Which Children attend Nurture Group?
Children may attend sessions in the Nurture Group for specific reasons, for example:
Friendship difficulties – keeping/making friends
Quiet, shy, withdrawn
Find it hard to listen to others or join in
Disruptive towards others
Find it hard to accept losing a game
Find it hard to share and take turns
Find it a bit difficult to settle into class
Bullying
Low self esteem
Poor relationships with adults in school
Bereavement
Family illness or break-up
How will nurture group help my child?
Nurture Group will boost confidence and self esteem and provide children with the extra help sometimes needed to improve social skills and independence for example:
To join in
To settle
To listen
To concentrate
To share and take turns
To accept losing a game
To build up friendships with their classmates
It gives them a chance and helps to encourage a more positive profile among their peers and members of staff.
Does this mean my child is naughty?
Nurture Group will boost confidence and self esteem and provide children with the extra help sometimes needed to improve social skills and independence for example:
To join in
To settle
To listen
To concentrate
To share and take turns
To accept losing a game
To build up friendships with their classmates
It gives them a chance and helps to encourage a more positive profile among their peers and members of staff.
How long will my child be in Nurture for?
Children attend on a part-time basis for a period of 2-4 terms. However we ensure that the children do not miss special assemblies, guests in school, outings or anything else that may be different from the normal routine of the week.
Are parents and carer’s involved?
We like to consider our door is always open and therefore welcome parent/carers to visit and join the sessions at any time. Special event invitations are sent out to join us for example; open afternoon, or simply for afternoon tea and a chat.
What does an afternoon in Nurture look like?
Children follow a structure and routine that is clear to both staff and children which includes group listening and speaking, work tasks, individual and shared play and social skills. The group runs on consistency, positive reinforcement and praise.
A typical afternoon session in the Nurture Room would include the following:
The children arrive in the Nurture room after registration in their classes.
The afternoon starts with a settling down activity around the table. The group then move onto the carpet and form a circle for ‘Mat & Chat’. The children are invited to share any news that they might have and the afternoon agenda/targets/jobs for the day, are discussed so that they know exactly what to expect.
After ‘Mat & Chat’ the group continue with ‘Circle Time’. These sessions offer children a chance to speak/sing in a safe structured non – threatening way, explore thoughts and feelings and listen to others.
Moving onto ‘Work and Make’ activities, this is curriculum based learning which is linked to the topics in the children’s mainstream classes. Work is targeted at each child’s academic level to enable them to raise their level of achievement. Here the children are given an opportunity to complete a task which they can feel proud of and to work co-cooperatively with others in the group.
Play time follows where children choose from carefully selected activities, this is a time where they can put the skills they have been learning in Nurture into practise. There is always a member of the Nurture staff facilitating play and learning.
Next is snack time. This is milk or water with toast, crumpets, etc and a piece of fruit and of course a cake when it is someone’s birthday. The children will take turns to prepare and serve the snack. The ‘snack’ time is at the heart of Nurture practice when the children and adults sit together and share food and talk.
Finally the children gather around the table for a goodbye song and to review and reflect upon their personal targets. This is a final opportunity to express feelings about the day and review, reflect and set personal goals and targets for tomorrow.
Nurture 