Social/Emotional Learning
Good Shepherd prides itself on being an inclusive school community. All students are on their personal learning journey and as a school we strive to meet each learner where they are.
Some students excel but may need support with writing, or they may be confident in art but reluctant to engage in coding. Others may be fluent readers but have difficulty with social interactions and emotional regulation. ALL students deserve to be supported to develop the skills that they need to help them thrive and experience success at school.
We are encouraging our school community to embrace one another and demonstrate compassion to students who require support in social settings, particularly in the aftermath of the Covid pandemic. Many schools are finding that students are presenting with decreased social skills and emotional regulation.
‘Kids are having a lot more conflict with their peers, because they haven't had practice interacting with others and navigating social situations.’ Alecia Corbett, School-based Therapist.
Delayed social and emotional skills may present as:
- Difficulty engaging in and negotiating during play scenarios
- Challenges with emotional regulation, e.g. students with delays in this area may lash out verbally or physically at their peers or they may become overly emotional to situations.
- Being anxious or nervous.
As a school community we are supporting these students by:
- Scaffolding play e.g. lunch time clubs, Wellbeing Club, Junior School structured play
- Explicit teaching of social skills
- Explicitly teaching conflict resolution strategies
- Resilience building (The Resilience Project)
- Demonstrating compassion and patience
- Careful use of phrasing and redirection e.g. Looks like you are having a hard time, how can I help?
- Rewarding positive behaviours (raffle tickets for students displaying positive behavior on the playground)
Fun in the Wellbeing Hub, every recess and lunch!
We are conscious that students who have difficulty with social and emotional skills and emotional regulation must be approached with kindness and compassion and are provided with support. We encourage this conversation to continue at home.