1. Analysis and Representing Children in Assessments

2. Communicating with Children © National Children's Bureau 2006 Analysing information Assessment Framework supports systematic information gathering The challenge is to bridge the gap between gathering data and using it to analyse, make judgements, plan, intervene and review

3. Communicating with Children © National Children's Bureau 2006 How do we represent children in assessments? Research, inspections and inquiries indicate that children’s voices are absent or minimised during assessment Focus on parents rather than the child Use of language in reports

4. Communicating with Children © National Children's Bureau 2006 Ways in which children’s voices are silenced By not reporting what was said Children are minor characters in the narrative More weight is given to adult views when there are differences of opinion or conflicting accounts Presupposing what they might say Descriptions of children being limited only to how they respond or relate to their parents Presenting their voices as untrustworthy

5. Communicating with Children © National Children's Bureau 2006 Examples from coastal cities study: Child’s views (from Child and Family Assessment in Social Work Practice by Holland) ‘Elizabeth presents as whimsical and materialistic and may not be impressed by the current accommodation … It is clear that Elizabeth has changed her mind on a number of occasions’

6. Communicating with Children © National Children's Bureau 2006 Examples from coastal cities study: Child’s views ‘Paul has remained consistent in his expressed wish to have Mr Taylor return home … Paul presents as a very sensible child who I feel would not hesitate to voice any feelings of unease’

7. Communicating with Children © National Children's Bureau 2006 Examples from coastal cities study: Developmental milestones ‘Aaron knows and immediately turns to his own name and babbles loudly and incessantly and imitates adults’ playful vocalisation with gleeful enthusiasm’

8. Communicating with Children © National Children's Bureau 2006 Good practice in analysis Acknowledge what you don’t know about the child – describe gaps and limitations Put the information you have got in context – child development, race and culture, recent events Consult widely Consider language Summarise

9. Communicating with Children © National Children's Bureau 2006 Benefits of summaries in the case file (from Write Enough by Walker, Shemmings, Cleaver (2003) www.writeenough.org.uk )www.writeenough.org.uk frees workers from the laborious task of hunting for information hidden deep in the file helps with the process of reviewing the work helps clarify the purpose of visits can be ‘cut and pasted’ into longer reports, e.g. child protection conferences, court reports helps workers become familiar with a new case quickly enables supervision to be more helpful to the worker

10. Communicating with Children © National Children's Bureau 2006 Checklist (From Putting Analysis into Assessment by Dalzell and Sawyer 2007) How well do I know the child? Which adults know the child best and what do they think? How has the child defined the problems in their family life and the effect on them? Under what circumstances did the child express their views or feelings? What has occurred and what did he or she want to happen?

11. Communicating with Children © National Children's Bureau 2006 Checklist (cont) (From Putting Analysis into Assessment by Dalzell and Sawyer) What has been observed regarding the child’s way of relating and responding to adults? (Consider attachment) What do I know about research in relation to the experiences the child has had? What communication methods have I used? How confident am I that I have been able to establish the child’s views, wishes and feelings?

12. Communicating with Children © National Children's Bureau 2006 The Developing World of the Child (Aldgate and others 2006) A series of steps: Chronology and genogram The visit Reflecting on the meeting Analysing what you have seen and heard Planning

13. Communicating with Children © National Children's Bureau 2006 The Developing World of the Child (cont) Gather positive and negative data Weigh relative significance Assessment of current situation Assessment of future circumstances Prospects for change Plan – roles and responsibilities, timescales, who will notice changes, date of review