Children and young people have different experiences and needs at different times in their lives. Understanding how this affects their wellbeing, and providing the right support when they need it, helps them grow and develop and reach their full potential.
Getting it Right for Every Child (GIRFEC), the national approach in Scotland, uses a holistic assessment model to improve outcomes and supports the wellbeing of our children and young people by offering the right help at the right time from the right people.
Families and people working with children and young people use the wellbeing indicators to identify what help a child or young person needs in order to help them access the right support or advice. All services working with children and young people, and those who care for them, must play their part to promote, support and safeguard children and young people’s wellbeing.
The 8 wellbeing indicators are:
- Safe
- Healthy
- Achieving
- Nurtured
- Active
- Respected
- Responsible
- Included
Using the wellbeing indicators, the Team Around the Child must ask themselves the 5 key questions:
- What is getting in the way of this child’s wellbeing?
- Do I have all the information I need to help this child?
- What can I do now to help this child?
- What can my agency do to help this child?
- What additional help, if any, may be needed from others?
Using the National GIRFEC Practice Model, wellbeing assessments should be carried out appropriately and proportionately to the needs of the child.
The purpose of assessment is to help everyone develop an understanding of a child’s additional support needs.
It is important to understand any difficulties a child may be having so that changes can be made to help their learning and development. Assessment tells us what we need to do to help maximise learning and development.
Children may need support to develop their literacy or numeracy skills or their social and emotional skills.
