At Roe Valley I.P.S. all classes from Primary 1 to Primary 7 follow the PATHS programme.

PATHS stands for Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies

This is a highly recognised and evidence based Social and Emotional learning programme that is used across the whole school to support the PDMU and Thinking Skills and Personal Capabilities aspects of the  NI curriculum.

There are 5 key areas:

Self Esteem 

To recognise their strengths and be confident individuals.

To compliment others.

Emotional Understanding 

To be able to express how they feel and develop emotional language.

Self Control 

To be able to manage how they feel so that they can make ok choices.

Social Problem Solving and  Peer Relationships

To work with others and have successful friendships.

Our children are taught that all feelings are ok, but that some are comfortable and some are uncomfortable. Behaviours are Okay or Not Okay. Feelings are taught in the PATHS lessons so pupils can learn to recognise these feelings within themselves, and also in others, helping to develop their social awareness and empathy skills.

In P1 and P2 your child will learn these social and emotional skills through the use of puppets and stories. When we feel uncomfortable or even when we feel overly excited and not in thinking mode we use turtle to help regulate. We simply give ourselves a hug - this is like going into our shell like Twiggle does - it means our hands are safe and give that comfort when we need it. We then take a deep breathe and say the problem and how we feel.

All of our pupils have the opportunity to be the Pupil Of The Day. On their chosen day they are celebrated for being a member of the class. This is part of our positive classroom environment. The POTD receives compliments from their peers, teacher and classroom assistants, and when in P3 your child will then begin to give themselves a compliment. The compliment sheet will be sent home nd parents are encouraged to add a compliment too.

P7 are trained as Buddies, who help the younger children to play, problem solve and make new friendships during break time play.