26 May 2021
At Coastal Lakes College we facilitate a number of programs that aim to support the health and wellbeing of our students. These programs form part of our focus on developing the whole child – by that we mean the attitudes, skills and behaviours they need to succeed at school and beyond.
This term, students have been learning about the Zones of Regulation, or “The Zones” for short, which are designed to help them develop their social and emotional toolbox by providing strategies and techniques to help them with self-regulation. The program help students recognise when they are in the different Zones as well as learn how to use strategies to change or stay in the Zone they are in. Students also gain an increased vocabulary of emotional terms.
In addition to the whole of College learning, we also offer targeted lessons for students who need additional support with their social and emotional regulation. In these small group settings students gain further perspective about how others see and react to their behaviour, insight into events that trigger their behaviour as well as calming strategies. They do this through a number of hands-on activities that are designed to encourage self-reflection and role-play activities that provide them with an opportunity to put themselves in other people’s shoes.
Our Manager of Positive Support, Mr Wade Longworth has been seeing a number of benefits for students, “from this targeted approach we are seeing students self-regulate their behaviours and remove themselves from environments that are causing them to become heightened. Some of the benefits we are seeing include better classroom behaviours and improved social skills. Participants also have a better understanding of their own emotions and triggers” he said.
At Coastal Lakes College we believe that a successful pastoral care program is a shared responsibility that relies on strong partnerships between the College, parents and our wider community. You can support your child and help them with their progress by:
- Using the Zones language, talk about The Zones as they apply to you in a variety of environments. Make comments aloud so that your child understands it is natural that we all experience the different Zones and the different strategies we use to regulate ourselves.
- Helping your child gain awareness of his or her Zones and feelings by pointing out your observations.
- Validating what Zone your child is in and help them brainstorm ways to self-regulate.
- Showing interest in learning about their triggers and Zones tools. Ask them if they want reminders to use these tools and how you should present these reminders.
- Being sure to positively reinforce your child for recognizing their Zone and managing their behaviours while in it, rather than only pointing out when they are demonstrating unexpected behaviours.
Ensuring that everyone knows The Zones language is an important part of the program. This creates a supportive environment for your child to practice their self-regulation skills and helps them apply the skills in a variety of different situations. Our website has some helpful resources to help you learn about the Zones and the vocabulary visit https://coastallakescollege.wa.edu.au/wellbeing/wellbeing-programs/
Our Positive Support team are here to support the wellbeing of your child and ensure that all their learning and pastoral care needs are being met. If you have any concerns about your child’s wellbeing, would like some additional strategies to help with their self-regulation, or would like them to be considered for upcoming Zones of Regulation programs, please contact the College on 9583 2800 and ask to speak to the Positive Support team. Alternatively you can email us at CoastalLakes.Col.Inbox@education.wa.edu.au with reference to Zones of Regulation in your email.
