Learning target 1.1
Self-Awareness & Regulation
Notice internal states, apply contextually appropriate regulation strategies, and adjust them based on reflective learning across situations.
T3Practised disposition
Orientations students grow into — practised over time, observed across contexts. Assessed by what they consistently do, not what they say.
Criteria — what growth looks like
Every learning target has a set of criteria specifying what growth looks like at each band. For this practised-disposition LT, each criterion lists what would be observed (and what would be confused with it) rather than rubric levels.
6 criteria across 6 bands.
Band A— Water + Air Dragons
K–2ages 5–7
A.1The student pauses to notice body signals and emotional activation, names what they are feeling, and uses a practised calming strategy to return to learning, without needing step-by-step adult direction.
Observation indicators
- The student pauses to name a feeling ("I'm frustrated", "I'm tired") before reacting when emotional activation rises, on most occasions visible to the teacher.
- The student selects a practised calming strategy (deep breath, water, movement break, quiet corner) without needing step-by-step adult direction.
- The student returns to the learning activity after using a strategy, rather than requiring an adult to redirect them each time.
- The student names body signals (tight tummy, hot face, fast heart) as they arise, not only after the moment has passed.
Confusable behaviours
- Compliance with adult-directed calming (following an instruction to "take a breath") mistaken for self-regulation. Distinction: the disposition is visible when the adult has not prompted and the student initiates the pause themselves.
- Emotional suppression (freezing and going quiet) mistaken for calming. Distinction: suppression is visible as withdrawal of affect; regulation is visible as return to engagement after a brief self-directed pause.
Absence indicators
- In classroom moments of frustration, the student's first response is consistently externalised (shouting, tears, hitting the desk) with no observable pause.
- The student relies on the same adult for every regulation episode, with no transfer to self-directed use of practised strategies.
Conversation prompts
- Tell me about a time this week when you felt a big feeling. What did your body do?
- When you use your calming corner or your breathing, what do you notice changes?
- Tell me about a time a feeling surprised you — what was it, and what was going on?
Band B— Earth Dragons
G3–4ages 8–10
B.1The student notices recurring personal triggers, chooses from a practised repertoire of regulation strategies before activation escalates, and does so across more than one setting.
Observation indicators
- The student names a recurring personal trigger (end-of-morning hunger, group work with a specific peer, maths-problem frustration) in their own words, not only after the fact.
- The student chooses from a practised repertoire of strategies (not only the single strategy they learned first) based on what the trigger is.
- The student applies a regulation strategy before activation escalates in at least two different settings (classroom work, playground, group work).
- The student comments on strategies that did or didn't work for them without adult prompting.
Confusable behaviours
- Routine compliance (using the same strategy every time because it is the one the class was taught) mistaken for trigger-responsive regulation. Distinction: look for the student picking a strategy that fits the situation, not applying a default.
- Avoidance (deliberately steering around a known trigger) mistaken for regulation. Distinction: avoidance reduces exposure; regulation shows up when the student stays in the situation and manages their state.
Absence indicators
- The student can name strategies abstractly but only applies them with adult reminder, even when a known trigger is active.
- The student's triggers recur predictably and the response pattern remains unchanged across weeks (same escalation, same adult intervention, no emerging self-action).
Conversation prompts
- What's something that sets you off at school — and how do you usually know it's starting?
- Tell me about a time you caught yourself early this month. What did you do?
- Which of your calming strategies feels most like it actually works — and which one doesn't?
Band C— Fire Dragons
G5–6ages 10–12
C.1The student applies a regulation strategy in a genuinely challenging situation and afterwards explains what worked and what didn't, adjusting their choice of strategy based on what they have learned.
Observation indicators
- The student applies a regulation strategy in a genuinely challenging moment (not a rehearsed low-stakes practice), on multiple occasions across a term.
- Afterwards — spontaneously or on a brief prompt — the student explains what worked and what didn't, rather than only reporting "I used my strategy".
- The student adjusts choice of strategy based on what they have learned from earlier attempts, not by sticking to one default.
- The student distinguishes strategies that genuinely helped from those that felt like they should have helped but didn't.
Confusable behaviours
- Post-hoc narration of compliance ("I did the breathing") mistaken for strategic reflection. Distinction: the disposition shows when the student can point to something that didn't work and explain why, not only successes.
- Rehearsal fluency (being able to describe strategies in a reflection lesson) mistaken for in-the-moment application. Distinction: the evidence is visible in the middle of a hard situation, not in planned reflection.
Absence indicators
- The student performs regulation language convincingly in low-stakes settings but reverts to pre-strategy patterns the moment genuine difficulty lands.
