News And Events

Social and Emotional Competence

The Ministry of Education have created a publication called He Māpuna te Tamaiti – Supporting Social and Emotional Competence in Early Learning. This publication is designed to support us all to have mana-enhancing, culturally informed, responsive interactions with children and whānau. These interactions will reinforce caring relationships within a positive, supportive environment for all learners and their whanau.

This month we have created a booklet for all Educators to keep with their kit. It discusses effective strategies for promoting emotional competency including:

Creating a supportive environment: In a positive, inclusive environment, children can practise their social and emotional skills, take risks and test boundaries, knowing that an adult will be consistently calm and caring.

Promoting emotional competence: Emotional competence includes understanding what we and others are feeling. It also includes having strategies to manage and express our feelings in appropriate ways and to calm ourselves when needed.

Promoting social competence: Being able to initiate social interactions with peers is a key skill. We can help children to learn it by modelling how we initiate and respond to social invitations.

Supporting learning and engagement: Successfully supporting learning and engagement requires high expectations, a responsive curriculum and planned, intentional learning approaches. Learning and behaviour go hand in hand. Self-regulated, self-managing behaviours help children make the most of opportunities to learn.

At Nurtured at Home, our Visiting Teachers work with and alongside our Educators, providing ongoing guidance and support to promote each child's social and emotional competence.