RULER and Other Approaches
The school uses a whole school programmed called RULER to teach mental health and well being.
RULER was created by The Yale Centre for Emotional Intelligence and is supported by extensive research in the USA and Australia. You can find out more here.
- Recognising emotions in yourself and others
- Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions
- Labeling emotions accurately – if you can name it you can tame it
- Expressing emotions appropriately
- Regulating emotions effectively
The children are taught these skills through a series of tools, known as anchor tools.
The first anchor tool is called the Mood Meter and this tool builds emotional awareness and understanding. This tool is represented by a quadrant of four colours and feelings are plotted on this. This helps the children think of emotions in terms of amounts energy and pleasantness.
First, children are taught to ‘plot’ their feelings in one of the quadrants, and then think about the specific name of that feeling. Next, they learn to reflect on what caused them to feel that way and consider the consequences of that feeling. They learn strategies to maintain that mood or to shift it.
Other tools include the class charter and the blueprint. The class charter is written and displayed by each class each year. This identifies the feelings and associated behaviours children wish to see in their classroom. Charters are a powerful tool to ensure personal and social responsibility. They help everyone be the best version of themselves.
A hand out with all the tools and ideas for using them at home can be downloaded here.
