For this week’s View from the Top, we’ve handed over to Dr Jayne Symons, head of pre-prep at Edgeborough. Passionate about the early years, Dr Symons gets on her soapbox to explain why she believes emotional regulation is so important at this stage of a child’s education.
Across the UK, schools are facing rising concerns about children’s socialisation, behaviour and attention. As these challenges intensify, new research, particularly from neuroscience, is reshaping how educators understand early development. One message is clear: learning is inseparable from emotion.
Neuroscience shows that stress and anxiety impair memory, attention and executive function, making it harder for children to engage or retain new information. In contrast, positive emotional states enhance motivation and cognitive performance. Young brains are highly neuroplastic, shaped by repeated, meaningful experiences — especially those rooted in connection, active engagement and emotional enrichment. When early environments nurture emotional safety, children’s brains are primed for learning.
A key principle gaining momentum in early years practice is co-regulation. Instead of expecting young children to manage big emotions independently, adults model calm behaviour, name feelings and offer reassurance. Over time, children internalise these strategies, gradually developing the executive functions essential for learning and social interaction.
Edgeborough School has embedded these relational approaches into daily practice. Practitioners focus on creating predictable, nurturing environments where children feel safe enough to explore, take risks and recover from moments of dysregulation. Staff remain calm and connected during emotional moments, helping children understand what they are feeling and guiding them back to a regulated state. This shift moves educators away from “fixing behaviour” and towards understanding the need beneath the behaviour.
Relational policies in early years prioritise secure, trusting relationships over strict behaviourism. When children experience co-regulation consistently, they begin to develop the neural pathways that support self-regulation, resilience and social confidence.
As debates continue over curriculum and standards, one truth stands firm: children thrive when their emotional world is understood and supported. By embedding co-regulation and relational practice, early years settings create the conditions for joy, curiosity and belonging — the true foundations of lifelong learning.