www.nurturegroups.org

NURTURE IS OUR PASSPORTFOR GROWING THE FUTURE…

Amanifestofornurture

…FOR TOMORROW BELONGS TO THEPEOPLE WHO PREPARE FOR IT TODAY

The Nurture Group Network is enormously proud ofour members; over 1,000 professionals working withvulnerable children and young people to help themengage in, and benefit from, mainstream education.

The dedication and passion they show every dayproves that nurture is the solution to transformingchild and adolescent mental health and wellbeing in the United Kingdom.

Amanifesto fornurture

The Nurture Group Network wants to do more Mental wellbeing is the key ingredient to succeeding atschool. Charities in our sector are facing anunprecedented demand on our services due to thegrowing mental health needs of our most vulnerablechildren and young people. All political parties understandthat there is a need for the voluntary sector to play agreater role in transforming the service delivery ofeducation and mental health, but we will only be able todo so if we have a strong foundation to build upon.

The Nurture Group Network is calling on the next Government tochange education paradigms and make nurture an essentialcomponent of our education system. Working together, we can:• Create the best environment for children to learn in by

prioritising their social and emotional needs• Re-focus and re-train the education sector on mental wellbeing

and attachment and its key role in the learning process• Help the most disadvantaged students access mainstream

education and break the cycle of inter-generational poverty that low levels ofeducation perpetuates

Ourmission

TO ALLOW EVERY CHILD AND YOUNG PERSONIN THE COUNTRY ACCESS TO NURTUREBASED ON THEIR SEVERITY OF NEED.

We will:1. Double the number of nurture groups from 1,500 to 3,000

in the next five years so every vulnerable student has access to nurture

2. Train thousands of teaching staff who are currently on the frontline of child and adolescent mental health about routine screening measures for social and emotional aptitudes. This will not only detect children at high risk of mental health problems, but substantially improve referrals for further assessment and treatment if necessary.

3. Run an accreditation scheme for excellence in wholeschool nurturing practices across the United Kingdom.

To achieve these goals we call on politicalparties to commit to:1. Investing in nurture groups and similar evidence-basedprovisions to improve mental health in schools.Nurture groups provision lasts 1-4 terms and provides children andyoung people with an educational bridge to permanent reintegrationinto mainstream classrooms. The nurture group classroom is a hybridof home and school environments with soft furnishings, kitchen anddining facilities – a space that students have to share with two NG staffand 8-10 other students. The NG staff engage intensely with eachindividual, within a daily routine that is explicit, uniform and predictable.

Nurture groups would address problems of rising mental health issues,exclusion rates, low grades and lack of support by:• Having a NG practitioner as a key attachment figure in school for

every student in need. The NG practitioner will provide them with affection, attention and the reassurance that they are valued;

• Providing a nurture group curriculum where learning is understood developmentally. Students are taught goal setting, coping templates, social skills training, affective education and relaxation techniques, and are able to witness the role modelling of appropriate behaviour/social skills between two adults in constructive interaction;

• A preventive, long-term strategy to help students deal more confidently and calmlywith the trials and tribulations of everydaylife.

In-school, teacher-led psychosocial groupinterventions like nurture groups have beenproven to improve, and prevent, the most

common psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents– from anxiety and depression, to aggression and conduct

disorders. Researchhas shown thatchildhood conductdisorders predict alladult disorders dueto their substantialstability throughoutthe life course andwe ignore thisproblem at our ownperil. In the UK theOECD has predictedthat long-term

mental disorders cost society £70 billion a year.We estimate the cost of universal nurture to bea fraction of that cost:

2. Subsidising teacher training and continuous professional development. Although many staff feel relatively skilled in terms of providing academicand social support to their students, there remains an obvious feeling andconcern that they do not have the knowledge base or level of skillsrequired to specifically support those with more complex or emergingmental health difficulties. Yet, in past trials, teaching staff have shown tohave as much, if not more, positive results implementing the samepsychosocial intervention in school than psychologists. Teachers and thosewho work with young people in schools can, and do, successfully preventthe escalation of mental health problems in their students byunderstanding more about protective factors and social and emotionaldevelopment.

3. Prioritise nurture in the inspection frameworks As Sir Ken Robinson said, if we want to improve the education system wehave to focus on the relationship between the teacher and the pupil, andeverything else – including syllabus and tests– must be consideredsecondary. Nurture is the fundamental ingredient to a positive relationshipbetween teachers and their students, but this can only exist when nurtureis adopted and promoted at an individual, group and systems level acrossthe whole school community. For this reason we urge the government tohave nurture prioritised in the inspection frameworks and given the same

status as academic achievement - they are after alltwo sides of the same coin. As the UK’sEducational Endowment Foundation concluded,

social and emotional learning has an, “identifiableand significant impact on attitudes to learning,social relationships in school, and attainmentitself.”

Together we can create the best environment for learning,giving the next generation the best possible chance toflourish and succeed in school and life.

National Office t 020 3475 8980 e info@nurturegroups.org18A Victoria Park Square, Bethnal Green, London E2 9PBTweet us! @nurturegroups

Registered England and Wales, charity number: 1115972. Scottish registered charity number: SC042703.

Amanifesto fornurture

SO, IF THE NEXT GOVERNMENT WISHES TO:

• Improve mental wellbeing• Increase educational engagement• Reduce exclusions• Ensure academic progress• Create a more inclusive ethos• And ultimately remove barriers for learning for ALL children and young people

Introduce Nurture as both a way of thinking and as a targetedintervention into the education system. It works.

Visit our website for more information: www.nurturegroups.org