National practice guidance

The Practice Model diagram summary below brings together the My World Triangle, Resilience Matrix, wellbeing indicators (SHANARRI) and the four contexts for learning within Curriculum for Excellence, to support overall assessment. It is intended to provide a structure to support practitioners, working together with children, young people and families, to make effective use of assessment information. This information will likely have been gathered from multiple sources, including regular information gathering processes on the progress of a child or young person with full participation from the child or young person.

The Practice Model:

Making sense of this information is a crucial next step before making a plan which supports a child or young person. A resilience-based approach fits closely with the aims of GIRFEC to build on the strengths in the child’s whole world, always drawing on what the family, community and universal services can offer.

When assessment, planning and action are needed, the Practice Model can be used in a single or multi-agency context:

• It provides a framework to structure and analyse information consistently to take account of the strengths, challenges faced by a child or young person, alongside their needs, and to consider the scaffolding of support that may be required;

and

• It enables full participation of children, young people and their families in gathering information to assess what support they may need, and to make joint decisions to plan and deliver that support.

The Practice Model is based on an understanding of a child or young person’s world based on an ecological model that considers the child or young person to be at the heart of their family and community. It is a dynamic and evolving process of assessment, analysis, action and review, and a way to identify outcomes and solutions together with children or young people.

Using the Practice Model in this consistent way allows practitioners, together with children, young people and families, to undertake an assessment, construct a plan and provide appropriate support. It also allows for regular and consistent review of the plan.

It is important to note that there will be occasions when, through the professional judgement of practitioners, child protection procedures must be instigated to address an immediate need for the child or young person to be ‘safe’. Child Protection procedures are available in Part 5.

The wellbeing indicators can be used to structure the recording of routine information about a child or young person. This will allow proportionate and relevant information to be shared lawfully (Part 2: Information sharing).

The Practice Model has four steps outlined below. The voice of the child or young person should be evident at all stages; their opinions and perspectives need to be taken into account in accordance with age (see glossary) and maturity of the child (UNCRC, Article 12) in a developmentally appropriate way:

1. The Wellbeing Indicators: Using the wellbeing indicators in the ‘Wellbeing Wheel’ to observe, discuss and record information which may indicate the scaffolding of support needed for a child or young person.                                                                                                                                                          
2. The ‘My World’ Triangle: Helps to understand a child or young person’s whole world. It can be used to explore their experience at every stage, recognising there are connections between the different parts of their world. In the assessment process, it can be used to explore strengths, needs and risks.                                                                                                                                                                       
3. The Resilience Matrix: Used in more complex situations, the Resilience Matrix helps organise and analyse information when there is a perceived risk to a child or young person.                                                                                                                                               
4. Planning, action and review using the ‘Wellbeing Wheel’: When the child or young person’s needs are clear, they can be summarised using the Wellbeing Wheel to develop an individual plan to provide support.