Feeling Safe Enough to Learn

3 hours ago

6 min read

How Charles Darwin Primary Is Embedding Movement, Relationships and Regulation Throughout the School Day

“Learning happens from the feet up.” - Mike Kuczala

Four years ago, James Tuthill and the team at Charles Darwin Primary School began exploring a simple but powerful idea inspired by Mike Kuczala’s famous quote.

What started as a targeted RISE Up intervention to support vulnerable pupils has steadily evolved into something much bigger: a whole-school culture built around movement, emotional safety, trusted relationships and readiness to learn.

This is now the third phase of Charles Darwin Primary’s journey with the RISE Up programme and one of the clearest examples I’ve seen of what happens when movement, physical literacy and trauma-informed practice are woven together with authenticity and care.

But perhaps the most important lesson from visiting the school recently is this:

The real power of the Sports Sanctuary approach is not the activities themselves.

It is the emotionally available relationships wrapped around them.

From Intervention to Culture

Back in 2023, Charles Darwin Primary first partnered with Future Action through the brilliant team at Norwich School Sport Partnership.

Initially, the focus was supporting vulnerable pupils through purposeful movement interventions linked to mental wellbeing, emotional regulation and engagement in school life.

The impact was significant.

Staff noticed improvements in behaviour, emotional wellbeing and class engagement.

The school’s School Wellbeing Scorecard increased from 48% to 92%, and children who previously struggled to engage began reconnecting with school through movement and trusted adults.

But over time, James and the team began asking bigger questions.

How do we help children feel emotionally ready to learn before challenges arise?
How do we proactively support regulation rather than simply responding when things go wrong?
How do we create a culture where movement supports belonging, confidence and emotional safety across the entire school day?

And perhaps most importantly:

What helps children feel safe enough to learn?

“It’s About How Children Feel When They Arrive”

Increasingly, the answer at Charles Darwin Primary has been rooted in movement, connection and emotionally intelligent environments.

Today, the school’s RISE Up Sports Sanctuary approach supports children through carefully designed movement experiences that prioritise regulation, belonging and trusted relationships before learning begins.

The Key Stage 1 “check-in sanctuary” runs on Monday mornings.

The Key Stage 2 Sports Sanctuary takes place on Thursday mornings.

Currently, around 14 children directly access the provision, although the wider philosophy now stretches across breaktimes, lunchtimes, PE and classroom transitions throughout the school.

“Over time, we realised this wasn’t just about transition anymore,” James explains.

“It became much more about how children feel as they come into school each day and what helps them feel emotionally ready to learn.”

For some children, the sanctuary supports emotional regulation.

For others, it helps build confidence and self-esteem.

For some, it eases difficult transitions into school.

For others, it helps manage anxiety, ADHD or fluctuating energy levels.

“Different children need different things,” James says.

“And movement can support them in very different ways.”

FEEL - Psychological Safety First

Every Sports Sanctuary session begins gently.

Children check in emotionally.

They complete simple body scans.

Music plays softly in the background.

Trusted adults greet them warmly.

There is calmness in the environment. Predictability. Warmth. Connection.

Importantly, there is no pressure to perform.

No fear of getting things wrong.

No public comparison.

Instead, the focus is on helping children feel psychologically safe enough to engage.

Watching James lead these sessions is genuinely powerful.

Children gravitate towards him naturally.

There is humour in his interactions. Playfulness. Calmness. Consistency.

The children absolutely adore him.

Over the past four years, I’ve had the privilege of watching James evolve this work from a small targeted intervention into a deeply relational whole-school approach.

And when you observe him working with young people, it quickly becomes obvious why the sessions have such impact.

He doesn’t simply deliver activities.

He creates emotionally safe environments where children feel seen, valued and accepted.

Increasingly, the work at Charles Darwin Primary reflects a growing understanding across education and neuroscience: children often need support to regulate emotionally before they are fully ready to engage cognitively.

Through movement, trusted relationships and emotionally intelligent environments, the Sports Sanctuary approach helps many children move from states of stress, overwhelm or emotional dysregulation towards a calmer, more connected state where learning becomes more accessible.

This mirrors Dr Bruce Perry’s well-known “regulate, relate, reason” sequence: the understanding that children often need co-regulation and relational safety before higher-order thinking and learning can fully occur.

