EPV 2026 SUMMER COURSE
Building Resilience in Children
Understand how resilience develops in children and learn practical ways to help them manage frustration, persist with challenges and recover from setbacks in the classroom.
Course Pre-Approved by the Department of Education and Youth
How Teachers Can Support Emotional Strength and Coping Skills
Research shows that increasing numbers of children are struggling with stress, anxiety and emotional regulation, affecting their ability to cope with everyday challenges in school and beyond. Without opportunities to develop resilience, children may become overwhelmed by setbacks, experience reduced self-esteem and disengage from learning. With growing pressures on families and limited access to specialist supports, teachers are often the first to notice when a child is struggling emotionally. This course equips teachers with practical, evidence-based strategies to foster resilience, emotional awareness and coping skills within the classroom.
At CPI, we believe it’s vital that teachers feel confident in supporting children’s emotional development, particularly when external supports may not be immediately available. It’s natural to worry about saying the wrong thing or not knowing how best to help a child who is struggling. This course will help you understand not only how resilience develops, but how your everyday interactions can strengthen it. Most importantly, you’ll see how being a steady, supportive presence can help children build the confidence and skills they need to navigate challenges, both in school and in life.
Course Overview
This course explores how resilience develops in children, with a particular focus on helping them overcome frustration, persist through challenges and recover from setbacks in the classroom. Participants will examine common reasons why children give up on tasks, including emotional overwhelm, repeated failure, low self-belief and unmet support needs, and learn how to respond in ways that rebuild confidence and motivation.
Teachers will gain an understanding of the role of both external and intrinsic motivation in learning, including how reward systems, encouragement and autonomy influence engagement over time. The course also introduces the basics of dopamine cycles, helping teachers recognise how motivation, reward, overload and burnout can affect a child’s capacity to persist and problem-solve.
Practical strategies are embedded throughout, with a strong emphasis on teaching problem-solving skills, breaking tasks into manageable steps and supporting children to reflect on what has helped them succeed. Participants will engage in group-based discussions and shared problem-solving activities, allowing them to explore real classroom scenarios, exchange solutions and learn from one another. By the end of the course, teachers will feel more confident supporting children to manage frustration, stay engaged and develop the resilience needed for long-term learning and emotional well-being.
This course is ten hours of audio content, visual content and assessment in total, and there are ten hours of recommended reading and resources for you to further develop your own learning.
Course Goals:
Understand how resilience develops in children and what influences persistence, motivation and emotional regulation
Recognise why children become frustrated or give up on learning tasks
Learn practical strategies to help children manage frustration and persevere through challenges
Create classroom environments that promote emotional safety, motivation and resilience
Course breakdown
- 10 hours on-demand video material and 10 hours offline learning
- Online tutor moderation and support
- Downloadable articles and resources
- Access on mobile and desktop
- Course pre-approved by Department of Education and Youth
- Full access to the course from the beginning so you can progress at your own pace
With over 10,000 online students, the Child Psychology Institute comes highly recommended as an EPV Summer Course Provider for Irish school teachers.
We also welcome secondary school teachers and SNAs to our summer courses.
Course Dates
GROUP 1
July 1st - 15th 2026
GROUP 2
July 20th – Aug 3rd 2026
GROUP 3
Aug 5th – 21st 2026
About Course Developer – Dr Lorraine Lynch
Dr Lorraine Lynch is an award-winning health psychologist, social entrepreneur and author who specialises in child mental health, behaviour, learning and wellbeing.
With a strong academic background in developmental and health psychology, and extensive experience working directly with schools, families and educators, her work bridges evidence-based theory and practical classroom application.
Dr Lynch’s approach is informed by ecological and choice-based models of psychology, recognising the powerful role of school environments, relationships and emotional wellbeing in supporting children’s development. She has lectured at third-level institutions, co-founded a nationally recognised psychological service for children and families, and is a published author and media contributor.
As EPV Summer Course Developer, Dr Lynch is committed to providing engaging, relevant and practical professional learning that empowers educators to create inclusive, supportive and psychologically informed learning environments.
“I can honestly say that the passion Lorraine has for this topic was obvious throughout this course and made it so enjoyable. I’ve done so many summer courses throughout the years and this was hands-down the best! I couldn’t stop thinking about it and have been telling my friends and family about all my new learnings. It’s like the Netflix of summer courses. I’ll definitely be back next year. Thank you again.”
Course Aims
- Explain how resilience develops in children and identify factors that influence persistence, motivation and emotional regulation
- Recognise common reasons why children experience frustration or give up on learning tasks
- Understand the role of external and intrinsic motivation in supporting engagement and resilience
- Describe basic dopamine cycles and explain how overload and burnout can impact learning and behaviour
- Apply practical strategies to help children manage frustration and persevere through challenges
- Teach problem-solving skills and support children to reflect on and learn from setbacks
- Create classroom environments that promote emotional safety, motivation and resilience
- Collaborate with colleagues to share strategies, analyse classroom scenarios and develop effective solutions to support children’s emotional well-being
FAQs
Each course is divided into three groups that are running on the following dates:
- Group 1: July 1st – 15th 2026
- Group 2: July 20th – Aug 3rd 2026
- Group 3: Aug 5th – 21st 2026
The course starts and ends on each of the above dates. It is a completely self-paced online course – you decide when you complete tasks within your chosen course’s dates!
Yes, all work is monitored by our e-tutor team, which means that you will receive feedback and you will be notified if more detail is required.
All of our EPV Summer Courses cost €99 per course.
You can also save by bundling:
- €175 for two courses
- €250 for three courses
From early February until 30th April 2026, you can save
20% with our Early Bird offer using the code EARLYBIRD2026. The discount is automatically applied at checkout.
Just add your chosen course(s) and group date(s) to your cart and the correct price will be applied.
Please note: as per Department of Education and Youth (DEY) guidelines, you cannot complete two courses at the same time.
For example, you can complete two courses within the same group timeframe, but one must be completed before starting the second.
Our primary focus is on you learning and then supporting children with their emotional wellness. As a result, we place value on reflective learning. You’ll be asked to discuss your own understanding and experiences, as well as brief summaries of important topics. All assignments are less than 500 words.
We are obsessed with children’s wellness and our mission is to impart as much knowledge as we can on to the people who matter – the teachers and SNAs who are guiding, supporting and shaping our children every single day.
All of our courses have been developed with the most current research in the area of health and educational psychology. Students who have completed courses with us in the past keep coming back for more. Why? Because our customers complete courses that are jam-packed full of meaningful information and effective strategies that really do create change, not just across classrooms, but across careers!
You’ll receive an email with your login details one week before your course begins, with full instructions on how to access your course.
When your course opens, you can log in anytime by visiting our website and clicking Login at the top of the page.
Use:
- The email address you registered with
- Your password (or click Forgot Password if needed)
Once logged in, click Course Portal in the menu to access your course.