Though children's wellbeing is high on the agenda for policy makers, the welfare of the professionals looking after them is often taken for granted. Sonia Mainstone-Cotton recognises that in order to enhance children's emotional wellbeing, it's vital that early years professionals are stress-free and emotionally well themselves. This is the first guide of its kind, offering succinct and practical guidance, tips and ideas for those working with young children on how to comfortably manage the pressures of their job, improve their work/life balance, and support the wellbeing of their colleagues. Easy to dip in and out of, this guide is an essential item for any early years staff room.

This practical and accessible guide tackles the challenges that busy childcare educators face with their mental health in what is a wonderful, rewarding, but often exhausting role. Drawing from "day-in-the-life" experiences and case studies, this book sets out high-quality staff wellbeing practices that can revolutionise the way childcare practitioners approach their job and their own health. Chapters guide the reader through a process of reflection and development, encouraging and empowering them to create a workplace culture that positively contributes to their personal wellbeing. This book: • Focuses on the realities of Early Years education, combining the author's lived experience with examples of real-life practice. • Encourages educators to think and feel positively about themselves; to identify the individual skills, strengths and talents they bring to their work. • Can be used individually or collaboratively by team members, with guidance on creating a positive workplace culture with a shared vision, core values and beliefs. Essential reading for anybody who finds that the job they love can sometimes leave them feeling worn out, stressed and depleted, this book has been written to enrich the lives of all training and practising Early Years Educators.

Based on action research which has been implemented in a primary school, this book emphasises not just mental health needs, but also the importance of creating a culture of inclusion for all pupils.

This is an accessible guide for schools explaining how to implement effective techniques to improve staff mental health. Drawing on case studies from years of experience supporting staff mental health, Amy Sayer introduces inexpensive, practical and realistic strategies that schools can implement to ensure the mental wellbeing of teaching staff. This book provides steps to ensure that self-care and family time do not slip under the radar in the face of increasing pressure and limited resources. From providing adequate staff room facilities to ensuring that teachers can set clear boundaries around weekends and break times, these ideas create and foster a culture of openness around mental health and help teachers to re-discover their love of teaching.

It is widely accepted that listening to and involving children in decisions about their care, learning and development can significantly improve the quality of early years provision. This book gives practical guidance on how to do this effectively. Starting with a discussion about why we listen to children and the policies around this, the book explains how we can involve children in decision-making that is appropriate to their age and level of understanding. Packed full of examples and ideas that can be easily applied in practice, it covers how to listen to children's perspectives and involve them in staff recruitment and appraisals, classroom design, assessment processes for social services and EHC plans, and much more.

When a practitioner can tell and read stories well, it is proven to significantly improve young children's early communication and literacy. In this easy-to-read and essential guide, storytelling trainer Mary Medlicott gives professionals the tools to get the best out of oral storytelling and story-reading sessions, with management, performance and language techniques. Included are examples of stories and post-story activities that are most successful with children of ages 2 to 5. Medlicott shows how to prepare for the session, spark children's imagination with props, voices and facial expressions, and encourage empathy with thoughtful use of language and variety. Importantly, she gives practical advice on how to cater for all learning needs, such as children with hearing impairment or learning difficulties, and children who are learning English as a second language.

The authors draw upon scientific studies, theories, site visits, nd their own extensive experiences to describe approaches to social and emotional learning for all levels.

Aimed at all beginning teachers involved in early years teaching. This text looks at the unique role of the early years teacher and outlines how you can support the development of children as unique individuals through an enabling environment, building success through effective relationships, outstanding provision and purposeful assessment. It encourages you to think about your own development in a holistic sense in order to promote outstanding professional practice. The Essential Guides for Early Career Teachers provide accessible, carefully researched, quick reads for early career teachers, covering the key topics you will encounter during your training year and first two years of teaching. They complement and are fully in line with the new Early Career Framework and are intended to assist ongoing professional development by bringing together current information and thinking on each area in one convenient place.

Anyone who works within children and adolescent mental health services will tell you what a challenging and complex world it is. To help prepare you, the authors have produced a clear introduction to child and adolescent mental health that takes you step-by-step on a journey through the subject. Beginning with the foundations, the book explores the common mental health concepts and influences that you can expect to encounter examining topics like the difference between emotional and mental health issues and how mental health problems develop. It then moves on to explore the vital skills that you will need to develop like effective communication and basic counselling skills, and introduces some of the common interventions like Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Psychodynamic theory and Family work. Written by a multi-disciplinary team of passionate and experienced experts, the book strikes an effective balance between introducing the relevant theory and showing how this can be applied in the real world. It is an essential starting point to the subject of child and adolescent mental health and suitable for any students planning to support this group.

"Have you ever wondered why children behave the way they do or why they can become so emotional, so quickly? This practical resource has been created to help educators effectively support their children's behaviour and better understand their emotions. The book focuses on the idea that all behaviour is a form of communication and explores central areas such as self-regulation and attachment, offering strategies that can be used to support challenging behaviour. Each chapter includes examples of practice, reflective questions, and an activity for the reader to help consolidate their learning and encourage them to become 'behaviour detectives'. Key topics discussed include: Attachment theory, Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and the importance of feeling safe and secure in the home and setting, Characteristics of children during conflict situations or moments of challenging behaviour, Developmentally appropriate expectations for children, and why it is vital that expectations are realistic, Emotion Coaching and the significance of acknowledging and validating feelings, Linking behaviour with schematic play. Written from first-hand experience and filled with practical advice as well as recommendations for further reading and resources, Supporting Behaviour and Emotions in the Early Years is an essential read for early years educators"--