Developing Social & Emotional Skills

Emotional Literacy Programme

Empowering children with the emotional tools they need to thrive in school and in life.

Starting in January 2013, our awesome team at FHPP began a journey with the aim to foster and develop emotional literacy in our school. We decided that we wanted to build on our strengths but also face our weaknesses. We wanted to become a school that worked as a team to help give our children more skills and confidence to prepare them for life.

Since then all our staff have participated in many team days and professional development workshops to help improve our EQ (Emotional Quotient) and the EQ of our lovely children. We believe that we cannot teach something that we cannot also practice and role model.

We are in our 13th year of EQ development and the impact has been incredible. All the staff, the domestics, teachers and teaching assistants have been brave and we have all had to go out of our comfort zones, taking huge risks to move forward. This process has united us as a family, giving us each a sense of empowerment and pride in our achievements. As a result, we are a team that has become happier, more flexible and more positive and the children have benefitted immensely from that.

Classes have been practicing EQ with a different theme each month and term. Here is what we are achieving:

Weekly Support Meetings

Teachers meet weekly to identify students of concern, create action plans, and relay these to the Principal to ensure support for the child, teacher, and parents.

Social Skills Groups

Small group work is established when needed to help children improve their social skills.

One-on-One Guidance

Individual children will see the Principal when necessary to help identify issues and decide on the next step of action.

Open Parent Communication

Parents are encouraged to make appointments with their teacher and the Principal when needed, to discuss concerns about their children.

Early Intervention

We can now identify learning barriers more quickly and match children with the appropriate professionals to help diagnose and meet their specific needs.

Adapted Teaching Methods

We better understand each child’s needs and have created a tolerant, supportive environment that allows us to tailor our teaching accordingly.

What is Emotional Intelligence and why is it important?

Emotional literacy, sometimes referred to as emotional intelligence, is the ability to recognise, understand, handle and appropriately express emotions – both your own, and those of others. Emotionally literate people often have good relationships, cope well under pressure, know how to handle difficult situations and are not afraid to take risks in life.

EQ (Emotional Quotient) has been compared and contrasted with IQ (Intelligence Quotient) scores. International research continually confirms that EQ is a better predictor of long term success than IQ. We at FHPP strongly support this belief. We believe that if we can develop and nurture the social and emotional skills of children, it will allow them to reach their academic potential and achieve well in life. When children are happier in themselves and in their emotions, they are more open to learning and taking risks with their learning.

2026 Term by Term

Our EQ Curriculum

New Beginnings

Taken from SEAL materials Social, Emotional Aspects of Learning(UK)

Term 1 theme focuses on helping children feel safe and happy in their new environments. We concentrate on how to help children start new friendships and how to share and care for each other.

Belonging

I know I belong to my class/group.
I know the people in my class/group.
I like belonging to my group/class/school.
I know that people in my group/class like me.
I like the ways we are all different.

Self-awareness

I can tell you something special about me.

Understanding my feelings

I can tell if I am happy or sad.
I can let you know if I feel happy, excited, sad or scared.
I know that it is OK to have any feeling but that it is not
OK to behave in any way we like (if it hurts other people).

Managing my feelings

I know some ways to calm myself down when I feel scared or upset.

Understanding the feelings of others

I know that everybody in the world has feelings.

Social skills

I can share in a group.
I can take turns in a group.
I can join in with other children playing a game.
I know how to be kind to people who are new or visiting the classroom.

Understanding rights and responsibilities

I know what to do in my classroom/setting.

Weekly Themes

Week 1/2: Making someone feel welcome
Week 3/4: Doing something brave – overcoming feelings of fearfulness
Week 5/6: Solving a problem/remembering to use the problem-solving process
Week 7/8: Calming down/helping someone to calm down