What is PATHS? 

At Muirkirk Primary School  & ECC we have implemented a Health & Wellbeing programme called PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Skills)

PATHS is a programme that supports children’s social, emotional and mental wellbeing. You may hear your child use vocabulary and use strategies that help them to regulate their emotions.

 

Why PATHS? 

Paths is an effective  programme because children often show difficulties in social problem-solving, self-control, affective understanding and self-esteem. PATHS helps to improve –

1. Increased self-control, i.e., the ability to stop and think before acting when upset or confronted with a conflict situation. Lessons in this area also teach identification of problem situations through recognition of “upset” feelings.
2. Attributional processes that lead to an appropriate sense of self-responsibility.
3. Increased understanding and use of the vocabulary of logical reasoning and problem-solving, e.g., “if…then” and “why…because.”
4. Increased understanding and use of the vocabulary of emotions and emotional states; e.g., excited, disappointed, confused, guilty, etc. Increased use of verbal mediation.
5. Increased ability to recognise and interpret similarities and differences in the feelings, reactions and points of view of self and others.
6. Increased understanding of how one’s behaviour affects others.
7. Increased knowledge of, and skill in, the steps of social problem-solving: stopping and thinking; identifying problems and feelings; setting goals; generating alternative solutions; anticipating and evaluating consequences; planning, executing and evaluating a course of action; trying again if the first solution fails.
8. Increased ability to apply social problem-solving skills to prevent and/or resolve problems and conflicts in social interactions.

We have a PATHS coach who visits us one day per month to support our PATHS journey.

Hi, my name is Alice and I am the PATHS coach for Muirkirk Primary School & ECC. It is my job to support the whole school community in the second year of your PATHS journey. As a reminder, PATHS is a social and emotional learning programme designed to support schools as they facilitate the development of children’s emotional awareness, friendships and problem-solving skills. In my role as PATHS Coach I will be supporting staff, the children and parents/carers to get the most out of our exciting PATHS programme.