SHC 31: Promoting communication in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings.

There are five main points as to why it is important to communicate in a work setting each of them I find extremely important to demonstrate in my work setting to benefit the children’s development and well being.
1. To promote relationships and to offer support. In my setting from what I am aware we currently have no family’s which are in contact with a social worker or support units, however this does not mean that we do not provide support, if we feel that a child is needing extra support for one reason or another we make sure that either the manager or the child’s key worker arranges a meeting with the family to discus there concern and to come up with a support plan which will help focus on the area of concern, we will then arrange follow up sessions to discuss the child’s progress and establish any other areas that we can support with. o
2. To maintain relationships. In my setting I ensure that I take my time to build a relationship with the children by allocating time throughout the day to spend time one to one with the children although it may only be for a small amount of time this gives me a chance to get a better understanding of the child, what he or she is interested in and for the child to gain an understanding of me, this in turn installs confidence and trust into the child that I am available for them to express any concerns they might have.
3. To exchange information. In my setting I ensure at the beginning of each day when a child is dropped off I will ask the parent or guardian there how the child is, is there anything I should be made aware of, and that at the end of the day I give them a full brief as to how the child has been, what they have enjoyed the most, what they did/didn’t choose to partake in etc. I feel that by giving them this thorough information that it installs trust into the career that I am looking after their child properly and they are not just a number on a register.
4. To negotiate and liaise with others. In my setting we feel that when an issue arises that we discuss this with the necessary points of contact as soon as possible so we can get the issue addressed and can begin to find a path to resolve it. For example we currently have a child at the nursery that although physically is competent to express himself he is very much non verbal and when you try and communicate verbally with him he doesn’t appear to acknowledge or respond to what we have said. We then brought the parents in for a confidential chat to express the concerns we had and felt it was best if the child saw a professional so that we can take the necessary steps to help the child in the setting to progress verbally.
5. To express needs and feelings. I feel that it is extremely important for children to feel that they able to voice there views and concerns, so in my setting I like to spend time with each of the children in a quite area away from the other children. In doing so the child gets’ to express themselves freely and to be able to talk to me without any interruptions as my full attention is focused on them. I also feel that by doing this I believe it also helps to build trust and install confidence.

Communication is extremely important in the work setting without it the whole structure would cease to exist. Not only does it support children’s holistic development but it is also key for you and your work colleagues to experience job satisfaction, this is because through communication you can develop a structure of support. When you bond with a colleague and you establish the trust between you then you are able to easily express concerns or any problems you may be dealing with, by being able to express your feelings you are then able to fix them with the guidance, encouragement and trust from your colleagues and there in turn they will feel confident in being able to approach you when they may be