How To Facilitate Communication With Children And Young People

The skills required to communicate with children and young people are skills that are mostly assumed and undertaken naturally. With experience obviously these skills are strengthened and you become more confident in this role. Fundamentally you need to ensure that you are actively listening to the child or young person. This is demonstrated through your attention, eye-contact (perhaps squatting down to their level), being interested and asking them questions. Also to ensure that you have understood what they have said by checking facts or parroting back what they have said. Your body language should be open and responsive, you would smile and nod with encouragement. Adapting your approach depending on the childâ€TMs needs.
Question: Question 2b
Answer: As expressed before, it is important to adapt how you communicate with others depending on whom you are communicating with. If

The same rapport needs to be built, being respectful with one another and ensuring that you are actively listening and showing interest in the other person. However, when in a school setting it is very important to ensure that when communicating with children you maintain that professional relationship as an adult/carer and ensure that they understand your role as this. Physical contact should not be actively encouraged when communicating with children. This is hard to avoid when working with younger children as they do often initiate contact like hugs and hand holding. A child may need or seek comfort in these situations and therefore it would be inappropriate to reject their need. You should never offer physical contact with children or be overly physical with them. When communicating with children you need to unsure you are clear and your instructions are unambiguous and that they understand what you expect from them. Vocabulary should be adapted depending on the needs, context and age of the