What content will be covered in the practical observation for the Children, Young People, and Families Practitioner standard?

The purpose of the observation is to assess the apprentice’s competency when working with or on behalf of a child, young person or family.

Examples of scenarios the apprentice may be observed in include, but are not limited to:

• a family engagement meeting

• an early help meeting

• a parenting programme

• a visit to a home

• a supervision

• a team meeting

• a multi-agency meeting

• contact with children, young people and families.

When planning an observation involving a young person, apprentices should consider creating a contingency plan with another scenario. If the young person refuses to be observed on the day, this will allow the observation to go ahead using an alternative solution and prevent the end-point assessment (EPA) process from being delayed.

Initial briefing Session

The assessment will begin with a 10-minute briefing session, during which the apprentice will outline to the End-Point Assessor the context of the work they will undertake during the observation session. Ther may utilise this time to ask the apprentice some criteria-based questions ahead of the practical observation and they will use the 2000-word essay to support the initial brief. The End-Point Assessor will also explain the relevant confidentiality arrangements surrounding the information received during the observation.

Observation of practice

The observation of practice will last 55-60 minutes. The End-Point Assessor will not assess any new tasks started after the 60-minute mark.

Questioning Session

Immediately following the observation of practice, a 15-20-minute questioning session will be conducted. The duration of this component will be determined by the number of questions asked to cover all the required criteria and the length of the responses the apprentice provides.

The questions will allow the End-Point Assessor to:

• further explore the choices made and the outcomes achieved during the observation session

• ask about criteria that did not occur naturally during the observation sess