SEND

Nurture Intervention

St Francis group is a nurture intervention that runs for four afternoons a week within our nurture space, The Nest.

The Nest is a place for children to have the opportunity to grow in confidence and become engaged, successful learners in their classrooms and the school community.

The nurture approach involves creating an environment where adults and children work closely together; where adults promote and support the pupil’s social and emotional development.

Purpose of our Nurture Intervention:

Nurture provision offers a short term, focused, early intervention strategy, which addresses barriers to learning arising primarily from social, behaviour, emotional or well-being difficulties, in an inclusive and supportive manner.

Being part of St Francis’ group will boost the children’s confidence and self-esteem and provide them 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

What is a Nurture Intervention:

St Francis’ group is a group:

  • Of around 8 – 10 children.
  • Taught by 2 members of staff.
  • Provides academic learning and play-based opportunities to help children learn to negotiate, turn take, share, listen to others, concentrate and plan.
  • Provides children with a chance to develop positive relationships with staff and each other.
  • Promotes children’s self-esteem and builds their confidence.
  • Where snack time is used to help with social learning and encouraging children to attend to the needs of others.
  • Closely linked with the child’s mainstream class and children remain members of both classes.
  • Helps with transitions e.g new class/new school.

Principles of Nurture:

St Francis’ group is guided by the six principles of nurture provision.

Children’s Learning is understood Developmentally – In our nurture provision staff support children’s academic attainment and children’s developmental progress through individualised targets and a real understanding of their next steps socially and emotionally.

The Classroom offers a Safe Base – The Nest offers a balance of educational and social and emotional experiences aimed at supporting the development of the student’s relationship with each other and with the staff. The Nest is organised around a structured timetable with predictable routines. Great attention is paid to detail; the adults are reliable and consistent in their approach to the students.

Nurture is important for the Development of Self-Esteem – Within the nurture approach there is emphasis on the adults engaging with the children in reciprocal shared activities. Students respond to being noticing and praising. Each session finishes with collective recognition for individuals and for the group.

Language is Understood as a Vital Means of Communication – Language is more than a skill to be learnt, it is the way of putting feelings, beliefs, ideas, understanding and aspiration into words. Our staff provide planned and informal opportunities for talking and sharing within the group.  are as important as the more formal lessons teaching language skills.

All Behaviour is Communication – This principle underlies the adult responses and strategies. We believe that understanding what a student is communicating through behaviour helps staff to respond in a warm, encouraging but non-punitive way. The adult makes the link between the external/internal worlds of the young person.

Transitions are Significant in the Lives of Students – On a daily basis there are numerous transitions the student makes, e.g. between sessions and classes and between different adults. Changes in routine are invariably difficult for vulnerable students and need to be carefully managed with preparation and support.

The Nest Environment

A safe, secure base is central to a nurture approach.

There are four key areas within The Nest; learning/work area, a home area, a dining area (for the shared snack) and a play area.

An Afternoon in The Nest

The nurture approach follows this supportive and predictable routine:

  • Welcome and Emotional check in – A calming starter activity is planned that sets the tone for the afternoon, welcomes each individual and encourages emotional literacy. This also includes a fun game or activity that focuses on listening and engaging within the group.
  • Learning Task One – The staff leading the intervention deliver a lesson input and support the children in completing the linked learning task. There is also some time to work on individual social and emotional targets through engaging in some self-directed time similar to continuous provision as seen in our EYFS classrooms. One member of staff carefully observes and tracks each pupils individual progress.
  • Shared snack time – This part of the session aims to provide opportunities to socialise with peers in an adult setting.  Children take responsibility for tasks relating to serving drinks and snacks.
  • Learning Task Two – The staff leading the intervention deliver a lesson input and support the children in completing the linked learning task. There is also some time to work on individual social and emotional targets through engaging in some self-directed time similar to continuous provision as seen in our EYFS classrooms. One member of staff carefully observes and tracks each pupil’s individual progress.
  • Celebration time – This is time for reflection, praise and celebration.  Children have an opportunity to identify and praise other children in the group. Individual and group successes are recognised on a group display. Then the children return to class in preparation for home time.

Identification and referral

St Francis’ group currently supports a small group of children from Year 1. The identification and review process take place on an ongoing basis.

  • Raising Concerns

Pupils attainment and social, emotional and mental health is discussed a regular pupil progress meetings. All concerns are raised with the SENCO and discussed with parents.

  • Boxall Profiles

When we think a child may benefit from a nurture intervention, we complete use a specific screening tool called the Boxall Profile.  This involves a series of questions covering various aspects of a child’s social and emotional development.  It provides a clear and personalised picture of a child’s area of need.

From the Boxall profiles, a group of children are selected to access St Francis’ group. Children will leave and join the group as progress is made.

 Assessment

The Boxall profile (which allows for an individual picture of the child’s social and emotional needs) is used as the assessment tool.  This is carried out in line with the school assessment system in order for staff to be aware of any progress or change in the areas of needs to be developed.

 Fledging

When the Boxall profile assessments show that a child has met their social and emotional targets, pupils will ‘fledge’ from The Nest and return to access all their learning within their main class. This process is carefully planned and implemented to ensure that children feel supported and successful.