Rosewood Free School: A Case Study

Unit 22. Outcome 2: Understanding the factors that influence children and young people’s development and how these affect practice.

When looking at children and young people’s development it is important to recognise and respond to concerns to ensure that the child or young person receives the help and assistance needed.

If a child or young person needs more than the support of the school environment, then a multi-agency team will be involved. This would involve the child’s teacher, teaching assistant, the school SENCO, qualified and experienced professionals, for example Speech and Language Therapists and most importantly parents. This might be through a recognized programme such as the Nuffield Dyspraxia Programme, Language through Reading or Social Use of Language Programme, or through a combination of approaches tailored to suit the individual child or young person.

My shadowing experience this summer has taught me so many new things about physical therapy. It has allowed me to observe the practice and make sense of the new information I have learned. Although therapy has not changed, the lenses through which I view it have. I no longer see a patient performing arbitrary exercises, I see muscles moving in specific patterns. I no longer see a passive stretch being performed, I see soft tissues, ligaments, and capsules being mobilized. I no longer see a diagnosis that receives that same treatment, I see a person that is struggling with an issue and passionate people willing to help through genuine care. I Had my first observation at The Medical Arts Research Center(MARC), an outpatient physical therapy facility in San Antonio. There, I observed 9 patients with musculoskeletal conditions. These included 8 adults and 1 pediatric. The second clinic was Peak Physical Therapy, an outpatient physical therapy clinic in Wylie, Texas. There I saw 8 patients with musculoskeletal conditions including 6 adults and 2 pediatric. During these observations, I saw many components of physical therapy practice. The last place I shadowed was Warm Springs Rehab Hospital of San Antonio. I observed in the post-acute medical facility in which we saw 7 patients with neuromuscular conditions, including 5 adults and 2 pediatric.

A/c 1.2 The benefit of using a child centred model of assessment and planning is that you concentrate on the person and their specific and individual set of needs and circumstances. A child centred model promotes the rights of the child and allows them to communicate and say what they want for themselves. When children are moved to make the correct choice and take a lead using this type of assessment they tend to succeed as they develop their needs. Children and young people’s needs can be identified through observation and the sharing of information between those that are involved in the care of the young people or children. The parents and class teachers are the best places to identify individual needs because the young people spend more time at school and home than they do anywhere else. School/ home visits, review meetings, hospital consultations are some of the

It sets out welfare and developmental aims and objectives for children from birth to five, setting out six key areas of learning. The welfare section covers; basic checks, ensuring staff has undergone security checks, safe facilities and equipment, suitable for children, quality of the environment e.g. access to outdoor space. The EYFS promotes teaching and learning to ensure children are ready for school and gives them a wide range of knowledge and skills that provide the right foundation for them and to ensure that they make good progress through school and life in the future.

When she sees a patient for the first time she talks to them about the doctor’s report and asks specific questions about their injury or experiences leading up to the need for physical therapy. Megan explained how important it is to make the patient feel comfortable and keep a positive attitude towards the patient’s recovery. These consultations were the most interesting to sit in on because it allowed me to observe the therapist’s ability to take the patient’s information and create a diagnosis and treatment plan for the injury or pain described. Megan may have multiple patients at a time so she stressed the importance of keeping up with each patient and why the physical therapy techs are so helpful. Scheduling is another job of the therapists that is important in keeping the clinic running smoothly. There is also paperwork that has to be filled out for every patient after every visit about their

Outcome 2 Know how to work alongside speech, language and communication specialists to use appropriate strategies and targets to support children and young people

A class teacher is another practitioner that is involved within multi-agency working. This is because they work alongside children every single day. Teachers can help other practitioners by providing details of observations of behaviour changes, attendance and needs within a child. Teachers would then use this information to communicate with the School Designated Lead (DSL), who is ‘the first point of contact for any member of the school staff who has a concern about the

During this time, I volunteered for a weeklong activity camp for children, as well as a two week work placement in a primary school. I quickly formed a rapport with many people and supported and encouraged children with various abilities. More recently, I have been involved in volunteering at music festivals in the UK for Oxfam and Green Stewards, at Brighton’s Colour Run for Save the Children and, whilst in New Zealand, I helped Enviro Kiwi to protect native wildlife species. My experience of team work, building relationships, and motivating people confirms my desire to work within

4. to identify and prioritise targets for intervention. Conducting interviews with parents, teachers and the child.

A physiotherapist is part of a project that aims to give therapy staff better family support skills.

My first three weeks of clinical were my roughest, there was so much information being thrown at me. It didn’t help that I was working in two different school settings: District 75 (more severe diagnosis and most restrictive)/ Regional (general education with children that had least severe diagnoses). Understanding, what the DOE is, the do’s and don’ts of a school based physical therapist and much more were areas of information that were minimally taught during the curriculum. Trying to learn and understand as much information as possible lend me to think, that the school based therapist is almost a whole new field. The school based therapist used tests and measures, interventions, and created goals and treatment plans much different from any other setting I had been in previously. This was a challenge, a challenge I was willing to understand and conquer.

Physiotherapy is my initial career choice. In various ways it also resembles my other options. Athletes commit themselves to the depths of the most intense training and practice to excel in the fields of their profession. Lawmakers enact laws to help improve processes for the judicial system. Professors and educators teach and guide students to their desired paths to success. I want to integrate all these attributes as a physiotherapist to educate my patients to lead a healthier life, practice and train to reach dexterity as a physiotherapist and work to enhance the methods of medical practice.

Physical Therapy is a growing profession in the healthcare field. There is a continuous flow of patients who need assistance with recovery and the motivation to finish the task. As with any healthcare profession, physical therapy can be very demanding. Therapists can successfully meet those demands by creating a positive environment, continuously learning and educating others. In addition to possessing these characteristics, my interest in physical therapy comes from my experiences as a collegiate athlete and employee of a therapy clinic/gym.