Unit 15 Assessing Children’s Development Support Needs Assignment Brief 2026

Unit 15 Assessing Children’s Development Support Needs Assignment Brief

Students will explore how children develop from birth to eight years, the factors influencing this process, and the role of assessment in identifying and supporting their individual needs.

Unit Introduction

To provide the care and support that children need, it is important that you have a good understanding of how they grow and develop. This unit introduces you to the patterns of growth and development in children, from birth up to eight years, across different areas  and aspects of development.

In this unit, you will learn about the stages and principles of growth and development.  You will look at some of the theories about how children develop, and learn and recognise how these theories are applied to help children achieve their developmental milestones. You will examine factors that can affect how children grow and develop, including those that are personal to the child, such as a disability, and external factors, such as whether  they have access to good-quality care and health services. You will explore the different methods professionals use across children’s services and carry out an observation of your own. You will need to reflect on these methods to consider the importance of assessment so you can plan to support children’s individual needs.

This unit will help you to identify and assess development and support needs of children to enable you to progress to degrees in the sector such as nursing and social work. It will be useful for students intending to pursue a career in children’s social care or health care,  such as in child assessment centres and as health visitors or paediatric nurses.

Learning Aim and Assessment Criteria

The essential content is set out under content areas. Students must cover all specified content before the assessment.

Learning aim A: Understand patterns, principles and theories that contribute to an understanding of growth and development in children from birth to eight years

A1 Patterns of growth and development

• Definition of growth and development.
• Developmental milestones for children between birth and eight years.
• Areas and aspects of development:
  • physical, to include fine and gross motor development, locomotion, balance
  • coordination, hand-eye coordination
  • intellectual/cognitive, to include neurological and brain development
  • development of abstract concepts, thinking skills, memory
  • speech, language and communication
  • emotional, to include the development of self-identity, self-esteem, attachment, independence, moral development
  • social, to include developing friendships, cooperation
  • digital literacy and technology exposure as part of cognitive and social development (e.g. impact of screen time, online communication skills).

A2 Principles of growth and development

• Rates of growth and development vary between children.
• How growth can impact on each of the areas of development.
• Patterns of typical development.
• Different areas of development advance at different rates.
• Development is holistic.
• Atypical development: global delay, specific delay; children who are gifted, talented or able in one or more areas of development.

A3 Theories of development

• Students require an overview of how the following theories contribute to an understanding of growth and development.
• Cognitive development, to include Piaget, Vygotsky, information processing theory.
• Behaviourism, to include Watson, Skinner, Bandura.
• Emotional and social development, to include Bowlby, Rutter, Erikson, Maslow, Harter.
• Moral development, to include Kohlberg, Piaget.
• Language development, to include Chomsky, Vygotsky.

Learning aim B: Examine factors that may impact on children’s growth and development

B1 Factors

• Personal factors, to include health, disability, genetic inheritance.
• Pre-natal factors, to include care during pregnancy, genetic disease, lifestyle of mother, to include diet.
• Socio-economic factors, to include low-income families, access to health and education services, culture, diet.
• Environmental factors, to include housing, pollution, climate change, environmental stressors (e.g. displacement, air quality).
• Emotional factors, to include domestic harm, poor attachment, impact of social media, cyberbullying, digital inequity.
• Transitions, to include personal transitions that happen to all children (e.g. starting school) and particular transitions that children may experience (e.g. family breakdown).

B2 The impact of factors on growth and development

• The impact may be: short term, long term.
• Failure to grow and thrive.
• Delayed or enhanced development.
• How the impact on one area of development may affect other areas.
• How factors may be counterbalanced by other factors (e.g. providing free nursery places for children in low income families).

Learning aim C: Explore how assessment is used to identify children’s stages of growth and development and their support needs

C1 Assessment methods

• Formal, informal, formative, summative.
• Developmental screening programmes.
• Growth monitoring: measuring and recording growth, to include centile charts.
• Assessment frameworks, to include Assessment Triangle (child’s developmental needs, parenting capacity, family/environmental factors), curriculum frameworks for home country.
• How to plan and carry out assessment through observation, to include:
  • methods of recording (e.g. checklist, time sample observation sheet)
  • areas of development
  • timing and environmental considerations
  • ethical issues, to include permissions, confidentiality
  • using milestones to compare a child’s stage of development against typical development
  • remote observation techniques for virtual learning environments.
• The involvement of parents in assessment.
• The importance of sharing information with colleagues, other professionals, the child and their family.

C2 The contribution of assessment to the promotion of children’s growth and development

• Early identification of children failing to grow or thrive.
• Early identification of atypical development.
• Interventions to support and promote development, to include care plans, learning plans, behaviour plans, specialist support from health professionals.
• The importance of monitoring and reviewing interventions.
• Data privacy and safeguarding in digital assessments, ensuring ethical use of technology in child development monitoring.
• Inclusive practices and culturally responsive assessment, to reflect diversity and global perspectives.

Links to other units

The assessment for this unit will draw upon some of the underpinning knowledge, understanding and skills covered in:

• Unit 1: Human Lifespan Development.

This unit may be taught alongside:

• Unit 5: Enquiries into Current Research in Health and Social Care
• Unit 6: Psychological Perspectives
• Unit 8: Sociological Perspectives
• Unit 9: Principles of Effective Care
• Unit 11: Supporting Individuals with Additional Needs.

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