💡 Breakout space
Find out why breakout can be more than just a physical space in the classroom!
👋 Welcome to SEMH Education!
Every week, I share insights, strategies, and tips from my experience working with children and professionals on social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) in education. This week, we’re rethinking what a breakout space really is, and why we all need one.
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🪞 Let me start with a quick reflection:
When did you last need five minutes to reset yourself before facing the next task?
Maybe you popped on a YouTube video, stepped outside with a coffee, or messaged a friend. You didn’t necessarily go to a specific room, but you created space, a moment to breathe, regulate, and return.
So, why don’t we allow children to do the same?
🚪 Why every classroom needs a doorway to regulation
Over the years, I’ve visited a variety of educational settings, from specialist provisions to thriving mainstream schools and small alternative provisions. And while environments vary, one thing is often missing: a meaningful way for students to step back and reset.
Let me clarify what I mean.
Not just a dusty beanbag in the corner.
Not a disused tent at the back of the classroom.
But a true breakout, a path back to regulation.
I often find teachers are stuck in a set mindset with a ‘break-out space. By the very nature of the phrase, it comes across as a physical space.
Now here’s the shift:
That path doesn’t have to be a physical place.
We need to broaden the definition. A breakout space can be:
A time of day when the child knows they can reset.
A person they feel safe with.
A calming resource, music, drawing, a breathing video, that helps them feel in control.
It’s about the experience of regulation, not just the geography.
⚠️ Why Breakout Spaces Matter
For many children with SEMH needs, the classroom can be a battleground of competing pressures, noise, demands, sensory overload, and unpredictable social dynamics. These combine to tip a child into dysregulation.
A breakout strategy, physical or otherwise, becomes the bridge between escalation and calm.
Done well, it communicates:
“You are safe here. You can take a moment. We’ll figure it out together.”
That message, whether delivered through a corner of the room, a quiet word from a familiar adult, or a carefully chosen resource, is powerful.
🍽️ The Core Ingredients of a Regulation-Friendly Break
You don’t need a sensory pod or an extra room to support regulation. You just need intention.
Here’s my three-part checklist for designing effective breakout experiences, whether physical, relational or routine-based:
✅ Predictable
Children should know what their options are and how to access them. Clear language, visual cues, and adult scaffolding help.
When you’ve created these options with the child. Model how and when to use them.
✅ Protective
Whether it’s behind a bookshelf or through a comforting adult presence, the child needs to feel emotionally and psychologically safe, not observed, judged, or rushed.
The children need to feel a sense of safety whilst accessing the break. If they don’t feel safe, or if they feel they are being judged. It doesn’t matter how amazing the space or resource is, they won’t use it.
✅ Purposeful
This isn’t a punishment or a way to get out of work. It’s a tool to return to learning.
Some regulation tools might include:
Visual timers
Emotion check-in cards
Breathing scripts or videos
Colouring or pattern tracing
Lo-fi music, nature sounds, or a short guided meditation
Take time to get to know the children in your class. Understand what makes them feel calm and safe. These resources need to be bespoke to have the desired impact.
This is admittedly easier in a specialist setting with around 9 pupils. However, as with all my advice on this newsletter, start with a couple of children who could really use this and then expand as needed.
If you’ve noticed that Mia is struggling at the moment, due to external factors. Put aside some time to talk to her about her interests and what makes her feel calm. Then put together a little break-out pack for her. Model how and when to use the resource. In no time at all, her behaviour incidents will begin to decrease.
What are your top tips for a breakout space? Let me know in the comments!
✨ Breakouts Beyond the Beanbag
💡 The Regulation Routine
For some children, a set five-minute ritual after lunch with colouring and music is more effective than any corner of the room. Routine becomes the space.
🧑🏫 The Trusted Adult
Designate a person (TA, mentor, DSL) that a child can check in with. Sometimes, regulation comes not from silence, but connection.
🎧 Audio Interludes
Headphones + calming playlists = instant mood reset. Preload devices with safe, school-approved audio (e.g., rain sounds, affirmations, breath prompts, Lo-Fi music).
🖍️ Resource Kits
Mini "pause packs" in folders or pencil cases with grounding tools like textured cards, doodle sheets, or movement prompts. Regulation, on demand.
🏫 Whole-Class Buy-In
I would absolutely recommend starting with individual pupils if you have a class of 30+. However, to really build a culture of calm in your classroom, breakout strategies shouldn’t be reserved for “those kids.” If you want a regulation culture, model it.
“I’m feeling a bit tense, I’m going to take a moment, listen to some music, then come back to this.”
You give your class permission to be human.
🤔 Final Thought
Whether it’s a chair in the corner, a familiar song, or a five-minute ritual with colouring, the goal is the same: create a path back to calm.
Breakout spaces are really about creating space.
Because when we show young people that they are allowed to step back, reflect, and return, they learn to do that for themselves. And that’s regulation worth teaching.
