Evidence-Informed Support For Nurseries, Schools and Professionals
We work in partnership with schools, educational settings, County Councils and professionals to create emotionally supportive environments where every child feels safe, seen, understood and empowered to SHINE. Our unique Feelings Detective® Approach brings social and emotional learning to life through an evidence-informed curriculum that combines education, therapeutic practice, emotional literacy and relational approaches. We equip children with the understanding, skills and practical tools to navigate BIG feelings, build resilience and develop lifelong emotional wellbeing. Creating brighter futures together, where every child has the opportunity to SHINE, equipped with Self-awareness, Healthy habits, Independence, Nurturing qualities and Emotional intelligence!
Just Some Of The Organisations We Have Worked With
Short-Term Intervention And Support. Lasting Impact
From improving access to education for a young person with complex needs in Buckinghamshire to reducing fixed-term exclusions in Hertfordshire, our case studies demonstrate how a trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming, multidisciplinary approach can create meaningful, lasting change for all.
We know funding is stretched, resources are tight, and the pressures on schools and professionals are greater than ever. You don’t need another one-size-fits-all intervention or something else to add to your already full plates. You need support that understands the realities you face, meets you where you are and works with what you already have.
At Sunny Kids Shine®, we provide flexible, tailored support, working in person locally and via Zoom with schools, settings, families, professionals and organisations across the UK. Wherever you are, our aim is the same: to make support accessible, purposeful, practical and meaningful.
We look beyond the behaviour to understand the child behind it. We advocate for the child, recognising that behind every behaviour is a message, and every child deserves to feel safe, seen and understood. We facilitate safe, supportive spaces where parents, carers and professionals can come together, feel heard and work collaboratively towards a shared understanding of the child. By strengthening relationships, building connections and aligning the support around the child, we help create the conditions they need to thrive.
Because we believe children do well when they can. And when they can’t, they don’t need endless interventions, different professionals or more trial and error. They need the adults around them to come together, feel connected, aligned and empowered, with the understanding and practical tools to create a clear, consistent plan of support that makes lasting change.
Through connection, predictability and consistency, we can help children feel safe, seen and supported to SHINE from the inside out.
Let's work together.
Get in touch to explore how Sunny Kids Shine® could support your school, educational setting or wider team, whether locally in person or online across the UK.
Ways We Support Schools And Settings
Staff Training
Equip your team with practical tools and a shared language for feelings, building confidence in supporting children’s emotional wellbeing.
Whole-School Curriculum
Bring the six phases of our Feelings Detective® curriculum into your classrooms, supporting SEMH and SEND needs in line with the SEND Code of Practice.
Multi-Disciplinary Support
We work with families, schools and wider services to stabilise situations, prevent crisis escalation and improve outcomes for children.
Early Years: Building Strong Foundations
The early years offer an important opportunity to nurture children’s emotional understanding, relationships, independence and confidence from the very beginning.
Our colourful characters, engaging stories, catchy songs, playful activities and practical resources help make emotional learning accessible, memorable and fun.
Our approach helps practitioners introduce children to the language of feelings in ways they can understand and explore. We help early years settings create opportunities for children to:
Begin recognising and naming different feelings.
Understand that all feelings are okay, even when they feel uncomfortable.
Communicate their needs and experiences.
Develop relationships, empathy and an understanding of others.
Explore ways to manage overwhelming experiences with support from trusted adults.
Build confidence, independence and a positive sense of self.
Through our curriculum, children explore the beautiful rainbow of feelings inside us all, discovering that every feeling is okay, feelings are unique, and we can learn to understand them without letting them dictate what we do next.
Our approach complements personal, social and emotional development within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), supporting practitioners to weave emotional learning into everyday experiences rather than treating it as an isolated activity. It can also be adapted to the developmental stages, experiences and needs of the children in your setting, from early years through primary education and beyond.
With appropriate training and agreed permissions, staff can use our curriculum and resources to deliver feelings-focused learning as part of their everyday practice, helping children revisit and reinforce important skills throughout the year.
From circle time to the classroom, from the playground to home, we help make emotional understanding part of everyday life.
A Whole-Setting Approach to Emotional Wellbeing
Children’s emotional wellbeing isn’t developed in one lesson or through an occasional intervention. It grows through the relationships, experiences and environments around them every day.
