Student Wellbeing

Friendship Groups- Emotional Literacy

This week in Friendship Groups, we are focusing on learning about Emotions. This week, we are learning about different emotions and the physical ways to tell how someone is feeling. 

Why is recognising Emotions and how we respond to them is a really important skill to have? 

• Develops social skills: Emotional literacy helps children understand how to interact with others, form friendships, and build positive relationships.
• Supports mental health: It is a key component of good mental health, enabling children to cope with all emotions, both positive and negative, leading to greater resilience and a better ability to manage their moods.
• Boosts academic performance: Children who can understand and manage their emotions tend to do better in school.
• Improves problem-solving: By understanding their feelings, children can learn to respond to challenges with more empathy and less reactivity.
• Enhances communication: It provides children with the language to express their needs and feelings, which is crucial for navigating social situations effectively.
• Builds self-awareness: Recognising and labelling emotions helps children understand themselves better, which in turn helps them regulate their own behaviour and thoughts.

What can I do at home to build these skills?

Use stories and media

• Watch and discuss: Pause shows or movies to ask how characters might be feeling and why.
• Read books: Choose books with characters that experience different emotions. You can ask how the character feels and how they might respond.

• Create a book: Have your child draw pictures of different emotions and the situations that cause them. 

   

Incorporate play and games

• Play with puppets: Use puppets or stuffed animals to act out scenarios and talk about the characters' feelings.
• Play games: Add emotion-related questions to board games. For example, you could ask a player to share a happy memory when they roll a certain number.

• Use creative outlets: Engage in messy play with sand, mud, or paint, or have children draw or sing songs about feelings. 

   

Practice emotional awareness

• Make daily check-ins a habit: Set aside time each day to talk about how everyone in the family is feeling.
• Label feelings: Casually name your own emotions and your child's emotions throughout the day. For example, "It looks like you're feeling frustrated right now".

• Notice body language: Help your child connect how they are feeling with how their body feels. You can ask, "When you get angry, what happens in your body?". 

   

Model and respond

• Be a role model: Share your own emotions in a healthy way. Children learn how to manage their feelings by watching you.
• Respond with compassion: Listen to your child's feelings without judgment. Avoid minimising or dismissing their emotions, and let them know it's okay to feel them.
• Build a "toolkit": When your child has a strong emotion, help them build a list of coping strategies, such as taking deep breaths, asking for help, or finding a quiet space.

New Beginnings

As we head towards the end of the year, we start to think about next year and all the new things that come with that. Who will my teacher be? What friends will I make? Will my work be different?

Here is some useful information for parents of year 6 students heading to high school.