{"id":34756,"date":"2025-12-11T15:01:51","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T15:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/?page_id=34756"},"modified":"2025-12-12T15:09:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T15:09:07","slug":"semh-needs-ey","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/ordinarily-available-inclusive-provision\/targeted-support-framework-eyfs\/semh-needs-ey\/","title":{"rendered":"SEMH needs in the early years"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In the early years, children are developing the foundations for emotional wellbeing, self-regulation, and positive relationships. These skills help them feel safe, manage feelings, and engage in play and learning. For some children, differences in how they experience and express emotions can lead to difficulties, known as <strong>social, emotional and mental health (SEMH)<\/strong> needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SEMH needs can affect how children interact with others, manage their feelings, and cope with everyday experiences. These needs may arise from a range of factors, including developmental differences, unmet special educational needs, or environmental challenges at home or in the setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">EYFS learning and development links<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>SEMH needs could affect progress across EYFS areas of learning, they are closely linked to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Personal, Social and Emotional Development<\/strong> \u2013 building relationships, self-regulation, and managing emotions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Communication and Language<\/strong> \u2013 expressing feelings and needs.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Understanding the World<\/strong> \u2013 making sense of experiences and relationships.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>SEMH needs can also affect progress across all areas of the EYFS curriculum, including early literacy and mathematics. Children experiencing significant social and emotional challenges may need focused support in the areas above first, developing secure relationships, emotional regulation, and confidence, before moving on to more formal ways of learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Every child expresses their feelings in different ways. Some children may show us they need extra help with their emotions and relationships through their behaviour. This might look like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Finding it hard to join in play or group activities<\/strong> \u2013 solitary play or staying close to familiar adults.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Showing big feelings that are hard to manage<\/strong> \u2013 becoming very upset or frustrated and needing help to calm down.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Being very active and finding it hard to focus<\/strong> \u2013 moving quickly from one activity to another or struggling to listen.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Finding social interaction difficult<\/strong> \u2013 such as sharing, taking turns, or understanding how to make friends.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reacting strongly to changes or new situations<\/strong> \u2013 needing lots of reassurance when routines change.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>It is important to remember that<strong> behaviour is a form of communication<\/strong>. A child who is distressed or emotionally dysregulated is often trying to express feelings they cannot yet put into words.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Early identification and support<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Early recognition is essential. The EYFS statutory framework requires practitioners to plan for each child\u2019s individual needs and adapt provision so all children can access high-quality experiences. This includes creating a nurturing environment where children feel safe and supported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If a child is not making expected progress in their personal, social and emotional development despite high-quality teaching and differentiation, practitioners should consider <strong>\u2018additional to\u2019 or \u2018different from\u2019<\/strong> support. The SEND Code of Practice and EYFS principles work together through the graduated approach: assess, plan, do, review. This ensures that provision is tailored and reviewed regularly. The guidance within the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/ordinarily-available-inclusive-provision\/targeted-support-framework-eyfs\">Targeted Support Framework for the early years<\/a>\u00a0provides additional support with tailoring provision to meet individual children\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the early years, children are developing the foundations for emotional wellbeing, self-regulation, and positive relationships. These skills help them feel safe, manage feelings, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":981,"featured_media":0,"parent":34741,"menu_order":6,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-34756","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-28 21:53:05","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\/34756","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=34756"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34756\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34903,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34756\/revisions\/34903"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/34741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/support-schools-settings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}