Many educators realise that for pupils to navigate school with both enjoyment and success they need to develop, alongside their knowledge of subject, their knowledge of self. In short, their emotional literacy. At a time when the pandemic has highlighted the importance of children’s good mental health, the question is not if but how to teach it.

To answer this question Richard Evans has developed a resource named ‘the passport’. This helps educators help pupils by finding solutions to their more intrinsic school needs; from why they aren’t putting their hand up, looking after worksheets or completing homework through to why they are struggling to make friends or take new opportunities.

In this session, Richard will:

• Explore the importance of emotional literacy teaching in education
• Discuss how this key intelligence can be taught to nurture a more grounded, engaged and intrinsically motivated child
• Share his collaborative ‘passport’ template with ways to teach it – drawing on examples of how it has successfully impacted pupils to date
• Give time and support for staff to consider how they could implement the passport in their setting.

Target audience: Pastoral teams, intervention and nurture teachers, mentors, ELSAs, LSAs, TAs, HLTAs, mental health teachers and teaching assistants, safeguarding leads, PSHE teachers, midday supervisors and assistants.

Training objectives

• Understand what emotional literacy is and why it’s needed – not just for pupils’ good mental health, but also to underpin their academic education
• Learn how to help pupils develop the emotional literacy needed to solve their own barriers in school via a ready-made resource called ‘the passport’
• See examples of how this resource has been used and the impact it’s had on pupils’ confidence, organisation, behaviour, attendance and learning
• Discuss and plan how it can be implemented in your school for the benefit of your pupils.

Learning outcomes

• Learn how to collaborate with pupils to help them identify the underlying emotions and circumstances that can hinder their progress at school
• Recognise how teenage brain development can inhibit the teacher-pupil relationship alongside the importance of working with and not against it
• Learn how to inspire behavioural-change in pupils struggling to meet the demands of school by means of a practical resource which is transparent and measurable
• Gain free access to a range of passports, which can be tailored to the needs of your pupils your school.

Every delegate that signs up will receive a FREE copy of Richards’ book, ‘Independent Thinking on Emotional Literacy’!