This accessible resource provides a vivid and practical guide to social and emotional learning and will help primary schools tackle and improve behaviour and wellbeing. With content written by teachers and used successfully in real classrooms, chapters include powerful stories from teachers about their work and the impact it has had. Developed within a theoretical framework of evidence-based strategies, the resources included are fully illustrated with photographs from classrooms and draw upon a useful bank of downloadable resources and proformas. Taking the reader through a journey of how a group of schools worked together to develop practical and effective approaches, this essential resource features:

• Tried and tested strategies for improving behaviour and wellbeing
• Ready-to-use classroom resources – lesson slides; top picture-books for teaching about emotions; 20 simple exercises to help children stay calm; playground conflict resources and a progression in learning emotion vocabulary from Reception to Year 6
• Powerful stories from individual teachers about their work and its impact
• An in-depth understanding of research evidence on what works in tackling social, emotional and mental health needs from best-selling author and expert Jean Gross

Children’s social, emotional and mental health needs have never been of more concern to teachers than they are now — this book genuinely brings theory to life and is essential reading for today’s primary teachers, SENCOs, support staff and safeguarding leads.

Jean Gross has been a teacher, an educational psychologist, head of children’s services in a local authority and a Visiting and Associate Fellow at three universities. She has written multiple books for Routledge, including Time to Talk (2018), Reaching the Unseen Children (2021) and Beating Bureaucracy in Special Educational Needs (2023).

Sarah Seleznyov is a Co-Headteacher of School 360 and Strategic Lead for Learning and Development at Big Education Trust. She formerly worked at UCL Institute of Education and is the author of numerous articles and chapters on research approaches to teacher professional development.