TITLE OF DEVELOPING PRACTICE EXAMPLE
Emotion Works Recovery Programme - A whole school approach
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CONTEXT / BACKGROUND
Supporting our young people’s mental health and wellbeing has always been important to us in Alva Primary. However, since the return of our latest lockdown, it has been vital to put our children’s mental wellbeing at the forefront while helping them to get their learning back on track. We knew we were going to face challenges ensuring our young people physically returned to school and then settling them back into our school routines. On top of this, we knew it was a top priority to support them through pandemic-related anxieties, manage behaviour and re-establish the relationships that enable children to flourish. Before the Covid pandemic, we began using a resource called Emotion Works. We were working to develop the emotional literacy and problem solving skills of our pupils and this was a great resource that would enable us to do this better. We liked it because it was visual and structured. It broke down all the issues around emotions into manageable components and this gave us the chance to use it flexibly with pupils of all different ages and abilities.
WHAT WE DID
After the last lockdown, I became part of an Emotion Works working group. The team rolled out a Recovery Programme to coincide with the transition back to school for pupils in Scotland. To help me identify where our pupils were with their emotional literacy, I carried out 2 baseline assessments with select classes: Emotion Word and Regulation Strategy knowledge, and a 'Timed' assessment to assess knowledge of the first 5 cog concepts. Both of these assessments can be repeated at a later date after using Emotion Works for some time to track progress. The results allowed me to plan (alongside my working group) the best approach for our school.
HOW WE DID IT
I created google slides for each week of the programme and provided resources for Early/First and First/Second level. The resources linked with most curricular areas and matched our HWB benchmarks. We took down all the visuals of our cogs from the classrooms to allow us to start again with the children and to ensure each class was working on the same cog each week. The programme is split into 10 weeks looking at the following areas: Introduction to the 5 Cog Model (which is at the heart of the Emotion Works programme). The Orange Cog - naming our emotions, the language around them. The Green Cog - our behaviours, what we do and how we show our emotions. The Red Cog - our body sensations, where we feel that emotion and how it feels. The Yellow Cog - our triggers, what happened for us to feel the emotion. The Blue Cog - regulation strategies, what we do to feel better. Revisit the 5-part cog model. From this point forward the 5-part model can be used as an everyday reference tool to scaffold discussions about emotions in work tasks and everyday events and experiences. The Grey Cog (first/second level only) - learning about emotion intensity. The Purple Cog (second level only) - learning about how emotions can be influenced by a variety of personal and contextual factors. Consolidation - the 5-part, 6-part or 7-part model is then used as an everyday classroom reference tool. Further consolidation and extension activities were planned and will continue to be planned on an ongoing basis, this will help fully embed Emotion Works into our school.
IMPACT / OUTCOMES
When the children returned to school after the last lockdown, it was clear they were struggling emotionally. They had a lot of emotions but were unable to identify how they were feeling and why. This was a huge challenge for all staff working with our young people. However, with each class following the recovery programme above, we have noticed some improvements. The language around Emotion Works can be heard throughout the school and restorative chats have been a lot more successful as adults can guide the conversation using the cogs as a prompt. Our young people are beginning to see that it is ok to feel all of these different emotions and can articulate what is happening to their bodies, how the emotion is making them feel and what regulation strategy may work best for them at any given moment. This is a huge improvement from the start of the year and with continued support and guidance, we are confident the emotional well-being of our young people will continue to thrive. Emotion Works will continue to be the focus of our Health and Well-Being but during the next session, we aim to create a literacy-based programme to ensure it becomes embedded fully across all curricular areas.
FEEDBACK
Teacher at Alva Primary 'We have loved the Emotion Works roll out. Thank you, we have loved all your ideas and appreciate how accessible your slides and resources are. My (P1) children said they are loving all the cog 'things' and learning what they mean.' Children from P4 'I love Emotion Works and all the activities.' 'I love that Emotion Works tells us it is ok to feel'. Children from P3 'I have learned not to use my hands when I am angry'. 'Walk away and get calm always helps me.' 'When I see red, I need to breathe slowly.' (links attached below for pupil voice)
UPLOADED FILES
Stage focus
LA
Clackmannanshire
Where?
Alva Primary School, Brook Street, Alva, UK
CONTACT PERSON
Samantha Currie
CONTACT EMAIL
clscurrie3@glow.sch.uk
