Zones of Regulation | Tuckswood Academy

A Parents' Guide to the Zones of Regulation

At Tuckswood Academy we recognise the importance of promoting positive mental health and emotional wellbeing to our children. We use The Zones of Regulation with all primary children across the whole primary school (including in our Reception class). All classrooms have Zones of Regulation charts which the children use throughout the day.

The Zones of Regulation is an internationally renowned intervention which helps children to manage difficult emotions, known as ‘self-regulation’.

Self-regulation can go by many names such as ‘emotional regulation’, ‘self- control’, ‘impulse management’ and ‘self-management’. Self-regulation is best described as the best state of alertness for a situation, or the ability to maintain a well regulated emotional state to cope with everyday stress and to be most available for learning and interacting.

From time to time, all of us (including adults) find it hard to manage strong feelings such as worry, anger, restlessness, fear or tiredness, and this stops us from getting on with our day effectively. Children who feel these emotions often find it hard to learn and concentrate in school.

The Zones of Regulation aims to teach children strategies to help them to identify their emotions and cope with these feelings so they can get back to feeling calm and ready to learn. These coping strategies are called ‘self- regulation’.

At Tuckswood Academy, we want to teach all of our children good coping and regulation strategies so they can help themselves when they experience anxiety and stress.

Using the Zones of Regulation as a framework, we aim to help children to:

Recognise when they are in the different Zones and learn how to change or manage being in the Zone they are in.
Increase their emotional vocabulary so they can explain how they are feeling.
Recognise when other people are in different Zones, thus developing better empathy.
Develop an insight into what might make them move into the different Zones.

Understand that emotions, sensory experiences such as lack of sleep or hunger and their environment might influence which Zone they are in.
Develop problem-solving skills and resilience
Identify a range of calming and alerting strategies that support them (known as their personal ‘toolkit’).

What are the different Zones?

So what are the zones? There are 4 coloured zones to categorise states of alertness and emotional states:

Each classroom has a chart for the different zones and children can move their name around the zones depending on how they are feeling. This helps class adults to be aware and check in with children.

Tips for helping your child to regulate at home

Know yourself and how you react in difficult situations before dealing with your child’s behaviours.
Know your child’s sensory threshold. We all process sensory information differently and it impacts our reactivity to situations.
Know your child’s triggers.
Be consistent in managing your child’s behaviour and use the same language you use at home.
Empathise with your child and validate what they are feeling.
Have clear boundaries/routines and always follow through.
Do not deal with an angry, upset child when you are not yet calm yourself.
Discuss strategies for the next time when you are in a similar situation.
Remember to ask your child how their choices made you feel (empathy).
Praise your child for using strategies. Encourage your child to take a sensory break to help regulate their bodies.

Create a ‘calm’ box or ‘sensory box’ full of things which help to keep your child calm and alert.