APEL Level 3 Certificate in work with children(Early Years or Playwork), Unit 2: reflect on practice
Section 5 - Explain, by using an example, how you have planned to meet the particular needs of a child while continuing to provide a programme of appropriate activities for a larger group. Your account should include information about:
* The children involved and how their different needs were assessed
* The reasons for the particular play opportunity or activity programme provided
* Methods of monitoring and evaluation.
This is another section that is asking you to explain what you do. You will need to use 'explaining words' here, but the whole of the section needs to be an example of work you have done. Remember, words that indicate explanation include:
* because; so that; in order to; therefore; as of result of.
The whole section is concerned about your ability to meet the needs of an individual child who is part of a larger group. Practitioners do this all the time and do not necessarily realise the amount of skill, planning and organisation they actually have to utilise to make this work.
Take time to think about an occasion where you have needed to deal with the needs of a specific child within a larger group. This could be because they have language or mobility issues, or because of particular behaviour. The focus is on the particular needs of a child. so if you only work with a very small group of children this should not be a problem. You should indicate briefly how you managed to provide for the selected child within the context of the larger group and how this related to the activity of the group.
Sub-section 1
* Provide details of the child involved and how their different needs were assessed. Remember you cannot identify the child by name, but you can use initials. A brief description is all that is required here, not a detailed case study.
* Try to write a brief pen portrait. Ask yourself: how did you know about the needs of this child? What information have you gathered and assessed and from what sources? Analyse how you assessed the needs of the child.
Sub-section 2
* Give reasons for the particular play opportunity or activity provided.
Make sure you explain why you chose a particular activity and relate this clearly to the needs of the child. It would help if you could link your selected activity to what is going on in the larger group.
* Make sure you give reasons that demonstrate up-to-date practice and current thinking. For example, you might wish to think about a particular activity in terms of new thinking on children's learning styles, or how encouraging a child through a play opportunity can give children the confidence to explore new learning.
Sub-section 3
* Explain your methods of monitoring and evaluating your work with individual children, including how successful the activity you selected in sub-section 2 was in meeting the identified needs of the child.
* Include a brief explanation of the link to the larger group.
* Do not feel that you can only use a successful activity as your example.
Even if your evaluation showed that your activity did not work out as well as you had hoped, it can still be a useful example.
* Whether the activity was successful or not in terms of meeting the child's needs, you will need to give a clear explanation as to why it succeeded or failed, and explain what steps you could take to make it more effective.
NB: Remember to always follow the requirements of your awarding body. Your mentor will provide support to help you get a clear picture of what these are.
