Voice of the Child – Practitioner Consultation 2019 Survey

When working with children it is essential to gain a clear understanding of their feelings, thoughts and views and enable them to take an active role in any decision-making concerning them and their future i.e. hear, capture and act on the ‘Voice of the Child’ (VOC). RBSCB wants to hear from practitioners who work with children from a wide range of agencies to assess levels of confidence, identify good practice and areas where partners can support work in relation to capturing and acting on the VOC. Your responses to the questions will assist in putting relevant support and guidance measures into place to assist practitioners across Rochdale. Responses are anonymous; respondents are only asked to identify their agency and the age groups they work with to access the questions.

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* 1. Your Service (choose from the drop down box below)

Other (please specify)

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* 2. Which age groups do you work with? Please tick all that apply.

Infancy (prebirth – 2)

Preschool (2-4)

Primary age (5-11)

Secondary age (11 -16)

College / Apprenticeship age (16-18)

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* 3. Rank the following approaches that can be used to obtain the VOC in order of frequency you use them, 1 being the approach you would use most often

Directly engage with children and actively listen to what they say

N/A

Observe the child’s physical appearance, body language and behaviour signals

N/A

Observe interactions with the child and others, and see how they respond

N/A

Seek the views of other significant people in the child’s life such as parents and carers

N/A

Ask other professionals for their knowledge of the child

N/A

Analyse information held to consider what the impact might be on the child

N/A

Observe the child’s physical environment

N/A

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* 4. To what extent do you agree/disagree with the following statements? Please select a response for each statement.

	Strongly Agree	Mostly Agree	Disagree	Strongly Disagree
I feel confident in my skills and abilities to effectively engage and communicate with children I work with	I feel confident in my skills and abilities to effectively engage and communicate with children I work with Strongly Agree	I feel confident in my skills and abilities to effectively engage and communicate with children I work with Mostly Agree	I feel confident in my skills and abilities to effectively engage and communicate with children I work with Disagree	I feel confident in my skills and abilities to effectively engage and communicate with children I work with Strongly Disagree
I feel confident in my skills and abilities to record the VOC with all age groups I work with	I feel confident in my skills and abilities to record the VOC with all age groups I work with Strongly Agree	I feel confident in my skills and abilities to record the VOC with all age groups I work with Mostly Agree	I feel confident in my skills and abilities to record the VOC with all age groups I work with Disagree	I feel confident in my skills and abilities to record the VOC with all age groups I work with Strongly Disagree
I feel confident that once I have obtained the VOC, these are acted on by others for the child’s benefit	I feel confident that once I have obtained the VOC, these are acted on by others for the child’s benefit Strongly Agree	I feel confident that once I have obtained the VOC, these are acted on by others for the child’s benefit Mostly Agree	I feel confident that once I have obtained the VOC, these are acted on by others for the child’s benefit Disagree	I feel confident that once I have obtained the VOC, these are acted on by others for the child’s benefit Strongly Disagree
I know where to reflect and always capture the VOC in my work	I know where to reflect and always capture the VOC in my work Strongly Agree	I know where to reflect and always capture the VOC in my work Mostly Agree	I know where to reflect and always capture the VOC in my work Disagree	I know where to reflect and always capture the VOC in my work Strongly Disagree
I understand why it is important to capture and to act on the VOC	I understand why it is important to capture and to act on the VOC Strongly Agree	I understand why it is important to capture and to act on the VOC Mostly Agree	I understand why it is important to capture and to act on the VOC Disagree	I understand why it is important to capture and to act on the VOC Strongly Disagree
I understand that the child’s age is no barrier to communication	I understand that the child’s age is no barrier to communication Strongly Agree	I understand that the child’s age is no barrier to communication Mostly Agree	I understand that the child’s age is no barrier to communication Disagree	I understand that the child’s age is no barrier to communication Strongly Disagree
I understand the child’s disability, including speech and language difficulties is no barrier to communication	I understand the child’s disability, including speech and language difficulties is no barrier to communication Strongly Agree	I understand the child’s disability, including speech and language difficulties is no barrier to communication Mostly Agree	I understand the child’s disability, including speech and language difficulties is no barrier to communication Disagree	I understand the child’s disability, including speech and language difficulties is no barrier to communication Strongly Disagree
I understand how to communicate with the child who does not speak English as their first / primary language	I understand how to communicate with the child who does not speak English as their first / primary language Strongly Agree	I understand how to communicate with the child who does not speak English as their first / primary language Mostly Agree	I understand how to communicate with the child who does not speak English as their first / primary language Disagree	I understand how to communicate with the child who does not speak English as their first / primary language Strongly Disagree
I only obtain a child’s thoughts when I need to for a particular piece of work not as a matter of routine	I only obtain a child’s thoughts when I need to for a particular piece of work not as a matter of routine Strongly Agree	I only obtain a child’s thoughts when I need to for a particular piece of work not as a matter of routine Mostly Agree	I only obtain a child’s thoughts when I need to for a particular piece of work not as a matter of routine Disagree	I only obtain a child’s thoughts when I need to for a particular piece of work not as a matter of routine Strongly Disagree
Time pressures prevent me from effectively capturing and acting on the VOC	Time pressures prevent me from effectively capturing and acting on the VOC Strongly Agree	Time pressures prevent me from effectively capturing and acting on the VOC Mostly Agree	Time pressures prevent me from effectively capturing and acting on the VOC Disagree	Time pressures prevent me from effectively capturing and acting on the VOC Strongly Disagree
Too often the VOC is tokenistic and does not have a genuine impact on planning	Too often the VOC is tokenistic and does not have a genuine impact on planning Strongly Agree	Too often the VOC is tokenistic and does not have a genuine impact on planning Mostly Agree	Too often the VOC is tokenistic and does not have a genuine impact on planning Disagree	Too often the VOC is tokenistic and does not have a genuine impact on planning Strongly Disagree

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* 5. There are a variety of tools available that can be used to capture the feelings, thoughts and views of a child and aid engagement. Which of the following tools, if any, have you used? Please tick all that apply. If you use tools, please specify which ones you have found useful in the box below.

Activity based – writing, drawing, colouring and games

Physical activities

Visual tools – toys and puppets

I am familiar with a range of tools available however I do not use them in my work

I am not familiar with any VOC tools I could use with the children I work with

Please specify

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* 6. What additional help and support could be put into place to enable you to effectively obtain and act on the VOC?

Formal Training Session

Guidance resources. Please specify in the comments box below.

Examples of tools which can be used with different age groups

Examples of tools which can be used with children with special educational needs and disabilities

Examples of tools which can be used with other groups: Please specify in the comments box below.

Other. Please specify in comments box below

Comments box

Voice of the Child – Practitioner Consultation 2019

Question Title

* 1. Your Service (choose from the drop down box below)

Question Title

* 2. Which age groups do you work with? Please tick all that apply.

Question Title

* 3. Rank the following approaches that can be used to obtain the VOC in order of frequency you use them, 1 being the approach you would use most often

Question Title

* 4. To what extent do you agree/disagree with the following statements? Please select a response for each statement.

Question Title

* 5. There are a variety of tools available that can be used to capture the feelings, thoughts and views of a child and aid engagement. Which of the following tools, if any, have you used? Please tick all that apply. If you use tools, please specify which ones you have found useful in the box below.

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* 6. What additional help and support could be put into place to enable you to effectively obtain and act on the VOC?

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* 7. What do you think would be the biggest single action / change that would help improve practitioners capturing and acting on the VOC?

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* 8. Any other comments?