: * A very common accident is suffocation as babies and young children cannot push covers or other items off their face to prevent this no pillows or duvets should be used with a child under 1 year, also suffocation from plastic bags is very often with children and babies as they see the bag as a toy and explore it. Falling; down stairs, from highchairs, raised surfaces, cots etc. happens very often with children as when they become mobile they want to explore and don’t have any understanding of danger, the prevention for this occurrence is always use a stair gate in a setting, have a suitable harness when a child is in a highchair and never leave a child on a raised surface. * There are many common illnesses amongst children as well such as chickenpox (varicella) is a disease caused by infection with the varicella zoster virus. The symptoms include fever and an itchy, blister-like rash.

Other more severe complications can occur, including bacterial infection of the skin, pneumonia, and swelling of the brain. To prevent this illness it is best to make sure the child is vaccinated as well as remembering that it is highly contagious so if any child has it in the setting their parents should be informed and they should be taken home and treated so no other child in the setting can be infected. * Asthma attacks- make sure the setting enquire all information from parents about their child’s asthma control and current treatment.

This information can be recorded on a settings asthma or illness record sheet. If a child has an asthma attack the setting should make them comfortable (in whatever position is best for them) away from the other children in a quiet area. To prevent attacks make sure the child has their inhaler or medication kept in the setting in an easily accessible location. Not locked away but still out of reach of other children. Before active activities, carry his/her medication. They may be shy about this, encourage positive attitudes towards children with medical conditions.

On school trips carry his/her medication at all times. Inform the child’s parents if the child has an asthma exacerbation or uses their reliever medication. E3 A child aged 1 usually needs a set routine including naps and quiet time, to stop them getting angry, agitated, upset or tired. Children under two are usually kept in a separate place to the older children in the setting as they don’t know that younger children should be treated carefully and differently so they can play rough.

As soon as the child comes in they should be given attention and help them settle as many children aged 1 years are upset when their parents are absent or leave for long periods of time, when they are settled they should be helped to interact with the other babies and young children then once playing they should be quite content and do not need to be disturbed unless they hurt themselves or one of the other children where the playing should be stopped immediately, if it was a hit or injury towards another child they should be separated.

If it was an injury it should be seen to, treated properly and recorded in the accident book. Usually the child will find a game to play or a toy to play with or the one caring for the child could set up a small, easy, simple activity for them such as playing with soft or age appropriate toys in imaginary setting for instance ‘ princesses in a kingdom’. As it reaches late morning they will most likely need to be fed milk, formula or soft food, if they are placed in a highchair they must have a harness to prevent them falling out.

They may also need their nappy changing if they are in nappies, the one changing their nappy must was their hands and wear gloves throughout the process and follow the clear instructions set down by the setting. They should also be present when the child is on the nappy changing area as it is usually quite high up and there is a chance of the child falling if unsupervised. Changing their nappy will stop them becoming uncomfortable, unhappy or upset. Then as it comes into the afternoon they should be provided with their quiet time for instance a book being read to them in a soft voice to calm them.

They will most likely drift off at this point or if they are just drowsy they can be aided to fall asleep by the carer singing a calm soft light song. If or when they fall asleep they should be left to sleep naturally and not purposely woken up or disturbed unless necessary for instance in an emergency or their parents come for them, if they are woken up unnecessarily they will most likely become restless or unsettled. When they awake they can be a bit hazy they should be left to come round fully, once they are up and all together they should be involved in a fun safe activity such as drawing.

It should be quite away into the afternoon by now so they should be allowed to do a group activity or individual play if preferred making sure all the equipment is safe and age appropriate until parents arrive. E4 When an older child arrives at the setting they should at this age be comfortable with leaving their parents if not they should be comforted and reassured, they should then be allowed to join their friends in a group activity using safe equipment, then they should be with their friends and eft to it, play what games they want unless they are inappropriate or dangerous as usually at this age children are more independent and less reliant on adults. In late morning they shall usually have snack time either the parent or the setting provides a healthy snack to enjoy. Afterwards they will be set a nice calm activity to avoid running about too much or upsetting their stomachs by doing lots of excises after eating, all the activities set out should be checked that it does not exclude anyone or can cause serious injuries or accidents.

After this it will most likely be lunch time the child will either be provided with a meal from the setting or have a pack lunch prepared by their parent, at this time they should all be sat around a table together indulging yet the setting still must be informed from parents beforehand if anything is in their lunchbox that can affect another child, for instance if a child is allergic to peanuts and something in a lunchbox contained peanuts, this could be potentially dangerous as children like to share for as well as some allergies they just need to be near it to be affected by it.

They will then most likely play outside however the setting should firstly do a safety check to make sure it is not too wet making it slippery for the children or if it’s too cold for their clothes or if a child has a cold and the setting does not want them to feel excluded. After they have played outside o inside if the conditions are unsafe or dangerous it should be close to home time so the child should help the other children tidying up then get themselves dressed and ready for the arrival of their parents making sure they are all ready and have got everything. E5

There are many issues and reasons that could affect the planning for the children; these include policies and procedures, health and safety, supervision, children’s rights, age/stage/abilities of the children, children’s choice, and resources available. Policies and procedures within a setting during activities are really important for example safe guarding policy, this is important because we need to make sure all the children within the setting are kept safe and no harm can come to them or is able to get to them for example, locks on doors, baby gates, finger trapping devices.

