DR84 04 (CCLD 410)Evaluate, assess and support children’s creativity

Elements of competence

CCLD 410.1Support the assessment of children’s creative development

CCLD 410.2Facilitate the provision of an environment that promotes and enhances children’s creativity

CCLD 410.3Support the monitoring, evaluation and planning of improvements to support children’s creative development

About this Unit

This Unit is about evaluating and supporting children's creativity. The Unit is closely linked to early education settings where the main purpose is children’s care, learning and development, but could be applicable in other circumstances. Each home country has different curriculum and assessment frameworks for early education and you should approach this Unit in the context of the requirements of your home country.

This Unit is for you if you are involved in the evaluation and support of children's creative development, either as a manager or lead/senior practitioner or if you work in support of others and have significant responsibility for supporting children, families, staff and other adults within the setting or service. It may also be appropriate for you if you work in support of other professionals with specific expertise in particular areas concerning children's development.

Keywords

What we mean by some of the words used in this Unit
Children / The children with whom you are working, except where additional requirements are indicated
Creative Development / Expressive and aesthetic development, expressing and creating ideas, feelings and imagination, using the senses and trying new experiences and ways of doing things, exploring and innovating
Creativity / The ability to make links and connections between one area of learning and another and therefore extend understanding
Reflective practice / The process of thinking about and critically analysing your actions with the goal of changing and improving occupational practice

Evidence Requirements for the Unit

It is essential that you adhere to the Evidence Requirements for this Unit

GENERAL GUIDANCE
  • Evidence must be provided for ALL of the performance criteria and ALL of the knowledge.
  • Work with children and families does not lend itself to a series of fragmented activities. When assessment planning it is essential that assessors and candidates identify opportunities to integrate a number of activities for assessment on any particular occasion.
  • Assessment of knowledge and understanding should wherever possible be carried out during performance to ensure that theory and practice are linked.
  • The evidence must reflect, at all times, the policies and procedures of your workplace as linked to current legislation and the values and the principles for good practice in children’s care, learning and development.
  • All evidence must relate to your own work practice.

SPECIFIC Evidence Requirements for this unit
Simulation:
  • Simulation is not permitted for this unit.

The following forms of evidence ARE mandatory:
  • Direct Observation: Your assessor or expert witness must observe you in real work activities which will provide evidence of some part of each element in this unit.
  • Reflective Accounts: You should describe your actions in a particular situation and explain why you did things. You may be able to use a reflective account to provide some of the performance evidence for this unit. e.g. how you encouraged and supported colleagues to reflect on practice.

Issues for consideration:
  • The following performance criteria may be difficult to evidence by observation.
Element 1 – PCs 2 and 6
Element 2 – PCs 1 and 6
Element 3 – PCs 1,.4 and 5
Competence of performance and knowledge could also be demonstrated using a variety of evidence from the following:
  • Questioning/Professional Discussion: Questions may be oral or written. In each case the question and your answer will need to be recorded. Professional discussion should be in the form of a structured review of your practice with the outcomes captured by means of audiotape or a written summary. These are particularly useful to provide evidence that you know and understand principles which support practice, policies, procedures and legislation, and that you can critically evaluate their application e.g. relevant research and theoretical perspectives on children's creativity and how these influence practice, referral systems, how and why you encourage and support multi-agency working. In addition the assessor/expert witness may also ask questions to clarify aspects of your practice.
  • Products: These are non-confidential records made, or contributed to, by you, e.g. curriculum plans, assessment documentation, pro formas for observation, documented procedures for consultation with children and families, monitoring and evaluation findings and required actions.
  • Confidential Records: These may be used as evidence but must not be placed in your portfolio, they must remain in their usual location and be referred to in the assessor records in your portfolio e.g. individual child records, commercial information, inspection reports.
  • Original Certificates and other evidence of prior experience and learning: Where you have relevant prior experience it must match the requirements of the standards. Certificates of training, awards and records of attendance must be authentic, current and valid. Your assessor will also want to check the content of such training so that this can be matched to the standards and check that you have retained and can apply learning to practice, e.g. training relevant to children's creativity, previous childcare qualifications and units of learning.
  • Case Studies, projects, assignments: These methods are most appropriately used to cover any outstanding areas in the knowledge requirement of your award.
  • Witness Testimony: Colleagues, allied professionals, children, young people, families and carers may be able to provide testimony of your performance. Your assessor will help you to identify the appropriate use of witnesses.

Knowledge specification for this unit

Assessment of knowledge and understanding should wherever possible be carried out during performance to ensure theory and practice are linked.

