Direct Work With Children
Aims
To equip practitioners with the knowledge and a range of interventions to:
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Promote children’s expression and understanding of emotion;
Support children’s development of interpersonal skills.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the training, participants will:
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Evaluate the contributions of psychology and neuroscience to our understanding of child
development;
Understand the role of attachment in the child’s development of language, learning and
emotional self-regulation;
Recognise behaviour as a means of communication;
Experience a variety of play and art-based activities to use in their work with children;
Assess the information produced by these activities;
Identify methods of including these assessments in reports.
Competencies (*Indicates DANOS requirement)
Health and social care national occupational standards 2012
*SCDHSC0031 Promote effective communication
*SCDHSC0033 Develop your practise through reflection and learning
*SCDHC0034
Promote the safeguarding of children and young people
SCDHC0036
Contribute to the assessment and planning process with children and young
people
SCDHSC0312 Support children and young people to develop a positive identity and
emotional well being
SCDHC0325
Contribute to the support of children and young people who have
experienced harm or abuse
SCDHC0326
Promote the development of positive behaviour in children and young people
Common Core of Skills and Knowledge for the Children’s Workforce 2005
*1
Effective communication and engagement with children, young people, their
families and carers
*2
Child and young person development
*4
Supporting transitions
The College of Social Work Professional Capability Framework
Domain 5c
Demonstrate and apply to practice a working knowledge of human growth
and development throughout the life course.
Domain 6a
Apply imagination, creativity and curiosity to practice
Domain 7a
Identify and apply a range of verbal, non-verbal and written methods of
communication and adapt them in line with peoples’ age, comprehension and
culture.
© HAGA 2014
Course Content
Time
09.15
09.30
09.40
09.50
10.15
10.25
10.50
11.15
11.30
11.45
12.10
12.45
13.45
© HAGA 2014
Activity
Registration
Ice-breaker – ball pass
 Reflection on our experience
Introduction to the course:
 Housekeeping
 Confidentiality + additional ground rules
 Theme of the day
 Expectations of participants
Group doodle
 Reflection on our experience -what we learnt about ourselves and
others
 Opportunities to use this technique
Identifying the purpose of the direct work
 Assessment
 Therapy
 Social skills
Psychological theories of child development and attachment including
 Freud
 Piaget
 Bowlby
 Booth and Illsley-Clark
 Hughes
The Life River
 Demonstration
 Work on own
 Q & A with partner
 Group reflection on our experience
 Discussion of the application of this technique
 How to record our intervention
Break
Fill My Chair
 Reflection on our experience
 Analysis of how this contributes to positive emotional and social
development
The contribution of neuroscience including
 Sunderland
 Perry
 Ramachandran
The Feelings Wheel
 Naming emotions
 How to use the wheel – case studies
 Work in pairs on specific issues
 Plenary to connect theory to practise
 How to record our intervention
Lunch
The Eye Game
 Reflection on our experience

13.55
14.45
15.00
15.50
16.20
16.30
© HAGA 2014
Analysis of how this contributes to positive emotional and social
development
Story stems
 Theoretical framework
 Practise in role and as observer
 Reflection on own experience
 How to record our intervention
Break
Play dough
 Theoretical framework
 Group activity
 Discussion of the usefulness to our practise
Percussion
 Group activity
 Relationship between sound, memory and emotion
 How to record our intervention
Review and evaluation
End