5.1 Explain how positive practice with children and young people who are experiencing poverty and disadvantage may increase resilience and self-confidence

This guide will help you answer 5.1 Explain how positive practice with children and young people who are experiencing poverty and disadvantage may increase resilience and self-confidence.

Positive practice means using methods, attitudes and behaviours that encourage growth and wellbeing. For children and young people living with poverty and disadvantage, this involves more than meeting basic care needs. It supports their emotional and social strengths.

Resilience refers to the ability to recover from challenges, setbacks and pressures. Self-confidence is belief in personal abilities and value. Both resilience and self-confidence are weaker when poverty and disadvantage limit opportunities. Positive practice can strengthen them over time.

What is Poverty and Disadvantage?

Poverty is when families do not have enough financial resources to meet basic needs. This can mean poor housing, lack of healthy food and limited access to learning resources. Disadvantage covers wider factors such as social isolation, discrimination, or living in unsafe neighbourhoods.

These conditions can impact:

• Emotional wellbeing
• Access to education and extra activities
• Relationships with peers and adults
• Feelings of hope about the future

Children may feel excluded or see themselves as less capable than others. Without support, this can reduce self-esteem and coping skills.

Role of Positive Practice in Building Resilience

Positive practice focuses on recognising strengths, providing fair opportunities and treating each child with respect.

Key ways to build resilience include:

• Creating safe and stable environments
• Encouraging problem-solving
• Praising effort, not just results
• Giving trusted relationships with adults
• Allowing space for mistakes and learning

For example, when a young person is supported to take part in a school club, they gain social skills and learn they can try new things without fear. This small success can be the building block for bigger achievements.

Promoting Self-Confidence Through Daily Interactions

Positive practice in everyday moments can increase self-confidence. Workers might:

• Listen carefully to children’s views
• Give meaningful responsibilities
• Reinforce positive identity through words and actions
• Highlight progress and growth rather than focusing on failures

When praise is specific and genuine, it tells the child exactly what they did well. Saying “You worked hard to finish that project and asked for help when you got stuck” builds awareness of their own capabilities.

Importance of Consistency

Children facing poverty and disadvantage may experience unpredictability. Housing changes, unstable routines and exposure to conflict can damage trust.

Consistent care and expectations from workers help to rebuild trust. Knowing what to expect from adults reduces anxiety and helps to focus on learning and relationships. Consistency does not mean no change at all but keeping boundaries and support steady.

Creating Safe Spaces

Safe spaces can be physical, like a quiet area in a classroom, or emotional, like a group where individuals feel heard without judgement.

They support resilience by:

• Giving time away from stress
• Allowing expression of feelings
• Encouraging supportive peer relationships

Children who associate certain spaces with comfort and acceptance are quicker to use them when needed, which is a coping strategy that promotes resilience.

Encouraging Autonomy

Autonomy means being able to make choices about your own life. Poverty can limit choice and control, which harms self-confidence.

Positive practice involves letting children make decisions within safe boundaries such as:

• Selecting a topic for a project
• Choosing activities during free time
• Setting small goals for themselves

Making decisions teaches problem-solving and increases a sense of control. This builds resilience because they learn they have influence over outcomes.

Building Positive Relationships

Trust between the child and the worker is central. A child who feels respected will be more open to guidance. This trust develops through:

• Reliability
• Honest communication
• Treating errors as opportunities to learn

Positive relationships offer a model for healthy connections outside of the care or learning environment. Over time, the child gains confidence in forming friendships or seeking help from others.

Valuing Individual Strengths

Every child has unique skills or interests. Poverty can mask these if resources for development are unavailable.

Positive practice seeks out and recognises these strengths. For example:

• Artistic skills developed through free materials
• Good listening skills highlighted during group tasks
• Physical ability nurtured through sports access

When children see that their talents are recognised, they begin to value themselves more. This directly supports self-confidence.

Using Targeted Support

Some children will need extra input to overcome barrier effects of disadvantage. Targeted support means giving help that addresses specific needs while keeping expectations high.

This might include:

• Additional learning aid for literacy or numeracy gaps
• Emotional support sessions with a trained worker
• Mentoring or buddy systems

Positive practice uses such measures without stigmatising the child. This maintains dignity and encourages engagement.

Promoting Aspirations

Aspirations are aims or ambitions for the future. Children in poverty may believe such aspirations are unreachable.

Workers can counter this by:

• Sharing examples of achievable goals
• Encouraging small successes that lead to bigger ones
• Connecting children with role models from similar backgrounds

Seeing someone from a similar situation achieve success gives hope and a belief that personal effort is worth making.

Involving Families

Support for children grows stronger when families are involved. Many families facing poverty feel disengaged from services. Positive practice reaches out respectfully.

Ways to involve families include:

• Inviting input on support plans
• Sharing resources or tips for home activities
• Keeping communication constructive and solutions-focused

Building a partnership shows children that home and care or education settings support them together, which adds to stability and security.

Supporting Emotional Literacy

Emotional literacy means recognising, naming and managing feelings. Poverty can increase stress and frustration, making these skills harder to develop.

Positive practice helps through:

• Describing feelings openly and respectfully
• Teaching coping strategies
• Validating emotions without encouraging harmful behaviour

Children who can understand their feelings can make better choices in how they act. This supports resilience under pressure.

Celebrating Achievements

Celebrating achievements does not have to be costly. Simple recognition can have lasting positive impact.

Methods include:

• Certificate or card from a teacher or worker
• Displaying work or projects
• Group applause or positive acknowledgement

This signals to the child that their efforts matter and that others value them. This boosts confidence and motivates continued effort.

Encouraging Peer Support

Peer relationships affect self-esteem strongly. Positive practice fosters peer support to replace or reduce negative peer pressure.

Workers can guide group activities that encourage cooperation rather than competition. This allows children to support one another during challenges and share successes together.

Inclusion in Decision Making

Giving children a voice in decisions that affect them reinforces their sense of worth.

Simple methods include:

• Asking opinions on activity planning
• Letting them help set group rules
• Allowing feedback on support strategies

This builds self-confidence through active participation and shows that their ideas hold value for others.

Developing Problem-Solving Skills

Problem-solving is a resilience skill. Children in poverty may face constant challenges. Positive practice teaches problem-solving rather than doing everything for them.

Steps include:

• Identifying the problem clearly
• Thinking of possible solutions
• Assessing outcomes of each choice
• Selecting and trying a solution

Confidence grows when children see they can influence outcomes through their thinking and effort.

Encouraging Healthy Risk-Taking

Healthy risk-taking means trying new activities or challenges, knowing that there is support if things go wrong. It builds courage and helps children learn limits and abilities.

This can be:

• Presenting in front of the class
• Joining a club with new peers
• Attempting a more complex task than usual

Failure is managed positively so it becomes a lesson instead of a setback that damages confidence.

Modelling Positivity

Workers act as role models. Regular positive attitudes and language encourage children to adopt similar mindsets.

This does not mean ignoring difficulties. It means showing calm problem-solving and hope, even during challenging times. Over time children learn these approaches themselves.

Final Thoughts

Positive practice is a steady influence that can change how children and young people experience poverty and disadvantage. By focusing on strengths, offering genuine praise and creating safe, stable environments, workers help them believe in themselves. This belief is the foundation of self-confidence.

Resilience grows when children see challenges as problems to be managed rather than threats they cannot face. Self-confidence rises when they feel valued and capable. Both are life skills that continue to help them in adulthood.