Nurture

The concept of nurture highlights the importance of social environments - who you're with, and not who you're born to - and its significant influence on social emotional skills, wellbeing and behaviour.

The nurturing approach offers a range of opportunities for children and young people to engage with missing early nurturing experiences, giving them the social and emotional skills to do well at school and with peers, develop their resilience and their capacity to deal more confidently with the trials and tribulations of life, for life.

Many schools run Nurture groups for young people who may benefit from this type of intervention. Nurture groups are founded on evidence-based practices and offer a short-term, inclusive, focused intervention that works in the long term. Nurture groups are classes of between six and 12 children or young people in early years, primary or secondary settings supported by the whole staff group and parents. Children attend nurture groups but remain an active part of their main class group, spending appropriate times within the nurture group according to their need.

Nurture groups assess learning and social and emotional needs and give the necessary help to remove the barriers to learning. There is great emphasis on language development and communication. Nothing is taken for granted and everything is explained, supported by role modelling, demonstration and the use of gesture as appropriate.