{"id":34745,"date":"2025-12-11T16:12:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T16:12:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/?page_id=34745"},"modified":"2025-12-11T16:15:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T16:15:35","slug":"semh-strategies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/ordinarily-available-inclusive-provision\/targeted-support-framework-eyfs\/semh-needs-ey\/semh-strategies\/","title":{"rendered":"Whole setting strategies to support SEMH needs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Develop a safe and inclusive environment <\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Have a consistent relational approach throughout the setting, to support children\u2019s sense of safety, trust, and belonging, this includes:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Create a warm, predictable environment<\/strong> where children feel safe, valued, and understood.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Build strong, trusting relationships<\/strong> through consistent routines, positive interactions, and responsive support.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Practitioners are curious about behaviour<\/strong> and consider what the child might be communicating through their actions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Create quiet spaces<\/strong> designed to be calming, non-punitive, and free from distractions, offering children a safe place to regulate their emotions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Name feelings in context<\/strong> (for example \u201cI can see you felt really angry when you threw that car\u201d), and model talking about their own emotions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Acknowledge and validate<\/strong> children\u2019s feelings (for example \u201cIt\u2019s okay to be angry\u201d), and support appropriate expression.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Teach emotional vocabulary<\/strong> through puppets, stories, and role-play.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Help children understand that all feelings are normal<\/strong> 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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A visual timetable<\/strong> is displayed at child height and referred to regularly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Communicate behavioural expectations in a positive, clear way<\/strong> (for example, \u201cFeet on the floor\u201d instead of \u201cDon\u2019t climb on the table\u201d) and support understanding with consistent visual prompts, helping children feel guided rather than corrected.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Prior warning signals are given<\/strong> using both visual and auditory cues to prepare children for transitions and reduce anxiety.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Controlled choices are offered<\/strong> (for example \u201cYou can play with the car or sand\u201d) to give children a sense of autonomy within clear boundaries.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Instructions are phrased clearly and directly<\/strong> rather than as questions (for example, \u201cWalk, thank you\u201d instead of \u201cCan you walk please?\u201d) to avoid confusion and maintain consistency.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A clear, developmentally appropriate behaviour policy<\/strong> is in place and implemented consistently by all practitioners to create a predictable and supportive environment.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Support social development<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Actively support children to play with others<\/strong> by modelling responses, joining play, and adding ideas appropriately. Narrate social interactions to help children understand what is happening.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Provide opportunities for social play<\/strong> 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.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Embed turn-taking games and circle time activities<\/strong> to promote cooperation and listening skills. Use songs, rhymes, and movement games to make these experiences engaging and inclusive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use specific strategies such as <strong>social stories and explicit modelling<\/strong> to teach social skills. Reinforce these through puppets, role-play, and everyday routines.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Add <strong>opportunities for peer interaction with adult scaffolding<\/strong>, such as small group activities where practitioners guide language for sharing, negotiating, and resolving conflicts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Support self-reflection and independence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Provide opportunities for children to talk about their preferences<\/strong>, interests, and abilities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Model self-reflection<\/strong> by talking about their children\u2019s 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, &#8220;I really enjoyed building this tower, but next time I want to see if I can make it even taller.&#8221;)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Promote independence<\/strong> by allowing children to select resources and make choices in their environment.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Offer opportunities for children to <strong>visit unfamiliar places<\/strong> and meet new people to develop confidence in different situations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Encourage children to <strong>share their work or creations<\/strong> with peers and adults, talking about what they like and what they might change next time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Model growth mindset language<\/strong> (for example, \u201cI found that hard, but I kept trying\u201d) so children learn that effort and persistence are positive.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Develop a safe and inclusive environment Have a consistent relational approach throughout the setting, to support children\u2019s sense of safety, trust, and belonging, this includes: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":981,"featured_media":0,"parent":34756,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-34745","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-28 22:03:00","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/981"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34745"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34832,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34745\/revisions\/34832"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}