To make this not affect the planning, staffs know what to do to make sure all the policies and procedures are met and stay within the nursery. Children have right to play, right to education, right to healthy and clean meals they have the right to do almost as much as adults. These rights could affect planning because the children have a right not to take part in activities, so it is better if the activity involves all the children.

Supervision is important in every setting, there are staff to child ratios, this would mean that if there aren’t enough staff then they wouldn’t be able to take part in an activity altogether because there will be too many children. This then links in with the types of setting because it could affect the planning, if there is children who are being child minded there is only one adult compared to however many children are there. The resources affect planning because if the setting doesn’t have enough money to buy the equipment to play then the children won’t have anything to play with.

Also if the resources aren’t clean this would affect the children and prevent them from playing with the toys. Also the Individual children’s needs for example their age or mobility, affordability of equipment can the setting afford certain equipment or have enough to maintain it such as a climbing frame to challenge the children could be expensive. Also the layout of room for example where the doors and sinks are will they get in the way as well as the size of the room is it too small for the challenging ideas in mind. E6

There are different types of international, national and local initiatives which influence the provision of challenging environments for children. An example of an initiative is the Forest Schools. ‘ A Forest School is an innovative educational approach to outdoor play and learning’ http://www. forestschools. com/what-happens-at-a-forest-school/ Forest schools can influence the provision of a challenging environment, as the teachers can take the children in small groups every week to the local woods to have a better understanding of the outdoor environment and it’s linked to the curriculum.

By doing this it enables children to be able to be in a safe environment when exploring and having adventures so they can see what things they can do when they go into the woods next time. It can also help children with problems such as language problems as this allows them to speak about the experience they are having which can then be taken to the classroom and then it could be turned into a story to help the child. When going into the woods it helps to cater the behaviour for the problem children and it also teaches children when they can and can’t mess around.

It also focuses on the fundamental aspect of the Forest School innovation educational approach. The Forest School provides ways for meeting learning objectives while developing practical life skills and encouraging child-initiated learning, which is observed and assessed. Lots of young children prefer to be outside than in the classroom environment because they can find it more exciting and they might pay more attention. E7 It’s important to teach children how to handle situations on their own. Teach them when and how to take risks. Teach them when and how to challenge their environments. Adult help is necessary to teach the proper skills.

There can be no development without risk and challenge. If you never try something new you don’t progress in your education, or as a person. Understanding consequences should be a side effect of risk and challenge. If a child “ challenges themself” to build a block tower, but it falls over, he needs to cope with the disappointment, and try again. If a child has climbed to the top of the tall slide for the first time and goes all the way down all by themself, the risk paid off. The “ consequence” is dealing with the outcome however that falls down, without risk and challenge, children don’t grow and learn.

D1 Health and Safety Act At Work 1974: Health and Safety Act At Work 1974 can support strategies to establish and maintain healthy, safe and secure environments in early years settings by making sure that the setting a safe environment for the children to be. An example could be when the children are playing outside making sure that the practitioners are outside watching them to prevent accidents. Another example could be in the classroom objects that should be out of the way of the children like sharp objects they should be put away from children to prevent accidents. Childcare Act 2006:

Childcare Act 2006 can support strategies to establish and maintain healthy, safe and secure environments. Childcare Act 2006 provides a learning framework for children 0-5 year olds called Early Years Foundation (EYFS). In practice Childcare Act 2006 can be used in a secure environment by making sure the framework teaching is safe whilst the children are playing or doing several activities outside. Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrence 1995: Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrence 1995 can support strategies to establish and maintain healthy, safe and secure environments.

In practice Reporting of Injuries Diseases and Dangerous Occurrence can maintain a safe and secure environment by filling in the accident book every time a child has an accident. Another example would be making sure there are no sharp items around that children can reach this will prevent accidents happening. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations 2002 can support strategies to establish and maintain healthy, safe and secure environments.

It does this because this legislation means that all settings need to have all dangerous, unsafe, illness and injury causing substances are stored correctly (out of reach locked cupboard) and used properly (not near children use gloves as well if necessary), because of this legislation the containers for the substances are labelled stopping any staff member, parent or person who hasn’t seen it before mistakes it for something else and uses it dangerously and inappropriately. As well as because of the storage of the substances it keeps the children safe as well preventing accidents from happening.

D2 Establishing a safe environment can support the procedures as if the environment is safe there would be far less accidence, for instance picking up toys to avoid trips and falls, or stop them from blocking fire exits. If you didn’t wash your hands after visiting the toilet or before you prepared food, you could chopped raw meat up on a board then placed cooked food on it you could cause serious illnesses. If you didn’t unlock your fire doors or if you didn’t think it was important to have an adult/child ratio and had an adult to 12 under threes?