That’s why our approach goes beyond individual sessions to help settings develop a shared understanding of feelings, consistent responses and a culture where every child feels safe, seen, heard and understood.
Through our bespoke training, curriculum and practical resources, we equip the adults around children to build emotional literacy, support BIG feelings and create lasting change.
Because when the adults around children feel empowered, connected and equipped, children have more opportunities to thrive.
Build emotional literacy: Help children notice, accept, manage and express (N.A.M.E.) their feelings in ways that work for them.
Support BIG feelings: Understand what feelings may be communicating and help children develop practical strategies to navigate them.
Strengthen relationships: Build connection, trust, emotional safety and positive relationships between children and the adults supporting them.
Champion inclusion: Recognise individual differences, strengths and needs, moving away from a one-size-fits-all approach.
Support early intervention: Give children and the adults around them practical tools before difficulties become more entrenched.
Create consistency: Develop a shared language and approach across classrooms, playgrounds, pastoral support, early years environments and home.
Feelings Detective® Staff Training - Empower your team. Transform everyday practice.
Our training equips education and early years professionals with the knowledge, confidence and practical tools to bring the Feelings Detective® Approach into their setting.
We work with teachers, teaching assistants, SENCOs, pastoral teams, early years practitioners, senior leaders and other professionals supporting children’s emotional wellbeing.
Our aim is for staff to leave feeling more confident, equipped and empowered to put their learning into practice, with tools they can use long after the training has finished.
Depending on your setting’s needs, training can include:
Understanding children’s feelings, emotional needs and individual differences.
Introducing the Feelings Detective® characters and our unique approach to emotional literacy.
Using our N.A.M.E. framework: Notice, Accept, Manage and Express.
Supporting children through BIG feelings without dismissing, shaming or trying to fix them.
Developing practical, age-appropriate strategies for emotional understanding and regulation.
Embedding feelings-focused learning into everyday routines, teaching and interactions.
Working collaboratively with parents, carers and other professionals.
Evaluating progress and identifying opportunities to strengthen your whole-setting approach.
Supporting Schools, SEND and Inclusion
Every child is different. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to feelings, children or families.
Our child-centred, trauma-informed and neurodiversity-affirming approach recognises that children’s behaviour and emotional responses can communicate needs, experiences and feelings that they may not yet have the words or skills to express.
We help adults look beyond the behaviour, recognise children’s strengths and consider what support may help them feel safer, more understood and better equipped to navigate everyday challenges.
Our work can complement existing approaches to:
SEND and inclusion
PSHE and personal development
Pastoral support
Emotional literacy
Whole-school mental health and wellbeing
Whether your priorities include friendships, emotional regulation, confidence, transitions, school engagement or supporting children with additional needs, we work collaboratively with your setting to identify practical ways forward.
A Partnership That Makes a Difference
Every setting has its own strengths, challenges and priorities. That’s why we work collaboratively to explore your needs and develop an approach that works for your team and the children you support.
We can also explore how our support aligns with your setting’s improvement priorities and relevant funding opportunities, subject to each fund’s eligibility criteria and conditions.
Depending on your requirements, our support can include:
Staff training: equipping your team with practical knowledge, tools and strategies.
Curriculum and resources: helping staff bring the Feelings Detective® Approach to life through engaging, age-appropriate learning.
Whole-setting implementation: supporting a consistent approach across everyday practice.
Parent and carer engagement: helping the adults around children work together and reinforce emotional learning.
Follow-up and impact evaluation: reviewing progress, gathering feedback and identifying opportunities to develop your approach further.
Measuring What Matters
We believe meaningful support should make a meaningful difference.
Where appropriate, we work with settings to establish clear objectives, gather feedback and review progress over time. This may include staff confidence, children’s emotional understanding, relationships, self-esteem, engagement and other outcomes relevant to your setting.
By combining practical support with reflection and evaluation, we aim to help settings build sustainable approaches that continue to benefit children beyond our direct involvement.
