Zones of Regulation

 The Zones of Regulation is an internationally renowned intervention which helps students to manage difficult emotions, known as ‘self-regulation’.   InnovOak School uses the Zones of Regulation for students as they learn to regulate their frustrations, behaviours and day to day life issues.  For older students, we will refer to these zones during a crisis to help ground a situation and support a transition back to managing stress in a calm and effective manner

Self-regulation can go by many names such as ‘self-control’, ‘impulse management’ and ‘self-management’. Self-regulation is best described as the best state of alertness for a situation. For example, when your child takes part in a sports game, they would need to have a higher state of alertness than when, for example, they were working in a library.

From time to time, all of us (including adults) find it hard to manage strong feelings such as worry, anger, restlessness, fear or tiredness, and this stops us from getting on with our day effectively. Children who feel these emotions often find it hard to learn and concentrate in school. The Zones of Regulation aims to teach children strategies to help them cope with these feelings so they can get back to feeling calm and ready to learn. These coping strategies are called ‘self-regulation’.