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BTEC Apprenticeship Assessment Workbook Level 3 Child Care

5. SUPPORTING PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT

This sequence of activities will guide you to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the importance of physical activity for the overall wellbeing of children in their early years. You must show ways that your own setting provides opportunities and encourages gross motor and movement skills. You must demonstrate that you are able to plan for children and young people’s individual gross motor needs and that you have the necessary skills to support and promote their development during physical play and activities.

KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

In the following activities you will be guided through generating evidence to demonstrate your understanding of the short- and long-tem health benefits of physical activity for young children.

Task 1

1. Explain the development of movement for each of the ages listed in the table below. Explain how other areas can be affected as children reach each milestone. The first explanation has been started for you.

Age Development

0–6 monthsDevelopment progresses downwards. At birth babies will keep their head to one side but at three months they can lift their head and chest in the prone position …

6 months – 1 year

1–2 years

2–3 years

3–4 years

4–5 years

CYPW Unit 32: 3.1

Unit 40: 1.2, 2.3

CCLD Unit 21: 3.1

Unit 23: 1.2, 2.3

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2. Produce a leaflet for learners at your setting which gives information on the importance of providing physical activity for babies and young children under five. You must include an explanation of:

• the importance of exercise for children and young children – considering all areas of their development and wellbeing

• the importance of providing natural outdoor environments for children and young people – giving examples of the types of natural outdoor areas and activities that can take place.

EVIDENCE GATHERING

In this activity you will identify an area of your work that will capture evidence of how you plan and use the indoor and outdoor environments to provide opportunities for physical activity. You should provide evidence not only of specific physical activities but also of how you take the opportunity for incorporating movement into everyday routines. For instance, when changing a baby’s nappy you may give them time to kick and play. Your assessor will help you to identify suitable items of evidence.

You need to gather evidence of activity within areas of your work to demonstrate:

a) Your own practice in planning and incorporating physical activity in everyday routines for children.

Suggested evidence may include:

• planned routines • play/activity planning documents • witness testimony • entries in a diary or log• reflective accounts on ways that you have planned and

incorporated physical activity into routines.

PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE

This activity will enable your assessor to examine your competence by observing you carrying out workplace activities. This might include asking related questions to test your underpinning knowledge. They will also need to discuss your own views on whether the activity met the outcomes you had planned.

Your assessor will agree a time when you are participating in supporting children with physical play and activities. In order to prepare for your observation you will need to consider the following:

CYPW Unit 24: 2.2, 2.3

Unit 40: 3.1, 4.2

CCLD Unit 17: 2.2, 2.3

Unit 23: 3.1, 4.2

CYPW Unit 2: 2.1

Unit 12: 2.1, 2.2

Unit 13: 3.2

Unit 24: 2.2, 2.3, 2.4

Unit 32: 3.2

Unit 40: 2.1, 2.2, 3.3

Unit 46: 3.5

CCLD Unit 2: 2.1

Unit 12: 2.1, 2.2

Unit 13: 3.2

Unit 17: 2.2, 2.3, 2.4

Unit 21: 3.2

Unit 23: 2.1, 2.2, 3.3

Unit 25: 3.5

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• How you prepare the area for children to take part in physical activities.Your assessor will want to see how you prepare the area for physical activity. This will include setting up equipment or obtaining resources. They will want to see that resources are appropriate for the age and needs of individual children.

• Your ability to follow health and safety policies and procedures.Your assessor will observe how you follow policies and procedures when preparing for physical activities and supporting children. They may wish to discuss how you have assessed risks and the steps taken to minimise them.

• Your skills in implementing your physical activity plans.Your assessor will observe you as you support children in physical activity. They will note the suitability of the activity and how well it meets the needs of the child or group of children. They will also observe how you encourage and support children as they take part.

• How you assess and monitor the activity.You assessor will observe how you respond to children’s individual needs. This may mean encouraging, demonstrating or adapting the activity or resources used.

PROFESSIONAL DISCUSSION

Your assessor will conduct a professional discussion with you, which will capture evidence necessary to prove your skills to monitor and record the effectiveness of your planned activity to meet the individual movement skills of children.

Below are some topic areas you will need to consider when preparing for the professional discussion with your assessor.

• How well the environment met the needs of the child or group of children.

• To what extent the planned activity encouraged physical activity and promoted children’s competence.

• Areas identified and recorded for children’s further development.

• How far you felt that the planned activity met the identified outcomes (reflecting on any equipment and resources used and the support you gave).

Your assessor will plan the content of your professional discussion and will advise you to help you to prepare beforehand. The professional discussion may cover more than this section of your Assessment Workbook.

CYPW Unit 2: 2.2

Unit 12: 2.3

Unit 40: 3.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3

Unit 46: 3.5

CCLD Unit 2: 2.2

Unit 12: 2.3

Unit 23: 3.2, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3

Unit 25: 3.5

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Discussion process

The discussion process will offer you the opportunity to show that you are able to reflect on your own skills and abilities to support children’s physical development.

To prepare for your professional discussion, you should think about the following:

• The reasons for selecting a particular piece of equipment or a resource.

• How you might improve your activity if you did it again.• What strategies you feel were effective in supporting and

encouraging children to take part in the activity.• How you can extend the activity to develop physical skills. • How you can adapt the activity and/or resources for children

with a physical disability.

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