The Leuven Scales of Well-being and Involvement have become widely recognised within the education sector as an essential framework to ensure that children’s needs – especially emotional and cognitive – are being met by provision. With children’s emotional and mental health remaining so high on the national agenda – gaining a clear understanding of how to address these issues is more
significant than ever.

In this thought provoking and inspiring seminar, Professor dr. Ferre Laevers will explore how this approach can be extended to ensure its effective use in the early years and through into primary – and how these tools can be used to identify and overcome barriers to effective learning.

Benefits

• Understand how Well-being and Involvement are critical to lifelong learning and development
• Hear first-hand from the developer of the Leuven Scales
• Gain a deeper understanding of how to successfully monitor Well-being and Involvement

Over the past 10-15 years, research in neuroscience and psychology has uncovered a trove of valuable information about how children’s brains develop. The picture that has emerged is not simply that children’s brains are immature versions of adult’s brains, but rather one of difference: a child’s brain differs in certain key ways from an adult’s brain. This makes them better at some key things than adults are – a child learns language, for example, far faster than an adult. But it also means that there are some things that children find particularly hard in comparison with adults.

In this talk Dr Sam Wass, a developmental psychologist from Channel 4’s The Secret Life of 4- and 5-Year-Olds, presents research scientific research into brain development in children – in typical children, and in particular, those who have had especially hard early life experiences. He concentrates on two areas that are particularly important. In part 1 he talks about concentration and learning; in part 2 he talks about understanding and managing emotions. He concludes with a discussion of how we can use this new knowledge and understanding to change how we interact with children.

Benefits

• Exploration around neuroscientific and psychologic issues impacting children’s brain development
• Discussion surrounding key differences in children’s brain development
• A deeper understanding of modern day issues that affect children’s concertation
• A look at managing emotions and how adults can support this

This session will focus on how early years practitioners need to both ‘care’ and ‘dare’ young children to promote an optimal learning and wellbeing environment.  It considers the notions of self-regulation, executive function, the ‘zone of tolerable stress’ and the idea of a ‘secure base classroom’, as well as how early years practitioners might operate within this ‘zone’.

Reference is made to research and neuroscientific evidence which identifies the role of two key neurobiological systems – the stress response system and the social engagement system – which play an integral role in enabling children to focus and sustain their attention on the academic and social demands of the EYFS.  Relevant links are also made to well-known practices such as sustained shared thinking and the characteristics of effective learning, as well as the different roles practitioners need to play in supporting learning and wellbeing.

Benefits

• Practical strategies to facilitate young children’s well-being and progress
• A clearer understanding of the role of the neurological systems on development
• Understand the critical importance of self-managing feelings, emotions and impulses