If you decided to take 26 children for a walk with two of you, there could be injuries due to lack of attention or supervision to all children. You notice that the swing/climbing frame is broken but you leave it unchecked because it doesn’t look too bad. All these simple mistakes can cause accidents, illnesses and emergencies can be avoided by keeping the setting safe and the staff/children informed. C1 Forest Schools – started in 1950 are based mainly on the idea that all different aged children can benefit greatly from the learning opportunities from an enabling outdoor environment.

There are many benefits that come from a forest school as many staff, children and school leaders see : “ I knew Forest Schools was a good concept before I trained, however I did not realize just how exceptional the benefits to the individual children would be. “ (Comment by trainee L3 Forest School leader, Scotland). Through weekly or fortnightly sessions all children have managed to develop personal confidence, self-esteem and social skills. As well as a wider range of physical skills than learnt in an indoors environment and they will also develop a greater understanding about their own natural and man-made environments.

Also they develop a greater understanding about larger environmental issues as well as motivation and a positive attitude to learning. Reggio Emilia – is a town in Italy where parents created and developed an approach to pre-school education in the late 1940s. This approach is mainly based on the idea of children being creative, competent learners who discover in collaboration with adults and other children, therefor social learning for them is central.

The Reggio pre-schools do believe in the importance of stimulating learning environments (both indoors and outdoors), discovery, children reflecting on their own learning and also documenting children’s learning as a part of this process. Based upon such things as creative thinking, exploration, discovery, following children’s interest and many others meaning that it contributes highly to the prevision of an enabling environment for children. B1 In an early year setting practitioners maintains the safety and privacy of children and respect their wishes in many different ways. Practitioners ollow the correct policies and procedures for example the toilet policy states that due to practitioners only being practitioners they are not allowed to enter the toilet when there is a child in the bathroom, however this don’t mean that the practitioners can just switch off while there are children in the bathroom it is important that the practitioners keep track of how long the child has been in the toilet for this is so that if the practitioner thinks that the child has been in the toilet for a long period of time or the practitioner hears the child screaming or shouting for help for example they must go and tell the deputy manager or a member of staff that is able to go to the toilet and help the child. A1 There are many bad effects that meeting the care needs of children have on practitioners for a number of reasons: Grief when child they have cared for a long time leaves.

Grief if child in care dies or is badly injured, Depression/anxiety if they do not get on with a child, if child is not progressing or a similar situation a practitioner can also feel anxiety/grief-referring a child to social care services. However there are positive effects such as Happy/joy when child achieves, has good news etc. Overwhelmed: when child hugs you or buys you a gift-even more when they make it. Overall the effects on practitioners of meeting the care of children can be positive as well as negative to conclude the effect it has can be dramatic and very personal. Bibliography: ‘ Cache level 3 childcare and education 4th edition’- Penny Tassoni, Kath Bulman and Harriet Eldridge ‘ First Hand Experience: What matters to children’ – Adams, S. , Alexander, E. , Drummord, M. J. and Moyles, J ‘ Early Childhood Education’ Bruce, Tina

Thank's for Your Vote!
Unit 4 assignment childcare essay. Page 1
Unit 4 assignment childcare essay. Page 2
Unit 4 assignment childcare essay. Page 3
Unit 4 assignment childcare essay. Page 4
Unit 4 assignment childcare essay. Page 5
Unit 4 assignment childcare essay. Page 6
Unit 4 assignment childcare essay. Page 7
Unit 4 assignment childcare essay. Page 8
Unit 4 assignment childcare essay. Page 9

This work, titled "Unit 4 assignment childcare essay" was written and willingly shared by a fellow student. This sample can be utilized as a research and reference resource to aid in the writing of your own work. Any use of the work that does not include an appropriate citation is banned.

If you are the owner of this work and don’t want it to be published on AssignBuster, request its removal.

Request Removal
Cite this Essay

References

AssignBuster. (2022) 'Unit 4 assignment childcare essay'. 1 October.

Reference

AssignBuster. (2022, October 1). Unit 4 assignment childcare essay. Retrieved from https://assignbuster.com/unit-4-assignment-childcare-essay/

References

AssignBuster. 2022. "Unit 4 assignment childcare essay." October 1, 2022. https://assignbuster.com/unit-4-assignment-childcare-essay/.

1. AssignBuster. "Unit 4 assignment childcare essay." October 1, 2022. https://assignbuster.com/unit-4-assignment-childcare-essay/.


Bibliography


AssignBuster. "Unit 4 assignment childcare essay." October 1, 2022. https://assignbuster.com/unit-4-assignment-childcare-essay/.

Work Cited

"Unit 4 assignment childcare essay." AssignBuster, 1 Oct. 2022, assignbuster.com/unit-4-assignment-childcare-essay/.

Get in Touch

Please, let us know if you have any ideas on improving Unit 4 assignment childcare essay, or our service. We will be happy to hear what you think: [email protected]