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Expressing Feelings with Words
Emotional Literacy
Express their own feelings appropriately using words rather than actions — saying 'I feel angry because...' instead of hitting, shouting, or withdrawing
Feelings Change and Differ
Emotional Literacy
Understand that everyone has feelings, that feelings change throughout the day, and that the same event can make different people feel different things
Learning from Mistakes
Self-Regulation & Resilience
Understand that making mistakes is a normal part of learning and that everyone — including adults — makes mistakes, and begin to see mistakes as opportunities to learn rather than reasons to give up
Listening to Others
Friendship & Cooperation
Listen to others when they are speaking — looking at the speaker, waiting until they finish, and showing they have heard by responding to what was said rather than just talking about their own ideas
Makes someone a good friend
Friendship & Cooperation
Understand what makes someone a good friend — being kind, honest, reliable, and including others — and recognise behaviours that are not friendly, such as being bossy, leaving people out, or saying mean things
Naming Basic Emotions
Emotional Literacy
Name and recognise basic emotions — happy, sad, angry, scared, excited, and surprised — in themselves and in others by looking at facial expressions and body language
Naming Your Feelings
Self-Awareness
Notice what you are feeling and put a name to it — being able to label an emotion is the first step to understanding and managing it
Other People's Feelings and Thoughts
Empathy & Social Awareness
Understand that other people have their own feelings and thoughts, and that these might be different from your own — a foundational awareness that not everyone sees or feels things the same way
Patience and Delayed Gratification
Self-Regulation & Resilience
Wait for things they want without becoming very distressed — practising patience and delayed gratification in everyday situations like waiting their turn, waiting for a treat, or waiting for help
Right and Wrong Choices
Responsible Decision-Making
Know the difference between right and wrong in familiar everyday situations — understanding basic rules about honesty, not hurting others, respecting others' property, and being fair — and choose to do the right thing even when it's harder
Rules and agreements exist
Responsible Decision-Making
Understand why rules and agreements exist — that they help keep people safe, make things fair, and help groups work well together — and follow agreed rules willingly rather than only when being watched
Similarities & Differences
Empathy & Social Awareness
Notice and appreciate ways that people are similar to and different from each other — including appearance, family structures, languages spoken, foods eaten, and celebrations observed — and understand that differences make communities interesting
Simple Calming Strategies
Self-Regulation & Resilience
Use simple calming strategies when feeling upset or overwhelmed — such as taking deep breaths, counting to ten, or going to a quiet space — and understand that these help the body and mind settle down
Taking Turns and Sharing
Friendship & Cooperation
Take turns, share materials, and play cooperatively with others — understanding that group activities work better when everyone gets a fair go and that waiting for your turn is part of being a good friend
Triggers and Causes of Feelings
Emotional Literacy
Understand that feelings have causes — something happens (a trigger) and that makes us feel a certain way — and begin to identify what triggers their own emotions
Vocabulary: making decisions and keeping safe
Responsible Decision-Making
Know and use the vocabulary of making decisions and keeping safe — choice, consequence, rule, safe, fair, honest, trusted adult, and right and wrong — and understand that naming these ideas clearly helps make better choices
Vocabulary: self
Self-Awareness
Know and use the vocabulary of self-reflection — self-awareness, reflect, pattern, trigger, assumption, impact, perspective, and notice — and understand that having precise words for these inner experiences makes them easier to understand and talk about
Vocabulary: understanding others
Empathy & Social Awareness
Know and use the key vocabulary for understanding others — empathy, perspective, kind, fair, community, similar, different, and care — and understand that these words describe real habits of thinking and feeling
Vocabulary: working with others
Friendship & Cooperation
Know and use the vocabulary of working with others — cooperate, share, take turns, team, listen, agree, disagree respectfully, and include — and understand that these words describe habits that friendships and group work depend on
Words for Big Feelings
Self-Regulation & Resilience
Know and use the key words for managing big feelings — calm, strategy, cope, settle, patience, overwhelmed, and breathe — and understand that having words for these ideas is the first step to using them
Feelings Versus Actions
Self-Awareness
Understand that feelings and actions are separate — you can feel something strongly without having to act on it straight away
Basic digital citizenship
Responsible Decision-Making
Understand basic digital citizenship — being kind online, protecting personal information, recognising that people behind screens are real people with real feelings, and knowing what to do if something online makes them uncomfortable
Breaking Tasks into Steps
Self-Regulation & Resilience
Break a challenging task into smaller, manageable steps rather than feeling overwhelmed by the whole thing — and celebrate progress along the way
Bystanders and Upstanders
Responsible Decision-Making
Understand the bystander role — that when someone witnesses unkind or unfair behaviour, they have a choice: they can be a passive bystander (doing nothing), join in, or be an upstander (speaking up or getting help) — and develop the confidence to be an upstander