Social and Emotional Literacy

Social and Emotional Learning refers to the process through which children learn to understand and manage emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain positive relationships, and make responsible decisions.

Social and Emotional learning (SEL) is structured into the following core skills:

1. Self-awareness
2. Self-management
3. Social awareness
4. Relationship skills
5. Responsible decision making

At Ramsgate Arts Primary School, we aim to develop our pupils’ social and emotional literacy as we understand how developing skills in these areas will allow pupils to feel happy and to succeed from childhood through to their adult lives.

What is the impact of SEL at Ramsgate Arts Primary School?

As a result of the SEL our pupils experience, we expect that our children benefit in the following ways:

• Being able to identifying emotions and hold accurate self-perceptions. Being able to recognise their own strengths, developing self-confidence and self-efficacy.
• Being able to use impulse control and developing stress management approaches. They are able to understand the value of self-discipline and understand the benefits of self-motivation. They engage in goal setting and develop key organisational skills to help them manage themselves.
• Our pupils develop a meaningful understanding of emotion. They learn to approach others with empathy and sympathy. They have the opportunity to appreciate the uniqueness of others and explore diversity. This in turn helps them develop a respect for others.
• They develop the skills needed to communicate socially and engage in meaningful relationship building through teamwork.
• Our pupils learn to identify problems and analyse solutions and solving problems. They practise evaluating and reflecting which are valuable skills to help them succeed in all they do. 

Other curriculum areas overlap and cross into social and emotional learning (SEL), including PSHE, the study of our core values, supporting children’s mental health and wellbeing, bullying prevention, behaviour management, personal development and Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural Development. As a result, pupils at Ramsgate Arts Primary School are almost constantly engaging in opportunities to reflect upon and improve their social and emotional intelligence.

Weissberg, R. et al. (2015) ‘Social and emotional learning: Past, present, and future’, in J. A. Durlak, C. E. Domitrovich, R. P. Weisserg and T. P. Gullotta (eds), Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice, New York, NY: Guilford (pp. 3–19).