Childcare

Introduction to communication in health, Social care or children’s and young people’s settings
Understand why communication is important in the work setting
      There are many different reasons why people communicate and can be either written, verbal or telephone. Some of the reasons why people communicate include to give information, this could be giving parents information about the daily activities of the setting or to communicate their child’s progress or incidents such as accidents and illness.   Communication is also important to receive information this could be from a parent about a child’s life at home or from another member in the setting about a child’s behaviour.   Communication is also used to give instructions this could be either to lead an activity with children for example cooking, crafts outdoor play, outings or storytelling or to encourage positive behaviour.

      Effective communication is at the centre of everything you do and can affect all aspects of your role, therefore effective communication is important, and is also a two way process, Not only does the person communicating have to make sure they are sending the correct message but they also need to make sure that the person they are communicating with has correctly received and understand the information they are relaying.   To do this it is important to ensure that you are very clear about what you are trying to say.

If talking to a child talk at their level and make sure that you have eye contact with them, make sure you use age appropriate language, to ensure that they have understood what you are saying to them, give them time to absorb what has been said and ask them to repeat what you have said.   Make sure you use positive body language

If communicate with colleagues always make sure that you are clear about what you want to say and that the other person understands what you are saying, and that you always use positive body language to show that you are listening and...