Research School Network: Improving social and emotional learning in primary schools Ideas around the EEF’s new Guidance Report

Every primary school teacher knows that achievement in school is defined by more than just SATs success. In the words of Roger Weissberg, our aim is to support pupils so that they will ​“not just succeed in tests, but succeed in the test of life”.

In taking on this important challenge of supporting every pupil to thrive in school and beyond the school gates, an emphasis needs to attend the social and emotional and development at primary school. Given the sheer wealth of information on social and emotional learning, well-being and mental health, a practical roadmap to helpful navigate that challenge is necessary for schools.

In response, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), in partnership with the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF), have released an exciting new guidance report on ​‘Improving social and emotional learning in primary schools’, that offers actionable recommendations for school leaders and teachers.

One of the authors of the guidance report, Jean Gross CBE (SEAL Community), has stated the challenge facing schools:

Schools are under huge pressure to raise attainment and can struggle to find time and resources to attend to the wider issues in children’s lives – their wellbeing, mental health and development as responsible, caring individuals. This EEF/EIF Guidance helpfully shows how a focus on these wider issues can connect rather than compete with other priorities.

Crucially, Gross shares it is important to articulate that developing children’s social and emotional skills can ​“contribute to raising attainment” and strategies and skills to ​“communicate and manage their feelings, set themselves goals and work towards them, interact successfully with others, resolve conflicts peaceably, and negotiate their way through the many complex relationships in their lives today and tomorrow.”

Planning for SEL Success

The guidance recommends a balanced approach to ​‘integrating and modelling skills’ related to SEL during the school day (recommendation 2) with a more concerted approach to developing and adopting planned programmes. At the current moment, where curriculum has been brought to the foreground for many schools, guidance for teachers on how to successfully integrate SEL proves timely.

A really useful insight to integrate SEL into the hubbub of the school day is to ​“seize teachable moments” (to avoid reaching ​“crisis moments”). It poses useful, easy wins in this regard, in the playground and the classroom:

• support children to think through others’ perspectives and use specific problem- solving skills during a disagreement in the playground;

• encourage the class to discuss and try to solve ongoing problems that are affecting the whole group — for example, some children feeling excluded or ignored; or

• give specific and focused praise on seeing children applying SEL learning — for example, ​‘I noticed that you managed to calm yourself in a difficult situation…Well done!’. Using language that builds children’s self-efficacy draws their attention to strategies they have used to help themselves.

The guidance then offers advice around steps to take when devising or selecting a planned SEL programme. With many schools already developing the curriculum, a DIY programme may integrate nicely into ongoing plans, but it may prove a workload issue. Conversely, an ​‘off the shelf’ SEL programme (e.g. PATHS – Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) can be more immediately accessible and reduce workload, but it may not sync well with the curriculum development.

The following table, drawn from the guidance, offers handy tips to explore the selection of an existing SEL programme and to aid curriculum development:

For schools tackling the test of curriculum development and supporting pupils’ social and emotional development, we hope that the guidance report offers a useful, actionable road map.

Please direct any feedback or questions relating to the guidance to: info@​eefoundation.​org.​uk