Kia ora koutou,

Recently our teaching team have been actioning some of our initiatives from our Strategic Direction by building our professional knowledge and implementing aspects into the learning programme. 

One of these aspects is social and emotional development and regulation. This was something that came through strongly in our 2023 Community Survey, where overall, the idea of children developing their social and emotional learning was ranked highest in terms of what parents want their children to learn.

Interestingly, research has shown that children with higher emotional intelligence tend to perform better academically as well as being able to manage stress, maintain focus and can better navigate social interactions with their peers.  

This type of learning also supports well-being: Developing emotional intelligence helps children understand and manage their emotions, promoting greater well-being and resilience. Children who can identify and manage their feelings can better regulate their behaviours and form positive relationships with others. Personal emotional intelligence is a critical skill for children. By teaching children how to manage their emotions effectively, we can help them become more resilient individuals better equipped to navigate life's challenges. 

We have engaged in an approach called Zones of Regulation and are looking at gradually embedding this into our teaching practice across the school. The Zones of Regulation is a systematic, cognitive-behavioural approach used to teach self-regulation by categorising all the different ways we feel and states of alertness into four zones. 

These zones are:

The Blue Zone: This zone represents feelings of sadness, boredom, or feeling low. In the Blue Zone, individuals may feel tired or sluggish.

The Green Zone: The Green Zone is for when we are in a calm and focused state. This is the optimal zone for learning and engaging in daily activities.

The Yellow Zone: The Yellow Zone signifies a heightened state of alertness and intense emotions such as frustration, anxiety, or excitement. It's a zone where individuals may need to be cautious and use coping strategies to manage their emotions.

The Red Zone: The Red Zone indicates an extremely heightened state of alertness and intense emotions, such as anger, rage, or panic. It's important to recognise when we are in the Red Zone and employ strategies to calm down and regain control.

The programme teaches children about how to identify their emotional state, as well as how other people are feeling and teaches them strategies to get themselves into the ‘Green Zone’ for learning. Lessons also include teaching children about ‘the size of the problem’ and how to navigate social interaction positively. 

There are resources online for parents if you are interested in this at home. https://zonesofregulation.com/

Our full Charter and Annual Implementation Plan can also be found on our website. https://www.puketaha.school.nz/charter-implementation-plan

Last week Scott our caretaker moved on to further his contracting business, Scott has been part of the Puketaha team for over 5 years and we have appreciated his attention to detail and the care that he has taken keeping our school looking good.  We wish him well for the future.  We have welcomed Richard Tarrant into the position, Richard will be working in the mornings if you see him out and about please say hello.

Have a lovely rest of your week and enjoy the upcoming weekend,

Ngaa mihi nui,

Nyree Olliver