PATHS

Hi, my name is Mrs Reid and I am the PATHS subject lead at Lyme Community Primary School.  

We began our PATHS journey in 2018 as we believed that it would prove instrumental in supporting the 'I CAN - INSPIRE, CHALLENGE, NURTURE and ACHIEVE' vision for our children. PATHS was introduced to ensure a consistent approach to supporting ALL children with their social and emotional development.

What is PATHS? 

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) teaches the skills we all need to handle ourselves, our relationships, and our work, effectively and ethically. This is mainly delivered at Lyme through PATHS

Promoting Alternative THinking Strategies.

At Lyme Primary School all classes from Nursery to Year 6 follow the PATHS curriculum.

There are five areas of SEL which underpin The PATHS® Programme for Schools curriculum including:

• Self-awareness

• Relationship skills

• Self-management

• Responsible decision-making

• Social awareness

The programme teaches children how to label their feelings and apply self-control strategies, leading to improvements in classroom behaviour, resilience and verbal fluency.

PATHS is a big part of Lyme, everyday a child is picked from each class to be the PATHS child, where they will carry out special jobs and get to receive compliments from their friends and teachers at the end of the day.

The lessons are designed for each year group and contain activities using pictures and photographs.  The lessons use a range of teaching methods such as stories, role play, puppets and adults modelling behaviour to the children.  The lessons are relevant to the children’s individual experiences as they encourage pupils to recall personal experiences, feelings and thoughts to make informed choices.

Nursery, Reception & Year 1

In the earliest PATHS lessons Twiggle the turtle and his friends visit each week to talk about different types of feelings and emotions, and how they make us feel inside. Twiggle and his friends teach the children how to recognise and manage their own feelings, and how to recognise the feelings of others.

During PATHS lessons we will think about feeling happy, sad, angry, scared, excited, tired and calm. The children can talk about their own experiences, listen to their friends, and think about how our faces (and sometimes our bodies) change when we experience one of these feelings.

Twiggle teaches the children a calming down technique to use at school and at home.

STOP

Take a deep breath

Talk about the problem

Twiggle introduces the children to his friends – Henrietta the hedgehog, Duke the dog and Daphne the duck.

Year 2

The Year 2 children will build on the learning they get in Y1. They will have the chance to discuss their own experiences, and role play different scenarios.

In Year 2 the children are introduced to the ‘Traffic Light Control Signals’ as a strategy to use when they feel they may need to calm down. Each class has been given a poster to display in their room.

Year 3

Year 3 children learn about developing a positive environment and work on developing their self-esteem. They are taught the basic emotions that they might feel, how to manage them and ways to express themselves.

Throughout the year, they develop their understanding of emotions in terms of establishing better relationships and improving self-control, self-awareness and anger management.

Year 4

Year 4 pick up on and extend the topic of feelings and relationships. They learn about how to make good decisions and solve problems, thinking through the consequences and thereby being more independent and resilient. They also learn about responsibilities and caring for others.

 Year 5

Problem solving is a valuable skill to have, through our lives. Children are taught the stages that they need to go through in various scenarios. They consider how to make and keep friends as well as being responsible and caring for others. They also have time to reflect on their goals and establish their sense of identity.

Year 6

Year 6 pick up on the emotions and relationships theme by looking at conflict resolution and respect. They are taught skills to help them study and develop their organisational skills. To finish off their time in Junior School, they think about dealing with endings and transitions to new settings.

Take a look at our video to find out about PATHs at Lyme! PATHs at Lyme