Develop a safe and inclusive environment
Have a consistent relational approach throughout the setting, to support children’s sense of safety, trust, and belonging, this includes:
- Create a warm, predictable environment where children feel safe, valued, and understood.
- Build strong, trusting relationships through consistent routines, positive interactions, and responsive support.
- Practitioners are curious about behaviour and consider what the child might be communicating through their actions.
- Create quiet spaces designed to be calming, non-punitive, and free from distractions, offering children a safe place to regulate their emotions.
- Name feelings in context (for example “I can see you felt really angry when you threw that car”), and model talking about their own emotions.
- Acknowledge and validate children’s feelings (for example “It’s okay to be angry”), and support appropriate expression.
- Teach emotional vocabulary through puppets, stories, and role-play.
- Help children understand that all feelings are normal and part of being human, while introducing simple self-regulation strategies (such as breathing exercises or movement breaks) to support them in managing big feelings.
- A visual timetable is displayed at child height and referred to regularly.
- Communicate behavioural expectations in a positive, clear way (for example, “Feet on the floor” instead of “Don’t climb on the table”) and support understanding with consistent visual prompts, helping children feel guided rather than corrected.
- Prior warning signals are given using both visual and auditory cues to prepare children for transitions and reduce anxiety.
- Controlled choices are offered (for example “You can play with the car or sand”) to give children a sense of autonomy within clear boundaries.
- Instructions are phrased clearly and directly rather than as questions (for example, “Walk, thank you” instead of “Can you walk please?”) to avoid confusion and maintain consistency.
- A clear, developmentally appropriate behaviour policy is in place and implemented consistently by all practitioners to create a predictable and supportive environment.
Support social development
- Actively support children to play with others by modelling responses, joining play, and adding ideas appropriately. Narrate social interactions to help children understand what is happening.
- Provide opportunities for social play in varied contexts (indoors and outdoors), including role-play, small world, and construction areas. Ensure resources encourage cooperation, such as large-scale building materials or shared imaginative play props.
- Embed turn-taking games and circle time activities to promote cooperation and listening skills. Use songs, rhymes, and movement games to make these experiences engaging and inclusive.
- Use specific strategies such as social stories and explicit modelling to teach social skills. Reinforce these through puppets, role-play, and everyday routines.
- Add opportunities for peer interaction with adult scaffolding, such as small group activities where practitioners guide language for sharing, negotiating, and resolving conflicts.
Support self-reflection and independence
- Provide opportunities for children to talk about their preferences, interests, and abilities.
- Model self-reflection by talking about their children’s own learning and interests in everyday contexts, showing children that it is normal to enjoy some things and want to improve in others (for example, “I really enjoyed building this tower, but next time I want to see if I can make it even taller.”)
- Promote independence by allowing children to select resources and make choices in their environment.
- Offer opportunities for children to visit unfamiliar places and meet new people to develop confidence in different situations.
- Encourage children to share their work or creations with peers and adults, talking about what they like and what they might change next time.
- Model growth mindset language (for example, “I found that hard, but I kept trying”) so children learn that effort and persistence are positive.