COMPLETING PROGRESS CHARTS WITH
CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE - GUIDANCE
The main purpose of Progress Charts is to help measure improvements over time and provide a visual representation to the child/young person/parent/carer. You can use the Progress Charts with a My Plan or My Assessment and My Plan + and as part of the Review process.
This is a useful tool that will help discussion around the different headings and enable you to gather lots of information that will help to inform the My Plan, My Assessment or Review.
Child/Young Person Progress Chart
· This Chart needs to be filled out for each of the children/young people in the family
· It is an opportunity for the child/young person to be able to express their strengths and concerns and ensure that their thoughts and opinions are central to the My Plan, My Assessment and My Plan + or Review
· This chart can be used to represent the child’s voice at a Team Around the Child/Team Around the Family meeting if they do not wish to attend
· By going through each heading with the child/young person you will be able to gather useful information which can go on to inform the My Plan or My Assessment and My Plan +
· At review the child/young person can fill out another Progress Chart to show changes that have been made and also highlight any areas where things are not improving or getting worse
Progress Chart Tools
There are 2 tools available to support you with filling out the Progress Chart with younger children and also with children/young people with communication difficulties. The ool for younger children allows them to colour pictures and link those pictures to emoticons to express how they are feeling. The tool for children/young people with communication difficulties uses the ‘Communicate in Print’ tool to express the areas you need to think about.
Headings
Below are some examples of things to think about under each heading:
My Education/Learning/Work
· This section focusses on the child/young person’s ability to access education/learning/work
o Does the child/young person attend school regularly and if not what can be done to support this
o How does the child/young person feel about their education
o Are there any education/learning needs which they are currently not being supported with
o What are the child/young person’s aspirations for the future and how can these be supported
My Safety
· This section focusses on the child/young person’s understanding of and ability to keep themselves safe. You could consider areas such as:
o Bullying
o Physical, sexual, emotional abuse or neglect
o Sexual exploitation
o Internet safety
o Accidental injury from risky behaviour
o Ability to keep themselves safe while out e.g. crossing roads, stranger danger etc
My Health
· This section focusses on the child/young person’s physical health
o Does the child/young person attend all health appointments and access universal health services as needed
o Does the child/young person have any physical health need or disability and how does that impact on them. How well do they manage their health need or disability and what further support do they need with this
o Have all developmental milestones been met. If not, what is being done to support this
My Happiness and Well-being
· In this section you may consider:
o How does the child/young person feel about themselves
o What makes them feel happy and how often do they feel happy during a typical day
o Are there any emotional or mental health needs. If yes, are they accessing support for these. If not, what are the barriers to them accessing support
o Are they engaging in any risky behaviours that may put their well-being at risk
How you care for yourself
· The things to think about in this section will differ slightly depending on the age of the child/young person you are working with. Some things to consider are:
o Age appropriate personal hygiene, eating, dressing, body changes etc
o Becoming independent as appropriate to age or stage of development
o Impact of a disability on the child/young person’s ability to be able to carry out self care. Consider what support is in place to help towards independence, if this is possible
o Ability to make choices and decisions for themselves
o Ability to adhere to boundaries and understand what risky situations are and how to stay safe
My Family
· In this section the child/young person will be thinking about their family life and how they feel about it. Things to consider include:
o Who cares for them at home
o Is there enough room for everyone
o Are their parents worried about anything
o Who works in the home and is there enough money to do the things the family needs
o What do they like/dislike about where they live
My Behaviour
· This section focuses on how the child/young person views their own behaviour and will vary depending on the age of the child/young person. Things to consider are:
o Are they aware of their behaviour in different social situations
o Are they able to adhere to rules and boundaries and accept consequences for not doing so
o Do they understand what behaviour is expected of them
o Are they involved in any risky or antisocial behaviour
o Do they know how to say no to their peers if they are trying to get them to do something they don’t want to do
o Are they keeping themselves safe online and when out in the Community
o Have there been any incidents where the Police have been involved
o What support can be offered to the child/young person to help them develop their understanding of their behaviour and find strategies to change any negative behaviours
My Friends and Activities
· In this section you would want the child/young person to think about:
o What activities they enjoy
o Who they enjoy playing /spending time with and what they enjoy doing together
o How they manage and maintain friendships and any support they may need with this
o How they manage social situations i.e play/break times and any support they need with this