Nurture Group

What does it do?
Nurture groups are an in-school, teacher-led psychosocial intervention of groups of less than 12 students that effectively replace missing or distorted early nurturing experiences for both children and young adults; they achieve this by immersing students in an accepting and warm environment which helps develop positive relationships with both teachers and peers.

Who is it for?
They have been specifically designed to support children and young people whose barriers to learning fall into the category of SEBD who for a variety of reasons have not developed those necessary early skills essential to thriving in the mainstream classroom: trust of adults; self-esteem; empathy; cooperation skills; self-control; positive relationships with peers; and language and communication skills. However, these barriers to learning can effect and impact on pupils of all ability levels. Children can however have other additional needs, but for a nurture group approach their primary barrier to learning is expected to be social, emotional or behavioural. An additional benefit of nurture groups is that, as the close relationship with a student develops it may enable other previously unnoticed underlying needs to be identified and then referred on to the appropriate agency / professional for a formal diagnosis and the most appropriate intervention implemented.

How do I access it?
Most nurture groups are established by a member of the senior leadership team in the school. The Head needs to decide on a budget, a suitable room and two permanent staff to act as NG practitioners. Most nurture groups cost less than £10,000 to establish, and a large number are funded annually by the Pupil Premium.