Rachel has been busy creating materials and piloting sessions for our new Esteem Primary Relationships Education programme. One very rewarding part of this has been the work she has done with a group of children in a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) unit.
Rachel ran one session on emotions, self-control and managing conflict in the unit that went so well the SEND leader asked her to come back to do more!
In the first session, the children looked at ‘zones of regulation’, learning ways of moving back into ‘the green zone’ when angry or agitated, using different coping strategies. The children really enjoyed the practical and interactive activities using cards and playdoh, and making sensory calming jars.
Further sessions looked at: recognising and identifying emotions in facial expressions and body language; identifying anger triggers and using strategies to avoid losing control; learning about helpful and unhelpful ways of coping with big emotions; practising calming techniques such as calm breathing; and enjoying stories and roleplay to apply the theory of avoiding ‘getting triggered’, and the coping skills they had learned, to real life situations.
The children played Emoji Block, Regulation Bingo and UNO games, and made calm spinners, stress ball toys and calm down boxes. The boxes contained sensory items such as bubbles, a mindful colouring mask, scented crayons and putty - the children can now use their boxes whenever they need time to calm down.
On each visit, the children were great at remembering the strategies they had learnt in previous sessions and had fun practising these with Rachel. After the sessions, the children were able to name the coping strategies they had learnt and would put into practice themselves (see image to right).
"The acet sessions are fantastic! I'd highly recommend them and Rachel is amazing!" Teacher at Hayes Park Primary
We are looking for London Primary Schools to partner with - we will provide FREE-of-charge Relationships Education sessions while we pilot new materials for our Primary Esteem programme. Contact Rachel at rachel@acet-uk.com