Ten Points

A few days ago I wrote about The Zones of Regulation, Inc.: why the evidence is thinner than its classroom ubiquity suggests, and why their model gives children a conceptually flawed map of their own emotions. Here's what I'd use instead. The mood metre, developed at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence as part of the RULER approach, is the most defensible alternative I know. It plots emotions across two axes: energy and happiness. That second axis is where it parts ways with ZoR in a fundamental way. ZoR is a one-axis model. It organises emotions by energy level alone, which means excited and stressed share the yellow zone despite being completely different states requiring completely different responses. The mood metre separates them immediately. A child can see why, and so can the adult deciding how to respond. The Yale model uses pleasantness rather than happiness as the second axis, because happiness is itself an emotion on the metre. I use happiness with younger children because it's more intuitive. With older children, the distinction becomes a useful conversation in itself. 92% of studies reviewed on Consensus.App find positive effects on classroom climate, student competence, and academic outcomes. Research summary in the comments. The image below is the mood metre that Ten Points have adapted for upper KS2. Keen to hear from those of you who raised great points and difficult questions last time, especially around neurodivergent children. Liz Robson Nazim Bhuiyan Cathy Wassell Sarah Castell Holly Sprake-Hill Jennifer Wickham Paul Brannan Sarah Yanshin-Hall Jacquelyne Garner Charlotte Dias Susanne Nelson Dr Jenny Finnan Martin Stepney Juli R. Kayleigh Forbes #Education #Wellbeing #SEL #EvidenceInformed

In challenging times, even in a safe and well-led city, we cannot ignore the impact on our children’s mental health. Seeing students log in early, ready to learn, trying their very best to maintain normalcy through online lessons — that effort deserves recognition. One simple yet powerful strategy that truly works in my classroom is Ten Points . Celebrating punctuality, effort, participation, and resilience through praise and visible recognition motivates students to push themselves further. When students feel seen, valued, and appreciated, they don’t just participate — they thrive. Sometimes, small recognition creates the biggest impact. 🌟

I spent years as a teacher handing out points in the classroom. It took longer than it should have to ask what they were actually for. When behaviour recognition is disconnected from values, a point is just a point. Students learn to perform the behaviours that generate rewards, rather than internalise what they mean. Take the reward away, and the behaviour usually disappears with it. The research has been clear on this for decades. Deci and Ryan (1985) showed that lasting motivation depends on autonomy, competence, and relatedness – not external reward. More recent work (links in the comments) brings this into sharper focus: intrinsic motivation and wellbeing are reciprocally linked. Students who feel better at school are more motivated, and those who are more motivated feel better. Behaviour and wellbeing are not separate systems. They are the same signal, seen from different angles. When points connect to values – and wellbeing sits alongside behaviour – recognition becomes meaningful. Teachers spot who is quietly struggling, not just who is being rewarded. Leaders respond earlier, because for the first time they have the full picture. That's the difference between a points system and a points system with purpose. It's what we built Ten Points to be. 👉 tenpoints.io #Behaviour #Wellbeing #SchoolLeadership #EdTech #BuiltOnBubble

Behaviour in one system. Wellbeing in another. By the time the picture comes together, the moment to act has often passed. Ten Points was built to change that. Ryan saw this daily as a school leader. James had spent years building complex systems at scale. Together, they built a platform that connects behaviour and wellbeing in real time, giving schools a clear view of student experience as it unfolds. In one of the schools we work closely with, that means more than 5,000 behaviour points and 750 wellbeing journals logged every day, with student happiness consistently above 90%. On their first inspection, behaviour and wellbeing were rated Outstanding. Swipe to see how it works. 👉 tenpoints.io #SchoolLeadership #EdTech #Behaviour #Wellbeing #BuiltOnBubble

Two weeks into fully remote learning, school culture is being tested. Schools across the UAE are now fully remote. Teachers and students are working from different homes, different time zones, in some cases different continents. The structure of the school day has changed, and without clear systems in place, culture and community can quickly drift. In one of the schools we work closely with, more than 11,000 positive behaviour points were still awarded this week, with over 1,500 students recognised by their teachers. Nearly 500 wellbeing journals have been completed, with student happiness holding at around 90%. What stands out is not just the scale, but the continuity. Even without a physical classroom, recognition continues. Students are seen. Teachers are responding. Wellbeing is being tracked in real time. With the right systems in place, culture does not have to shift. Ten Points was built to support exactly this – giving schools a clear, continuous view of behaviour and wellbeing, wherever learning is taking place. 👉 https://tenpoints.io #SchoolCulture #Wellbeing #Behaviour #UAEducation

We had a thoughtful conversation with Education UAE recently about Ten Points – how it's evolved, and what we're seeing in schools across the UAE at the moment. It was a chance to step back and reflect on how things are shifting. You can read the full piece here: 👉 https://lnkd.in/eY8Y9PuU A lot of what we spoke about will feel familiar. Wellbeing isn't something that sits on the side anymore. It's part of the day-to-day life of a school, and increasingly part of how schools are understood during inspection. That raises a simple question: how do you know it's working? That's shaped Ten Points from the start. Not as something that sits on top of everything else, but something that fits into what schools are already doing – connecting behaviour, wellbeing and everyday practice in a way that's visible and genuinely useful. If your school is looking to strengthen how it understands and evidences wellbeing and behaviour, it's a good time to take a closer look. 👉 https://tenpoints.io #SchoolLeadership #SchoolInspection #Wellbeing #Behaviour #UAEducation

The past few days in the UAE have been tense. With airspace alerts, school closures and uncertainty around what comes next, families have understandably felt unsettled. Children are not immune to that uncertainty. Over the weekend, across the schools using Ten Points, we saw an average drop of around 20% in student happiness. The journal entries reflected what many were feeling: “Scared as there is missile debris in front of my house.” “Confused about what's happening and not sure if there is school tomorrow.” “Angry because today is a bad day for the UAE.” This is what real-time wellbeing insight makes visible. Not headlines. Not assumptions. Direct signals from students as events unfold. Since the move to online learning, the tone has begun to shift. Entries today include: “Good, today is online school.” “Calm and ready to start this day.” “Excited for online classes.” The structure of school – even online – restores routine. Routine restores stability. What has stood out most is how teachers have responded. Staff have been reading journals, replying, checking in and offering reassurance where needed. Visibility becomes action. In moments like this, wellbeing is not an abstract priority. It is immediate, measurable and deeply human. We are proud to see schools using Ten Points to ensure that no child's voice is missed, especially when it matters most. Stay safe, everyone. 👉 https://tenpoints.io #UAEducation #OnlineLearning #Wellbeing #SchoolLeadership

Strong school culture is built on alignment. What a school says it values should be visible in how students behave, how teachers respond and how leaders act. In the UAE, wellbeing now sits firmly within the inspection conversation. Schools are expected to demonstrate not only intent, but impact – how values translate into practice and how practice improves outcomes over time. When behaviour data is isolated and wellbeing data fragmented, that alignment is difficult to show. Leaders may feel it. Inspectors need to see it. Ten Points connects behaviour and wellbeing in one platform, turning daily interactions into clear, longitudinal evidence. Schools can demonstrate how expectations, support and intervention are shaping outcomes across the year. If proving impact in wellbeing and behaviour is a strategic priority for your school, now is the right time to speak with us. 👉 https://tenpoints.io #SchoolCulture #Wellbeing #Behaviour #SchoolInspection #UAEducation