• Marie Beale, Deputy Headteacher (Inclusion/SEND) Whitefield Primary School
Whitefield Primary teaches emotional literacy and regulation to children and their families, from early years to the Year 7 transition as part of a whole school approach to ensure children have the emotional literacy to access their learning. They began this work with a project with early years parents.
Parental workshops were designed to teach them about their child’s emotional regulation alongside providing them with an understanding of their own emotional reactions. Parents really valued these sessions. The school now has embedded teaching of emotional literacy to pupils and their families across the school. It forms part of their comprehensive inclusion framework which details the three tiers of enhanced offer for parents and children provided by the school.
This work has had wide ranging impact including increased attendance, reduction in suspensions and improved attitudes and pupil wellbeing. Pupils and parents are now able to understand and articulate their emotions in a more nuanced way and partnerships with parents are stronger and more effective. This is particularly true for partnership working with parents of children with additional needs which has substantially improved.
The school is currently involved in an exciting three-year project with local secondary schools to roll this approach to teaching and embedding emotional literacy to Year 6 and 7 children and their parents to support children throughout these transition years.