Positive Behaviour & Co-Regulation in Early Years

Understand behaviour. Support regulation. Build calmer, more connected practice.

Behaviour in Early Years is rarely just about what we can see.

Young children are still learning how to communicate needs, manage emotions, cope with disappointment, move between activities and regulate their responses. When those skills are overwhelmed, behaviour can become the message.

Our Positive Behaviour & Co-Regulation in Early Years course gives practitioners the knowledge, practical strategies and confidence to look beyond behaviour and respond in a way that is calm, relational and developmentally appropriate.

Rather than focusing simply on stopping behaviour, the course explores what may be happening underneath it — and how adult responses, relationships, routines and environments can make a real difference.

Online CPD training | CPD Group Approved | 2 CPD Points | Certificate on completion

What Will You Learn?

This practical Early Years course explores how behaviour can communicate emotion, unmet needs, sensory overload, uncertainty, communication difficulties or a need for support.

Learners will develop a more reflective approach to behaviour and explore how to combine connection and co-regulation with clear, appropriate boundaries.

The course covers:

• Behaviour as communication
• Understanding dysregulation
• Looking beneath behaviour rather than relying on labels
• Observation versus assumption
• Connection before correction
• The role of co-regulation
• How your own tone, pace and emotional state can influence a situation
• Calm, respectful boundaries
• The Acknowledge → Limit → Next Step approach
• Environmental and sensory pressure
• Routines, waiting and difficult transitions
• Visual and communication supports
• Supporting children with different levels of need
• Teaching and reflection once a child is calm
• Recognising recurring patterns
• Building greater consistency across staff teams

Practical Strategies for Real Early Years Situations

This isn’t a course built around theory alone.

Throughout the training, learners explore realistic Early Years situations and consider what they would actually do in practice.

You’ll work through case studies, decision-making activities and reflective exercises that encourage you to ask:

What happened before the behaviour?

What might the child be communicating?

What does this child need from me right now?

Is the environment adding pressure?

What boundary still needs to be maintained?

What could we change next time?

The aim is to help practitioners become more confident in making thoughtful decisions, particularly in those moments when behaviour feels difficult.

Your Positive Behaviour Toolkit

The course includes six downloadable practitioner resources that you can keep and use within your setting after completing the training.

Behaviour Reflection & Response Sheet

Look at what happened before, during and after a difficult moment without immediately jumping to conclusions.

Co-Regulation in the Moment

A quick-reference guide to help practitioners think clearly during emotionally intense situations.

Calm Boundaries & Helpful Phrases

Practical examples of language that combines acknowledgement, limits and supportive next steps.

Environment, Routine & Transition Audit

Review your setting and identify areas where unnecessary pressure may be contributing to recurring behaviour.

Visual Support & Transition Planner

Take a difficult transition and create a clearer, more predictable plan for supporting it.

Positive Behaviour Team Action Plan

Help room leaders and teams agree a consistent response, identify proactive changes and review whether they are working.

Who Is This Course For?

This course is suitable for anyone working with young children, including:

• Nursery and Early Years practitioners
• Early Learning and Childcare staff
• Childminders
• Room leaders
• Nursery managers
• Early Years apprentices and trainees
• Support staff
• Practitioners refreshing their knowledge of positive behaviour approaches

It can be completed by both new and experienced practitioners and requires no previous specialist behaviour training.

CPD Group Approved Training

Positive Behaviour & Co-Regulation in Early Years is independently approved by The CPD Group and provides 2 CPD Points.

Learners complete the course online at their own pace before taking a final knowledge assessment.

Final Assessment

15 multiple-choice questions

80% pass mark

Learners need to achieve at least 12 out of 15 correct answers.

If the required mark isn’t achieved on the first attempt, learners can revisit the course content and take the assessment again.

Once the assessment has been successfully completed, an individual course certificate is released for download.

What Will Learners Take Away?

By the end of the course, learners should feel more confident in:

• recognising behaviour as potential communication
• spotting signs of dysregulation
• responding without immediately making assumptions
• supporting children to regulate
• maintaining calm and appropriate boundaries
• using more supportive language
• preparing children for transitions
• reducing environmental pressure
• responding consistently as a team
• reflecting on repeated behaviour patterns
• deciding what can be changed proactively rather than only reacting afterwards