Emotional Literacy Curriculum Overview 

Intent

At Moreland Primary School, our Emotional Literacy curriculum is designed to:

• Support pupils in developing the emotional awareness, vocabulary, and regulation skills needed to thrive socially, academically, and personally.

• Enable children to recognise, understand, and manage their emotions effectively and empathetically in a range of contexts.

• Promote mental wellbeing, resilience, and healthy relationships through a consistent and inclusive approach.

• Embed the principles of the RULER framework—Recognising, Understanding, Labelling, Expressing, and Regulating emotions—across the school community.

• Equip pupils with the emotional tools they need to navigate challenges, resolve conflict constructively, and become compassionate, reflective individuals.

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Implementation

Emotional literacy is taught explicitly and reinforced throughout the wider curriculum and school culture:

• RULER Framework:

  • Used across the school to structure emotional literacy teaching and daily emotional check-ins.

  • Classrooms use tools such as the Class Charter, Mood Meter, Meta-Moment, and Blueprint to support emotional awareness and regulation.

• Emotional Literacy and PSHE Lessons:

  • Focused sessions using our Emotional Literacy curriculum and Islington PSHE and Me scheme give pupils the space to explore emotions, discuss personal experiences, and practise empathy and communication.

• Emotion Vocabulary Building:

  • Pupils are taught a rich emotional vocabulary to help them articulate complex feelings beyond basic terms like “happy” or “sad.”

• Whole-School Language of Emotion:

  • Staff model emotional language and regulation strategies consistently.

  • Displays, assemblies, and behaviour policies align with RULER principles.

• Targeted Support:

  • Small-group and 1:1 emotional literacy interventions are offered where needed, including use of ELSA-trained staff.

• Cultural Capital Enrichment:

  • Experiences such as theatre visits, literature, role play, and storytelling are used to explore emotion, empathy, and perspective.

  • Pupil leadership roles (e.g. Playground Pals, Wellbeing Team) promote agency and emotional responsibility.

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Impact

The impact of our Emotional Literacy curriculum is seen in:

• Emotionally Literate Pupils: Children can accurately identify and describe a wide range of emotions in themselves and others, using precise vocabulary.

• Self-Regulation and Resilience: Pupils are increasingly able to manage difficult emotions constructively, make positive choices, and use strategies independently.

• Positive Relationships: Stronger interpersonal skills support inclusive classrooms, effective teamwork, and empathetic peer interactions.

• Improved Wellbeing and Engagement: Pupils are better equipped to manage stress, seek help when needed, and maintain emotional balance, contributing to stronger learning outcomes.

• Safe, Supportive Culture: A shared emotional language across staff and pupils helps foster a school community rooted in respect, compassion, and understanding.

• Preparedness for Life: Pupils leave Moreland with the emotional intelligence and tools needed to succeed in secondary school and beyond.

Emotional Literacy at Moreland

At Moreland, we support children to develop social and emotional intelligence through a comprehensive personal development curriculum that teaches our children to be kind, respectful, considerate and empathetic, helping them learn about their own feelings and those of others and giving them the skills they need to be emotionally literate, self-aware, safe and mentally well.

The school uses several approaches to support our social and emotional intelligence curriculum:

RULER

RULER is a whole-school programme used to teach mental health and well-being. 

RULER was created by the Yale Centre for Emotional Intelligence and is supported by extensive research in the USA and Australia. 

RULER stands for:

• Recognising emotions in yourself and others
• Understanding the causes and consequences of emotions
• Labeling emotions accurately – if you can name it you can tame it
• Expressing emotions appropriately
• Regulating emotions effectively

The children are taught these skills through a series of tools, known as anchor tools. 

The first anchor tool is called the Mood Meter and this tool builds emotional awareness and understanding. This tool is represented by a quadrant of four colours and feelings are plotted on this. This helps the children think of emotions in terms of amounts of energy and pleasantness.   

First, children are taught to  ‘plot’ their feelings in one of the quadrants, and then think about the specific name of that feeling. Next, they learn to reflect on what caused them to feel that way and consider the consequences of that feeling. They learn strategies to maintain that mood or to shift it. 

Other tools include the class charter and the blueprint. The class charter is written and displayed by each class each year.  This identifies the feelings and associated behaviours children wish to see in their classroom. Charters are a powerful tool to ensure personal and social responsibility. They help everyone be the best version of themselves.

A hand out with all the tools and ideas for using them at home can be downloaded below.

iTIPS

At Moreland, we use a trauma-informed approach based on the iTIPS model.

iTIPs aims to develop:

• an understanding of the ways in which the experience of trauma can impact on social and emotional development
• an understanding of how this in turn impacts on people’s behaviour and relationships, including issues such as forming trusting relationships and dealing with setbacks, conflicts and challenge
• tools and structures to support practitioners to be resilient in working with emotional, social and learning needs of adults and children, and to actively build the skills of adults and children to self-regulate