Sunshine Circles: A teacher-led classroom intervention to help young children develop a sense of safety at school

Objective: To inform participants about an evidence-based classroom intervention for use by teachers in creche and primary schools to address children's need for feeling safe and cared for. Methods: This presentation will... [ view full abstract ]

Objective: To inform participants about an evidence-based classroom intervention for use by teachers in creche and primary schools to address children's need for feeling safe and cared for.

Methods: This presentation will provide an overview of Sunshine Circles, a therapeutic play model, that can be led by teachers in the classroom to support children who feel chronically unsafe and are thus unlikely to learn new material at their highest level of potential. Strongly positive research findings from a recent study involving 206 preschool (creche) children in the United States, representing 20 countries, will be offered. Discussion will address practical methods for organizing playgroups, video demonstrations of activities and information about current action research.

Results: Following this 90 minute, interactive workshop, participants will be able to locate training materials and contact trainers to learn how to fully implement these groups in their own community schools.

Conclusion: Children must feel safe before they can engage in higher order cognitive tasks. In areas of high daily stress, classroom interventions are needed to help children feel less vigilant so that they can learn and develop. Sunshine Circles provides one pathway to developing a sense of safety within the classroom. It is led by the teacher and requires virtually no purchased materials, making it sustainable in nearly any setting.