At Charles Darwin Primary, this process is not delivered through complicated systems or clinical interventions.

It happens through simple, consistent moments: a warm welcome, a trusted adult, music, movement, choice, connection, and emotionally safe environments.

CONNECT - Relationships Before Learning

One of the most important developments in the school’s approach is how the trusted relationships built inside the Sports Sanctuary now transfer into wider school life.

The connection established through movement and co-regulation is then carried into literacy and numeracy interventions throughout the school day.

“That relational trust changes everything,” James explains.

“Some children who may struggle to engage academically are far more willing to access support once that relationship has already been established.”

This is where the work at Charles Darwin Primary feels especially important.

The school is not simply using movement as a behaviour strategy.

It is using movement as a vehicle for connection, trust and belonging.

And that distinction matters.

Across education, many schools are beginning to introduce movement spaces and regulation interventions.

But what makes Charles Darwin’s approach so powerful is the emotionally available relationships wrapped around the movement itself.

Because children rarely regulate through activities alone.

They regulate through: safe adults, trusted relationships, predictable environments, co-regulation, and feeling that they genuinely belong.

The movement simply becomes the bridge.

Over time, these experiences help children build emotional awareness and develop simple self-care strategies that support them far beyond the Sports Sanctuary itself.

At its heart, the work at Charles Darwin Primary demonstrates the power of combining trusted relationships, purposeful movement and simple self-care toolkits to help children build emotional safety, emotional intelligence and readiness to learn.

MOVE - Movement With Purpose

Movement remains central to the Sports Sanctuary philosophy.

But here, movement is not used purely for fitness, performance or competition.

It is used intentionally to support regulation, confidence, joy and emotional wellbeing.

One of the simplest yet most impactful strategies has been the introduction of skipping ropes throughout the school.

Every child now has access to skipping ropes during breaktimes and lunchtimes.

Each class has its own skipping crate with built-in counters, allowing children to independently access movement whenever needed.

What appears simple on the surface has become a hugely effective co-regulation tool.

“Skipping has been massive for us,” James says.

“It’s accessible, inclusive and gives children a positive outlet to regulate energy and emotions.”

Alongside skipping, children access a range of movement experiences during sanctuary sessions, including:

dodgeball
basketball
football
climbing on the trim trail
dance stations
stress-busting circuits

Importantly, children are given agency and choice throughout the sessions.

A small Key Stage 1 group also access active outdoor movement breaks in the afternoon to support regulation and classroom readiness.

“We want children to begin recognising what different types of movement do for them,” James explains.

“What helps them feel calm. What helps them release stress. What helps them feel energised or connected.

That understanding is a really important life skill.”

This reflects a growing shift within physical literacy conversations nationally: helping young people build meaningful lifelong relationships with movement.

THINK - Feeling Safe Enough to Learn

Perhaps the most significant impact of the Sports Sanctuary approach is what happens after the sessions end.

Children return to class calmer. More emotionally available. More connected. More confident.

Staff have noticed improvements in:

engagement
transitions into learning
emotional regulation
communication
self-esteem
readiness to learn

For some children, the sanctuary acts as a bridge into the school day.

For others, it has become the place where they finally feel successful within school.

Increasingly, Charles Darwin Primary’s work reflects a wider truth emerging across education:

Children often need to feel safe before they can fully access learning.

And movement, when wrapped in trusted relationships and emotional safety, can become one of the most powerful ways to help create that readiness.

Looking Forward

James and the team at Charles Darwin Primary continue to evolve the school’s RISE Up journey and further embed movement, regulation and belonging throughout the school day.

Their work now stretches far beyond intervention.

It is helping shape a culture where:

relationships come first
movement supports wellbeing
children feel emotionally safe
and learning becomes more accessible

Spending time observing the Sports Sanctuary recently was a genuine privilege.

Not because it was flashy. Not because it relied on expensive resources. Not because it was performative.

But because it was deeply human.

It was a brilliant educator creating the conditions for children to feel calm enough, connected enough and safe enough to learn.

And in a world where many young people are struggling to engage, regulate and belong, that work matters more than ever.

A huge thank you to James Tuthill and the entire Charles Darwin Primary team for continuing to lead with such care, humanity and commitment for their young people.

You are making a profound difference.