Zones of Regulation
At Shipley CE, we use Zones of Regulation as a whole school approach from nursery through to Year 6 to support children's mental health and well-being. Children are taught explicitly about the different feelings they experience on a day to day basis and are encouraged to identify these feelings. The approach also supports children in developing self-regulation strategies for coping and managing complex feelings.
"Zones is a systematic, cognitive-behavioral approach used to teach us how to regulate our feelings, energy and sensory needs in order to meet the demands of the situation around us and be successful socially." (Kuypers, 2011)
Click on the link to find out further information on the approach. https://zonesofregulation.com/index.html
The Zones of Regulation are used on a daily basis in the classroom and within interactions with pupils. The children have their own Zones of Regulation books which they use to develop strategies to emotional regulation within weekly sessions.
The Zones of Regulation is the original framework and curriculum (Kuypers, 2011) that develops awareness of feelings, energy and alertness levels while exploring a variety of tools and strategies for regulation, prosocial skills, self-care, and overall wellness. This curriculum provides us an easy way to think and talk about how we feel on the inside and sort these feelings into four colored Zones, all of which are expected in life. Once we understand our feelings and zones, we can learn to use tools/strategies to manage our different Zones in order to meet goals like doing schoolwork or other tasks, managing big feelings, and healthy relationships with others. The simple, common language and visual structure of The Zones of Regulation helps make the complex skill of regulation more concrete for learners and those who support them.
Kuypers (2011)