Introduction

Social and emotional learning (SEL) has become a growing movement in school systems around the world. The United States-based SEL movement has gained significant traction, including the updating of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (aka ‘No Child Left Behind’) to include social and emotional competencies as part of Title IV (Successful, Safe and Healthy Students). The renewal of interest in SEL is supported by recent research published by the Early Intervention Foundation (EIF), which highlights the predictive utility of childhood social-emotional competencies for mental health and labour market outcomes in later life. Thus, the evidence promoted through the EIF suggests that SEL is important in terms of later life outcomes, can be enhanced in and through school, and that attention to the process of implementation is vital if success is to be achieved.