Skip to content
Be You home
  • Get started
    • Pre-service educators
    • Educators
    • Leaders
    • Action Teams
    • Support existing priorities
    • Register your learning community
    • Be You for VET
    • Education Voices
  • Learn
    • Mentally Healthy Communities
    • Family Partnerships
    • Learning Resilience
    • Early Support
    • Responding Together
  • Resources
    • Mental health services and support helplines
    • Suicide Prevention and Response
    • Mental Health Continuum
    • Sessions and Events
    • Programs Directory
    • Responding to natural disasters
    • Bushfire Response Program
    • Tools and guides
    • Educator wellbeing
    • Cultural Actions Catalogue
    • Disability Inclusion Guide
    • Fact Sheets
    • Coronavirus support
  • About
    • History of Be You
    • Organisations involved
    • Evidence base
    • Stories
    • FAQs
    • Privacy collection statement
Register or Log in
  • Get started
    • Pre-service educators
    • Educators
    • Leaders
    • Action Teams
    • Support existing priorities
    • Register your learning community
    • Be You for VET
    • Education Voices
  • Learn
    • Mentally Healthy Communities
    • Family Partnerships
    • Learning Resilience
    • Early Support
    • Responding Together
  • Resources
    • Mental health services and support helplines
    • Suicide Prevention and Response
    • Mental Health Continuum
    • Sessions and Events
    • Programs Directory
    • Responding to natural disasters
    • Bushfire Response Program
    • Tools and guides
    • Educator wellbeing
    • Cultural Actions Catalogue
    • Disability Inclusion Guide
    • Fact Sheets
    • Coronavirus support
  • About
    • History of Be You
    • Organisations involved
    • Evidence base
    • Stories
    • FAQs
    • Privacy collection statement
  • Register
  • Log in

BETLS Observation Tool

BETLS is an acronym for behaviour, emotions, thoughts, learning and social relationships.
Bags in preschool hallway

The BETLS Observation Tool is a template for gathering and documenting information and observations about a child or young person.

Observations should:

  • focus only on what you actually see and hear, rather than what you think about a child or young person’s behaviours, emotions and thoughts
  • take note of when, where and how often a child or young person is showing a particular behaviour or emotion
  • notice what makes the child or young person’s experience worse and what makes it better
  • record how long the behaviour or emotion occurs (for example, if you’re concerned about a child or young person’s outbursts, take note of how long they last)
  • notice what happens before and after the behaviour that is a concern
  • be recorded by different people and in different situations during the day.

This template also provides a space to reflect on a child or young person’s experiences. It allows you to note their thoughts about a situation, and any other additional information that could be playing a role in their behaviour or mood.

Download the BETLS Observation Tool [PDF, 196 KB]

The BETLS Observation Tool can support your use of the Mental Health Continuum.

Resources

  • BETLS Observation Tool [PDF, 196 KB]
  • BETLS poster [PDF, 749 KB]

Last updated: June, 2022

Quicklinks

  • Get started
    • Pre-service educators
    • Educators
    • Leaders
    • Action Teams
    • Register as an individual
    • Be You for VET
    • Education Voices
    • Register your learning community
  • Learn
    • Mentally Healthy Communities
    • Family Partnerships
    • Learning Resilience
    • Early Support
    • Responding Together
  • Resources
    • Mental health services and support helplines
    • Suicide Prevention and Response
    • Sessions and Events
    • Programs Directory
    • Responding to natural disasters
    • Tools and guides
    • Educator wellbeing
    • Cultural Actions Catalogue
    • Disability Inclusion Guide
    • Fact Sheets
    • Coronavirus support
  • About
    • About Be You
    • History of Be You
    • Organisations involved
    • Evidence base
    • Stories
    • FAQs
  • Delivered by
    • Beyond Blue home
  • In collaboration with
    • Early Childhood Australia home
    • Headspace home
  • Funded by
    • Australian Government Department of Health home
  • Follow us

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Youtube
    • LinkedIn
  • Contact us
  • Terms of use
  • Privacy
  • Privacy collection statement

Copyright © 2023 Australian Government

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags

Be You acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land on which we work. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and extend our respect to all Elders and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples across Australia.