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Hearts and Minds: Nurturing Emotional Intelligence in Early Childhood

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Hearts and Minds: Nurturing Emotional Intelligence in Early Childhood

Programme Overview

Topic
Health and Wellbeing

Delivery Model

Face-to-Face

What is Included

Certificate of attendance

Course material (if applicable)

Cost

AED 1320 plus 5% VAT (per delegate)

Registration

Please fill out the booking form to register.

If you would like bespoke in-school training, please contact Paola (paola@infinitelearning.ae) for more information.

Course Details

Date of Training
Course Dates will be Scheduled Once we have Sufficient Registrations to Ensure Course Viability. 

Time

TBC

Venue

TBC

Booking Deadline
TBC
Target audience

The course is suitable for teachers working across any early years curriculum with children aged 2-6 and has been designed to reflect international best practice. 

Aims of the course

To introduce the concept of emotional intelligence and its relevance in early childhood development. 

To explore how emotional intelligence supports children’s wellbeing, behaviour, and lifelong learning. 

To develop practitioners’ understanding of how emotionally secure environments benefit young children. 

To provide practical strategies for supporting smooth transitions into nursery or school for both children and their families. 

Intended outcomes

By the end of this course, participants will be able to: 

  1. Define emotional intelligence and describe its five core components. 
  1. Recognise emotionally intelligent behaviours in young children . 
  1. Apply responsive caregiving strategies that promote children’s emotional wellbeing and resilience. 
  1. Create emotionally supportive environments through consistent routines, calm communication, and sensitive adult interaction. 
  1. Use practical approaches—such as visual tools, transition routines, and family partnerships—to support children’s adjustment into early years settings. 
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Sharron Fogarty

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Sharron Fogarty is a seasoned education professional with over 25 years of experience in early childhood education and school improvement across the UK, UAE, China, and the Cayman Islands. Her roles have included principal, EYFS advisor, Ofsted lead inspector as well as an inspector for KHDA and the MOE. As a teacher trainer, Sharron played a key role in implementing the EYFS across Essex in 2008, training hundreds of educators on effective early years practice. She has since delivered targeted professional development for Ministry of Education teachers in the UAE and for international educators in China seeking to improve EYFS delivery. Sharron is also an approved assessor and trainer for BTEC and CACHE qualifications at Levels 3 and 5. Sharron has contributed to national education policy and quality assurance frameworks in multiple countries, including work with the Office of Education Standards in the Cayman Islands and the Ministries of Education in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. She is also a published author with Buckinghamshire University, contributing curriculum content for teacher education programmes. Her expertise in inspection, curriculum design, and capacity building continues to shape educational standards and drive improvement across diverse settings.

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This engaging and research-informed training programme supports early years practitioners, caregivers, and educators to deepen their understanding of emotional intelligence (EI) in the context of early childhood development. Grounded in developmental psychology and neuroscience, the course explores how responsive adult-child interactions foster self-regulation, empathy, and wellbeing from birth through the early years. 

Through a blend of theory, practical strategies, video analysis, and group discussion, participants will learn how to create emotionally supportive environments and strengthen their role in promoting emotional resilience and positive transitions to nursery or school. The course is suitable for professionals working across any early years curriculum and has been designed to reflect international best practice. 

 

DAY 1 
8:45  Registration and refreshments 

  • Welcome and sign-in 
  • Name badges / table groups 
  • Icebreaker: “One word to describe how a child should feel in their first week at nursery or school” 
9:00  Introduction to Emotional Intelligence (Goleman’s 5-part model: self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, social skills) 

Emotional development from birth to three: key milestones and brain development 

The adult role: responsive caregiving, co-regulation, and emotional coaching 

Group activity: Scenario-based discussion – identifying emotional intelligence in toddlers and young children and strategies to support it 

Video reflection: Serve and Return Interactions (Harvard Center on the Developing Child)
https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/videos/serve-return-interaction-shapes-brain-circuitry 
10:30  Coffee break 
11:00  Creating Emotionally Supportive Environments 

Facilitator input with visuals + practical strategies 

  • How environments impact emotional safety 
  • Attachment theory in practice (brief recap of secure base theory – Bowlby/Ainsworth) 
  • Role of the key person and continuity of care 
  • Creating calm, predictable, nurturing routines 
  • Using visual timetables, soft lighting, emotion coaching tools
    Hands-on Task: Environment audit checklist – “What does your space say to a child emotionally?” 
13:00  Lunch break 
14:00  Supporting Transitions to Nursery or School 

Facilitator input + scenario-based discussion 

  • What makes transitions difficult for children and families? 
  • Emotional milestones to consider (separation anxiety, stranger fear, loss of control) 
  • Supporting parents during transitions – empathy, communication, partnership 
  • Practical tools: 
  • Transition booklets 
  • Home visits / staggered start 
  • Comfort objects & transitional routines
    Case Study Activities: Example, In small groups, discuss how you would support “Omar,” a 2.5-year-old starting nursery for the first time after being home with a nanny. 
15:30  Key takeaways 

Reflection: “One change I’ll make next week to improve emotional wellbeing” 

Evaluation forms / feedback 

Optional: Distribute a handout with key resources (e.g., list of children’s books on emotions, emotion coaching steps, parent handout for transitions) 

End 
د.إ1320
Trainer:
Sharron Fogarty
Duration:
1 Day
Sessions:
1
Language:
English

Natalie Croome is a cross-curricular generalist, specialising in helping teams hone in on just what it is that student learning is showing them about possible areas of focus for teacher and/or leader learning. Using Professional Learning Standards as drivers in the design of high-quality Professional Learning Programmes, Natalie guides teams of leaders through engaging inquiries, honing in on connecting teacher learning to student learning. Natalie brings a fresh, adaptable and flexible approach to her work in leading Professional Learning; keeping it open to questions, research and taking a personal approach to the design process. In this way, she involves Professional Learners in the whole process, from identifying the focus area/s, designing the learning,facilitation, school-based practice, sharing findings, asking new questions... Areas of expertise include teacher identity, the ethics and professional practice of international education, global education pedagogies, bilingual & multilingual classrooms, inquiry-based learning, Cognitive Coaching, interdisciplinary & transdisciplinary approaches to teaching and learning, collaborative happiness, Positive Psychology and Emotional Intelligence. Natalie combines a professional approach with a sense of fun and a passion for connecting with people, building relationships, and leveraging curiosity, creativity and play as powerful learning tools.

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