What Are the Zones of Regulation?

The Zones of Regulation is a way of grouping feelings, emotions and levels of alertness into four coloured zones. It gives children a shared language to talk about how they are feeling and helps them recognise that all emotions are natural and valid.

By using the Zones of Regulation, we aim to help children:

• Develop emotional awareness
• Build resilience and self-control
• Improve focus and readiness to learn
• Strengthen relationships with others

The four zones are:

🔵 Blue Zone

• Feeling: sad, tired, unwell, bored
• Energy level: low
• What children might need: rest, encouragement, or gentle support

🟢 Green Zone

• Feeling: calm, happy, focused, ready to learn
• Energy level: just right
• This is the zone where children are best able to learn and engage in learning activities

🟡 Yellow Zone

• Feeling: excited, worried, frustrated, nervous
• Energy level: heightened
• Children may need strategies to help them settle or refocus

🔴 Red Zone

• Feeling: angry, overwhelmed, out of control
• Energy level: extremely high
• Children need support to calm down and feel safe again

How We Use the Zones in School

Children from Nursery to Year 6 learn about the Zones during PSHE lessons. This is then further embedded across our school day. Children are taught to:

• Recognise which zone they are in
• Understand that all zones are acceptable
• Identify triggers for different emotions
• Learn strategies to move between zones when needed

Staff model the use of the Zones and regularly check in with children, helping them build emotional awareness and vocabulary.

Across school you will see:

• Daily check-ins where children identify their zone
• Visual displays in classrooms
• Calm corners or reflection spaces
• Staff using consistent language about emotions

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Supporting Emotional Regulation

We teach a range of practical strategies to help children regulate their emotions. These include:

• Breathing exercises and mindfulness
• Movement breaks or sensory activities
• Positive self-talk
• Talking to a trusted adult
• Taking time in a quiet space

Children learn that different strategies work for different people, and we encourage them to build a personalised ‘toolkit’ of approaches that help them feel safe, calm and ready to learn.

Zones of Regulation at home

We believe that strong partnerships with families are essential. Using the same language at home can really help children feel secure and confident in managing their emotions.

You can support your child by:

• Talking about the Zones at home
• Helping your child name their feelings
• Practising calming strategies together
• Sharing successes and challenges with us

Zones of Regulation Resources 

You can find out more by visiting Zones of Regulation or using some of the resources below. 

• The Zones parent meeting Powerpoint contains useful ideas, a video on how to use the zones at home and some further links.
• The Posters for different year groups are present in classrooms across school. These could also be put up at home to support understanding. 
• Bridge Activities support the learning that has taken place in the classroom from Year 1-6. These activities can be done at home to embed your child's understanding. 
• The Tool of the Week folder contains lots of different ideas for regulation tools that may support your child when dysregulated. 

If you would like to find out more about how we support emotional wellbeing in our school, please get in touch with your child's class teacher or Mrs Griffiths.