- The student's post-hoc reflections stay at the level of "it worked" / "it didn't work" with no specificity about what or why.
Conversation prompts
- When do you find it easiest to use a regulation strategy, and when does it feel hardest?
- Tell me about a time a strategy you expected to work didn't — what happened?
- How has the set of strategies you rely on changed across this year?
Band D— Metal + Light Dragons
G7–8ages 12–13
D.1The student applies different regulation strategies across different settings, explains without prompt why one fits one setting and not another, and names a specific change they are going to try next.
Observation indicators
- The student applies different regulation strategies across different settings (academic task pressure, peer friction, home-context reports), not a single default everywhere.
- The student explains — without adult prompt — why one strategy fits one setting and not another (what the context allows, what the activation pattern is).
- The student names a specific, concrete change to their regulation practice they are going to try next, grounded in what they have learned.
- The student adjusts strategies when a previously reliable one stops working in a new context.
Confusable behaviours
- Context-matching as performance (using the "right" strategy because that's what the adult expects in this room) mistaken for authentic context-sensitivity. Distinction: the disposition shows in the student's own reasoning about fit, not in conformity to classroom norms.
- Sophisticated talk about regulation in reflection without corresponding behaviour change across contexts mistaken for integration. Distinction: the student's practice in home-context and peer-context settings should register the growth, not only in supervised school settings.
Absence indicators
- The student uses one consistent strategy in all contexts, with no adjustment when context or available resources change.
- The student can discuss context-sensitivity fluently but reports from parents and other settings show the same reactivity pattern the student had a year ago.
Conversation prompts
- Where does your regulation feel most reliable and where does it still feel effortful?
- How has your approach shifted between school, home, and friendships this year?
- What's the next change you're thinking about making — and what's making you think it's time?
Band E— Stone Dragons
G9–10ages 14–16
E.1The student sustains regulation practices through extended pressure periods without adult scaffolding and comments unprompted on how their own state is affecting the group or a specific peer.
Observation indicators
- The student sustains regulation practices through extended pressure periods (assessment windows, significant personal difficulty, intense group project) without adult scaffolding.
- The student comments unprompted on how their own state is affecting the group or a specific peer, not only on their own feelings.
- The student's regulation practice holds consistently across observed and observer-free contexts (home, peer group, online) over a term.
- The student takes small proactive steps (sleep protection, withdrawal from pressurising interaction, rest scheduling) in anticipation of known stressors, not only in response.
Confusable behaviours
- Performed stoicism ("I'm fine") under visible strain mistaken for sustained regulation. Distinction: the disposition is visible in continuing practice — not in the absence of complaint.
- Regulating-for-the-group (suppressing own state to keep the group calm) mistaken for group-aware regulation. Distinction: the disposition includes acknowledgement of own state, not its concealment for others' benefit.
Absence indicators
- Regulation practices visibly fray in pressure weeks across multiple markers (sleep, mood, output), with no adjustment or help-seeking.
- The student acts as though their state is private and has no effect on the group, even when peer reports show the contrary.
Conversation prompts
- How has your regulation held up through this year's hardest patches — where did it hold, where did it fray?
- When have you noticed your own state shaping the group's — and what did you do?
- How has what 'looking after yourself' means changed for you between last year and now?
Band F— Sky Dragons
G11–12ages 16–18
F.1The student articulates a personal regulation system grounded in specific practice and supports a peer or younger student in developing their own, without adult direction.
Observation indicators
- The student articulates — in Reflection 360 or spontaneous reflection — their personal regulation system: non-negotiables, early-warning signals, known disruptors, adaptations built over years.
- The student supports a peer or younger student in developing their own regulation, without adult direction, using questions more than prescription.
- The student's regulation language is authored (their own), not imported from the programme vocabulary, and is recognisably coherent across contexts.
- The student maintains regulation practices when no adult is tracking, in consequential life contexts (applications, work, significant relationships).
Confusable behaviours
- Articulate vocabulary about regulation ("my nervous system", "my HPA axis") mistaken for authored system. Distinction: an authored system has specific content — the student's own non-negotiables, their own known disruptors — not only rehearsed neuroscience.
- Directive peer advice ("you should try box breathing") mistaken for supporting others' development. Distinction: support here is non-directive and centred on the peer's own discovery.
Absence indicators
- The student can describe regulation neuroscience fluently but cannot specify their own system's particulars.
- The student's peer-support mode is advice-giving, not inquiry-led, even after practice.
Conversation prompts
- Walk me through your regulation system — the bits that are non-negotiable, the bits that are still in progress.
- How has supporting other people's regulation changed yours?
- What in your regulation system are you planning to carry into life after school, and what do you expect will need to shift?