EYFS Framework Guide: Personal, Social and Emotional Development

1. Managing feelings and behaviour • EYFS Framework Guide: Personal, Social and Emotional Development

2. What is PSED? Personal development is about how children come to understand who they are and what they can do. Social development covers how children come to understand themselves in relation to others, how they make friends, understand the rules of society, and behave towards others. Emotional development is about how children understand their own and other’s feelings and develop their ability to be empathetic - to see things from another person’s point of view.

3. Three aspects of PSED in the EYFS

4. Managing feelings and behaviour Practitioners help children to manage their feelings and behaviour when they provide opportunities for them to: • develop social skills and learn how to manage their feelings • understand how to behave appropriately in groups.

5. How can we support young children to manage their feelings and behaviour? Attitudes and ethos The physical environment Key person working Opportunities and experiences for children Building partnerships with parents

6. Our attitudes and ethos • Do we encourage children to express their feelings and learn to manage them, or do we try to suppress any show of emotion? • Do we need to be more consistent in the language we use with children, and in our approach to helping them recognise and manage their feelings? • How could we make the routines of the setting more flexible to accommodate different children’s emotional and physical needs? • Do we all know how to put our behaviour management policy into practice? • Are we all consistent in the way in which we talk to the children and in how we manage different types of behaviour?

7. Physical environment • Is the range of opportunities we provide for children sufficiently interesting to prevent them from becoming bored? • Do we know if we have enough books and resources that focus on feelings and emotions? • How could we organise the baby room differently so that it becomes a haven of quiet and calm? • How consistent are we in making sure all babies are able to enjoy some time out of doors every day? • Do we do enough to ensure children can choose when and where they go to rest or sleep during the day?

8. Key person working • Do we all feel we are consistently good role models in how we manage our own feelings and behaviour? • Do we talk enough to the babies and toddlers, engaging them in conversations about what they are doing and how they are feeling? • Do we encourage children to express their feelings or do we try to avoid this? • Do we need to be more clear and consistent about what we expect of children in different situations?

9. Opportunities and experiences for children • Have we achieved a successful balance between structured routines and making time to tune in to children’s interests? • How can we show that the interests and obsessions of boys are valued as much as those of girls? • Do we all take time to use ‘conflict situations’ as learning opportunities? • Do we spend enough time on helping children to understand their duties and responsibilities as well as their rights? • How could we help children to come up with their own rules about how things should happen in some areas of the setting?

10. Building partnerships with parents • How could we make more time to engage with parents at the beginning and end of the day? • At the start of the day, do we make it easy for parents to spend time talking us about how their child is feeling? • How effective are we in supporting parents in understanding more about their child’s emotional development? • How well do we support parents in addressing any challenging behaviour that their child might demonstrate?