Social Emotional Wellbeing
Social & Emotional Wellbeing
At Caversham Valley Primary School, we believe that education is about academic achievement as well as developing well- rounded individuals who can navigate the complexities of life.
We know that when children have the skills of resilience, emotional regulation and perspective, they will do better socially, academically and physically. By implementing the Zones of Regulation and Grow Your Mind programs, we aim to provide our students with the tools and resources they need to thrive in all areas of their lives.
Zones of Regulation
From time to time, all of us, including adults, find it hard to manage strong feelings such as worry, anger, restlessness, fear or tiredness and this stops us from getting on with our day effectively.
Children who have difficulty regulating these emotions often find it hard to learn and concentrate in school.
The Zones of Regulation program aims to teach children strategies to help them to cope with strong feelings, so they can get back to feeling calm and ready to learn. These coping strategies are called ‘self-regulation.
What are the zones?
Teachers use the Zones of Regulation as a framework to help children to recognise when they are in different Zones and learn how to change or stay in the Zone they are in.
Children are provided with a range of calming and alerting strategies that support them with emotional regulation. This is known as their personal ‘toolkit.’
The program helps children to increase their emotional vocabulary to explain how they are feeling and they develop an insight into what might make them move into the different Zones.
Grow Your Mind
Grow Your Mind (GYM) is a whole school wellbeing program for students, teachers and families. It provides schools with a common language about what it means and how it feels to be mentally healthy. We believe that the more we embed messages about emotional health in young children, the more chance we have of positive mental health outcomes now and later in life.
At our school, we believe that education is about academic achievement AND about developing well-rounded individuals who can navigate the complexities of life. We know that when children have the skills of resilience, emotional regulation and perspective, they will do better socially, academically and physically. With implementing the GYM program, we aim to provide our students with the tools and resources they need to thrive in all areas of their lives.
For students to understand their reason for being they need to have brain awareness. GYM associates the parts of the brain with animals. The animals are a playful and engaging way to teach children about their brain and some of the core functions. Linking social and emotional wellbeing habits to the brain provides purpose and sparks a child’s interest in topics that may otherwise cause a yawn or eye roll! E.g. gratitude, exercise, healthy friendships, and growth mindset are just a few examples.
Chaplain
At Caversham Valley Primary School we have a Youthcare Chaplain. YouthCARE Chaplains support the social, emotional well-being of the school community while demonstrating our values of respect, compassion, and service. YouthCARE Chaiplains focus on the well-being of the school community to make a real difference in the educational outcomes of students.
The role of the Chaplain at Caversham Valley Primary School is to foster a safe and inclusive environment where every individual feels valued, heard and supported. They offer a confidential, non-judgement pastoral care program called ‘Be Brave’.
The ‘Be Brave’ Program is an online interactive tool that addresses anxiety in children and adolescents. It has been designed to assist with reducing anxiety and assist with coping with stressful situations. Therapy techniques included in this program are: relaxation training, identification of emotions and thoughts, positive self-talk, coping skills, problem solving and graded exposure.
ED Connect Volunteer
At Caversham Valley Primary School, we engage with the ED Connect Volunteer Program. The focus of the volunteer is to provide mentoring and support to students who might be experiencing academically difficulties or struggling with their social and emotional connections. Our volunteers aim to support teachers in the classroom and to equip our students with life skills they require to succeed through the building of positive and supportive relationships.