You need to provide evidence for ALL knowledge points listed below:

To be competent in this Unit, you must know and understand the following: / Enter Evidence Numbers
1The need for confidentiality and care when dealing with sensitive information about children and families. Security arrangements for storing and retrieving information in your setting and the reasons for them
2Available national and local guidance to support children’s developing creativity
3Data protection and confidentiality and security of information relevant to your work
4The requirement for valid and reliable data when making assessments of children's development, what this means, and how it can be implemented
5The requirements of current curriculum frameworks that operate in your home country, what information and resources are required, what planning and implementation arrangements are required
6Your setting’s processes and procedures for observing, assessing and recording: when and how these link to external requirements or ‘baselines’ or curriculum frameworks followed in your home country
7The circumstances and rationale for the use of formative and summative assessments within your setting or service
8How to adapt your practice to support the development of creativity for children for whom you are responsible, including different ages, genders, ethnicities, needs and abilities, including children with disabilities and special educational needs
9Relevant research into the influences on how children develop and how this research may influence practice
10Appropriate agencies for referral of children when you have concerns about development, the role and purpose of different agencies, the benefits of a multi-agency approach
11The range of professionals who work within children's services or who may be relevant to children's services; the benefits of a multi-professional approach
12Specific issues for children’s creativity, development and learning in multilingual or bilingual settings or where children learn through an additional language
13Preferred formats for recording information and rationale for their use
To be competent in this Unit, you must know and understand the following: / Enter Evidence Numbers
14Protocols for sharing information
15The developmental nature of childhood and the holistic, integrated nature of development
16The role of children's play in supporting development and creativity and how play may be integrated into most aspects of provision
17Recognition that development depends on the child's level of maturation and their prior experiences and that adult expectations should be realistic and take this into account
18The importance of creativity in learning and in enabling children to discriminate and make connections between different objects and experiences
19The role of exploration and discovery in developing creativity and how to incorporate this within the setting or service
20The importance of creativity in the development of positive physical and mental health
21The role of creativity in the development of the imagination, representation, artistic and expressive skills and concepts
22The relative value of activities, equipment, experiences and materials for the enhancement of children's creativity: how and why you select from the available range
23How the focus of creativity is on the creative process, not particular end products and ensuring this focus is central within your area of responsibility
24The importance of involving children in the assessment and development of their own creativity, according to their age, needs and abilities, and how this can be done
25Policies, procedures, lines of reporting and accountability, and referral systems that are used in your setting and local area, where there are concerns about children and their development
26Strategies, systems and procedures for monitoring and evaluating provision for children's creativity, using the planning cycle and recognising the need for continuous improvement

CCLD 410.1Support the assessment of children’s creative development

Performance criteria
Enter Evidence Numbers
DO / RA / EW / Q / P / WT
1Identify relevant curriculum and assessment framework requirements
2Support the development of systems to assess children's creative development
3Facilitate the assessment of children’s creativity, using observation and feedback from reliable sources, including families and the children themselves
4Encourage the recognition and appropriate responses to children who require additional support
5Recognise in your assessment the broad scope of creativity and creative development
6Support the prompt identification and referral of concerns to the appropriate agency or professional
7Encourage colleagues to reflect on practice by modelling reflective skills

CCLD 410.2Facilitate the provision of an environment that promotes and enhances children’s creativity

Performance criteria
Enter Evidence Numbers
DO / RA / EW / Q / P / WT
1Support the planning and development of programmes to support the creative development of children, according to their age, needs and abilities and the requirements of curriculum and assessment frameworks
2Work with colleagues to ensure a rich learning environment, that is safe, supportive and welcoming to children's creative expression
3Facilitate and support high quality displays of children’s work that support and extend their self-esteem
4Ensure opportunities are taken to extend and develop creativity and encourage children to explore and innovate
5Support colleagues to have high expectations of children and commitment to raising their achievement
Performance criteria
Enter Evidence Numbers
DO / RA / EW / Q / P / WT
6Encourage sensitive and responsive interventions to support learning
7Work with others to adapt practice to ensure equality of access for all children to programmes and activities that support creativity
8Ensure children take part effectively and confidently in activities

CCLD 410.3Support the monitoring, evaluation and planning of improvements to support children’s creative development

Performance criteria
Enter Evidence Numbers
DO / RA / EW / Q / P / WT
1Support systems and procedures to monitor and assess the development of children's creativity in the light of current best practice and relevant curriculum and assessment frameworks
2Facilitate the development of systems and procedures to evaluate the provision for children's creativity
3Support colleagues with the inclusion of children and families in the evaluation, as appropriate to the children's age needs and abilities
4Identify issues for improvement and plan for continuous development and improvement
5Support the prompt identification and referral of concerns to the appropriate agency or professional

DO = Direct ObservationRA = Reflective AccountQ = Questions

EW = Expert Witness P = Product (Work)WT = Witness Testimony

To be completed by the Candidate
I SUBMIT THIS AS A COMPLETE UNIT
Candidate’s name: ……………………………………………
Candidate’s signature: ………………………………………..
Date: …………………………………………………………..
To be completed by the Assessor
It is a shared responsibility of both the candidate and assessor to claim evidence, however, it is the responsibility of the assessor to ensure the accuracy/validity of each evidence claim and make the final decision.
I certify that sufficient evidence has been produced to meet all the elements, pcS AND KNOWLEDGE OF THIS UNIT and that the candidate has demonstrated the application of the princIples and values.
Assessor’s name: …………………………………………….
Assessor’s signature: ………………………………………....
Date: …………………………………………………………..
Assessor/Internal Verifier Feedback
To be completed by the Internal Verifier if applicable
This section only needs to be completed if the Unit is sampled by the Internal Verifier
Internal Verifier’s name: ……………………………………………
Internal Verifier’s signature: ………………………………………..
Date: ……………………………………..…………………………..

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Unit: DR84 04 (CCLD 410) Evaluate, assess and support children’s creativity