Copy of How Relational Practice Can Strengthen High-Quality Interactions in the Early Years (STAIRS and ShREC) - Part 2

The quality of the interaction always matters. A child may not remember every instruction we give, but they will remember how it felt to be with us. Adult behaviour is therefore not an additional part of early years practice, but the foundation on which learning, belonging and self-regulation are built. 

“I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

― Maya Angelou

From individual interactions to whole-setting consistency

One excellent practitioner, one EY Leader cannot create a consistent culture alone. Children need to experience the same calm expectations, familiar routines and relational responses with every adult across the setting. Consistency does not mean that every adult must have the same personality or deliver a script without warmth. It means that the important things are agreed. Adults use the same core language, reinforce the same routines and respond to difficulties from the same relational principles. Children should not have to work out which version of the rules applies depending on who is in the room.

This requires more than a policy document. It takes deliberate practice, shared reflection and honest conversations about adult behaviour. Teams need to agree what calm consistency looks and sounds like. They need to rehearse routines, refine scripts and support one another when practice becomes difficult. Of course, leaders are central to this, in modelling the behaviour they expect from other practitioners, protecting time for professional learning and avoiding introducing systems that depend on public shame, escalating sanctions or inconsistency. Culture is built through the small interactions that happen repeatedly every day.

The Paul Dix Early Years course is therefore designed as a staged, online modular programme rather than a one-off training event. Its modules address adult behaviour, positive noticing, routines, rules, consistent language, unwanted behaviour, additional needs and sustainable change. The accompanying implementation model includes leadership input, coaching, practitioner networks, inter-module support, self-audit and evaluation. When the whole team changes together, children experience greater predictability. Staff feel more confident because they are not improvising alone, and families receive a clearer message about the setting’s values. Consistency becomes something children can feel, not simply something adults claim to provide.

Turning evidence into sustained practice

Sustained, properly implemented change begins with a small number of clear actions. Practitioners need to understand what they are being asked to do, why it matters and what it should look like in real interactions with children. They then need opportunities to practise, reflect, receive feedback and make adjustments. Settings need champions who can maintain momentum, leaders who can remove barriers and regular opportunities for staff to discuss what is working. Self-audit, coaching, network meetings and practitioner check-ins help keep the work alive after the initial enthusiasm has faded.

It is also important to notice the adults. Leaders should recognise improvements, celebrate consistency and make successful practice visible. Positive noticing is not only for children. Adults are more likely to sustain change when their effort is acknowledged and when they feel supported rather than judged. Evidence-informed practice should not become a rigid script. Practitioners must remain responsive to individual children, including those with additional needs, communication differences or sensory sensitivities. The principles remain consistent, but the support may need to change.

The goal is not perfect implementation. The goal is a setting that keeps learning. Sustained practice grows when teams return to the evidence, examine the impact of their own behaviour and remain willing to make small, disciplined improvements over time.

A relational foundation for STAIRS

The STAIRS model makes the complex practice of scaffolding easier to observe, discuss and remember. It shows that high-quality interactions are not created by adults doing more for children. They are created by adults noticing more carefully, responding more sensitively and knowing when to step forward and when to step back. The Paul Dix Early Years course therefore supports this by concentrating on the behaviour of the adult: calmness, consistency, positive noticing, predictable routines, careful language, appropriate adjustment and relational repair.

The course covers… 

• The influence of your own behaviour

• Positive noticing and nurturing 

• Routines and rituals

• The boundaries

• Managing refusal, managing feelings

• Behaviour that communicates

• Supported regulation and empathetic response

• Additional needs and early behaviours 

• Supporting each child as a unique learner

  
  

There are videos from Paul and guests, audio recordings and practical tasks to take away. There are no quizzes, pop psychology or ‘tick I have read it’ nonsense. Our online courses are a different standard.

This Early Years Course is offered either as:

1. A purchasable ‘off the shelf’ course for a single user for £114.

2. Guided through a Community of Practice for lasting implementation and change. This option involves a more bespoke plan for a whole setting, or a group of similar settings, involving regular check-ins with us, and exclusive use of a Padlet online recourse, unique for the group.