Communicating with children and young people
Explore the key principles of effective child-centred communication.
Developing child-centred communication skills can improve the quality of everyday interactions with children.
This workshop aims to support participants to develop their communication skills with children and young people by explaining the key principles for child-centred communication and outlining ideas and tools to use in practice.
Participants will explore how interactions are influenced by individual experiences and consider how to plan for active participation from children and young people.
Designed for
Family help and social care practitioners working directly with children and families.
Learning outcomes
As a result of attending this workshop participants will be able to:
- State the key principles for child-centred communication.
- Explain the concept and importance of ascertaining ‘wishes and feelings’.
- Apply practice tools to support child-centred communication.
- Describe some of the barriers to meaningful child-centred communication and participation.
- Plan for enabling communication with children and young people with speech, language and communication needs.
- Use supervision to explore the voices, views and experiences of children and young people.
Booking information
This is a full day interactive session delivered via Microsoft Teams and you are encouraged to contribute with the aid of break-out rooms, the chat function and large group discussions. Participants will benefit from having a quiet space to work without interruption. Slides will be sent out after the session.
Research in Practice Partners can use their membership allocation to book this workshop. Link Officers can use the booking request form to book this workshop. Please only use this form if you are authorised to choose your organisation's membership allocation.
Once your booking is received, our learning team will work with you to confirm a delivery date and provide relevant information.
The deadline for booking this year’s online workshops is 17 October 2025.
Organisations that are not Research in Practice Partners can commission this workshop individually by contacting our learning team.
Child-centred communication in child protection: Practice Guide (2025)
This practice guide and accompanying video aims to support practitioners to develop their communication skills with children. It is aimed primarily at social workers in a child protection context but it is also of relevance to any frontline practitioner who needs to talk to children about difficult issues.
Enabling and embedding creative participation in child and family social work: Practice Tool (2022)
This practice tool considers the degree to which children can actively take part in decision-making processes that affect their safety and security.
Enabling decision-making by children and young people with speech, language and communication needs - Four part: Practice Guide (2024)
This four-part practice guide contains guidance, tips, and practice pointers for anyone seeking to actively involve a child or young person with speech, language, and communication needs (SLCN) in making decisions about their lives within assessment and review processes.