Zones of Regulation

Our Zones of Regulation work sits alongside other areas of our broader curriculum which includes teaching about Growth Mindset and Mindfulness.  We believe these three approaches support and improve our children's wellbeing, resilience, self-esteem and independence.

Self-regulation for adults and children is about acknowledging how we feel and consciously taking steps to move to an appropriate emotion or state of alertness depending on the context.  None of the zones are 'bad' and should not be met with judgement.  It is about acknowledging and understanding how we feel so that we can consciously apply a strategy and move to a feeling which is more appropriate.

As adults, we are often much better at recognising when we are feeling 'out of sorts', not in the right mood / frame of mind or have lost our temper / over-reacted to a situation.  through experience, we have learned a number of strategies to change our mood, energy levels or to help us feel calmer.

As the children join us in Early Years and move through Key Stage 1, we would expect an adult to heavily support their emotional regulation by verbalising how they might be feeling and suggesting steps they could take to feel like they are more in control of their words, actions and feelings.  As the children move through the school, we would expect them to need less external support.  A well-regulated person is able to recognise how they are feeling and can take steps to change their mood or state of alertness and reacts appropriately to changes and challenges in their day-to-day lives.

As is often quoted in 'Zones' literature:  "Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it."

The Zones of Regulation framework is written by Leah Kuypers and was developed following her work in schools.  We use the principles of it daily in class with the children and have taught the Zones curriculum more intensively with some of our children with additional needs with great success.

As our vision for all children is to prepare them for a rapidly changing world, self-regulation is key to their success in facing challenges as they leave us and enter the next phase of their lives at secondary school and indeed as they enter adulthood.  Research shows that a better regulated primary-aged child will likely create a well-regulated teen.

For more information about The Zones of Regulation, click here