Our Support Includes
For Children
✓ Whole-school Feelings Detective® curriculum
✓ 1:1 emotional wellbeing support
✓ In-school emotional regulation support
✓ Workshops and enrichment sessions
For Staff
✓ Staff training and CPD
✓ Early years practitioner support
✓ Reflective practice & drop-in sessions
For Families & Professionals
✓ Parent workshops & courses
✓ Home–school partnership support
✓ SEND and multi-agency working
Linked to the EYFS & National Curriculum
Our NAME Framework
Every Feelings Detective® session helps children notice, accept, manage and express (N.A.M.E.) their emotions in safe and healthy ways.
N – Notice
Becoming a Feelings Detective®: spotting the clues in our bodies, faces and behaviour, and noticing how others might be feeling too.
A – Accept
All feelings are okay. Children learn that every feeling has a message, and that noticing and accepting it is the first step to understanding.
M – Manage
Building a toolkit of calming and coping strategies, from cooling our Feelings Volcano to filling up our Emotional Cup.
E – Express
Sharing our feelings safely and kindly, asking for help when we need it and shining our light from within with the people around us.
Our Case Studies
Real results for real children: a snapshot of how we have worked alongside schools, settings, County Councils and families to create lasting change.
Improving Access to Education
Buckinghamshire County Council: A Year 10 young person with multiple complex needs was struggling to access education, and their family had lost trust in services. Working with the council, school, and family in a trauma-informed, multidisciplinary way, we helped stabilise the situation, reconnect them with learning and therapeutic support, and not only prevented costly crisis escalation but also significantly reduced associated costs from now on.
Reducing Fixed-Term Exclusions
Hertfordshire Aspire Academy school: A pupil with significant emotional dysregulation and separation anxiety had faced repeated fixed-term exclusions and was attending for just one hour a day. Working in partnership with the school and family, we stabilised the situation and built consistent strategies to support long-term inclusion in mainstream education.
Supporting Emotions in the Early Years
St. Albans Nursery setting: The manager used Early Years Pupil Premium to bring in "fresh eyes". We supported practitioners to recognise and respond to children's emotions, model calm regulation and understand behaviour as communication, building a nurturing emotional climate across the whole setting.
Reducing Parental Anxiety & Overwhelm
Home-Start Hertfordshire: In partnership, we delivered a six-week online course for parents of children aged 0–5 experiencing anxiety and overwhelm, with new groups every half-term over two years, alongside staff training and monthly drop-in support for staff and volunteers, creating measurable positive outcomes for all.
What Professionals Say
“Jodie Smart has provided outstanding support, attending all multi-agency meetings, ensuring needs are clearly represented and understood by professionals involved. She has demonstrated a thorough understanding of SEND processes and a strong commitment to collaborative working.”
– Senior EHC Co-ordinator, SEND Service, Buckinghamshire County Council
“The support plan has ensured that everything is in place. Jodie has been a great support, and I do not feel that we would have achieved this positive outcome without her.”
– Head Teacher, Aspire School
“I've had the opportunity to work with Jodie from Sunny Kids Shine on a complex case involving a young person with multiple needs. Jodie has shown exceptional skill in engaging with the young person and strongly advocating for them and their family. Her expertise in adolescent mental health has been a key factor in achieving positive outcomes.”
– Senior Social Worker, Children with Disabilities Team, Buckinghamshire County Council
Why Schools Choose Sunny Kids Shine®
Evidence-Informed
Grounded in an evidence-informed curriculum that combines education, therapeutic practice, emotional literacy and relational approaches.
Trauma-Informed
Our trauma-informed, neurodivergent-affirming approach sees, hears and supports every child with care and kindness.
Lasting Impact
With over 8 years of experience and a consistently reported success rate of over 90%, Sunny Kids Shine® is passionate about creating meaningful, lasting change.
Let’s Help Every Child SHINE!
When we bring children, families and professionals together, we create opportunities for understanding, connection and lasting change.
Whether you’re an early years setting looking to build strong emotional foundations, a school developing its whole-school wellbeing approach, or a group of professionals seeking practical ways to support children with BIG feelings, we’d love to explore how Sunny Kids Shine® can help.
Let’s empower your team, make BIG feelings child-sized and create brighter futures where every child has the opportunity to SHINE!
Get in touch to discuss staff training, curriculum delivery or a bespoke partnership for your setting.
