Archive for 2020

Arti Sharma has been appointed as the new Chief Executive of nurtureuk.

Arti has been a trustee at nurtureuk since May 2018, and was the former Deputy Chief Executive for youth social action charity City Year UK. At City Year UK, Arti led all of the charity’s external facing activities including school sales, recruitment, partnerships, public affairs, communications and development. Arti’s background in marketing and communications spans multiple not for profit and commercial sectors, and she notably created the British Council’s ‘Study Work Create’ campaign. Arti is also an ACEVO Leadership Fellow Winner.

Nurtureuk’s Chair Susan Henderson OBE said: “Replacing our CEO Kevin Kibble was always going to be a challenge, but we are delighted to welcome Arti Sharma as Kevin’s replacement. Arti began her career as a teacher and has also had extensive experience of working in the charity sector.”

“Arti is very familiar with the work of the organisation having served as a trustee. She shares the values that underpin the charity and is committed to our mission to ensure that all children and young people have a positive nurturing experience. She will be a powerful advocate, particularly given the uncertain environment that so many children face as a result of the pandemic. The trustees and staff welcome Arti as our new CEO.”

On becoming nurtureuk’s new Chief Executive, Arti said “I am delighted and humbled to have this incredible opportunity to lead nurtureuk in its next chapter.”

“Having had first-hand experience of bereavement at a young age and knowing the subsequent impact it had upon my early school years, I strongly believe children from any background have the right to a safe and nurturing environment to be the best they can be.”

“I’ve been passionate about the betterment of children and young people throughout my career and I am looking forward to progressing the incredible legacy nurtureuk has built. I am fortunate to be joining the charity at a time when its reputation and influence is growing, and I want to see its impact continue to expand. I look forward to building on the many achievements nurtureuk has delivered and I can’t wait to meet all the team and get stuck in!”

Nurtureuk’s outgoing Chief Executive Kevin Kibble who is due to retire at the end of June is instead undertaking a maternity cover role during the current Covid-19 pandemic. “I’m sad to be leaving nurtureuk and its brilliant staff and trustees after almost eight years and have thoroughly enjoyed leading a wonderful charity through a period of dynamic change and growth. I’m really excited to see what more the charity is going to do to support vulnerable children under Arti’s leadership and wish her every success in the role.”

Arti will begin her work as nurtureuk’s Chief Executive in July 2020.

As the tragedy of Covid-19 unfolds the death toll continues to rise, it won’t be long before everyone will know of someone who has died. Children and young people can be badly affected by loss and adults often don’t have the skills or courage to talk openly about it with them.

Nurtureuk has produced a specially edited version of their Bereavement Box that helps anyone supporting bereaved children and young people understand what they may be experiencing with helpful suggestions on approaches and exercises to help children cope better with their grief.

This Bereavement Guide is available to download free of charge:

DOWNLOAD HERE

The COVID-19 outbreak looks set to have an enormous impact, not only on the health service, but on the everyday life of every single person in the UK.

As teachers using nurture approaches across the country know, for many vulnerable children schools are their only place of safety, support and security. This is why we have welcomed news that schools will continue to care for the children of key workers, and children with safeguarding and welfare needs in the response to COVID-19, while recognising what a challenging and uncertain time this will be for teachers and schools across the country. We hope this will provide the right balance between keeping people safe and giving children the support they need.

Nurture approaches already have an enormous impact on pupils across the country and they can empower teaching staff to understand and address the needs of children who have experienced trauma. Clearly, the importance of nurture is only going to increase for the two groups of pupils who will remain in schools.

For the first group, their parents and carers will be going out to do difficult, stressful and potentially dangerous jobs. The children of these vital workers will be acutely aware of the role their parents are playing and the difficult job they’re doing. Because of this it seems likely the number of children with emotional needs will increase. The emotional support nurture approaches offer will therefore be crucial to more and more children.

For the second group, vulnerable children and young people, the coming period of turmoil will lead to greater pressure on their families and further uncertainty in their lives. This will significantly increase the need for a place where these children feel safe and have their social and emotional needs met and understood.

In England, guidance specifically lists those children “with child in need plans, on child protection plans, ‘looked after’ children, young carers, disabled children and those with education, health and care (EHC) plans” as being part of this group. Yet we know there are many children with needs who fall outside these groups who need the support that nurturing schools provide and so we welcomed the government’s pledge to support schools to support “other children facing social difficulties”. In Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales government’s have made similar announcements with some clarifications around which pupils should be given extra support to come.

We hope schools, governments and local authorities will acknowledge the need to offer support to those children who might have no formal classification of need, but who will clearly benefit from their care and support, within the category of “other children facing social difficulties”. The number of children facing difficult circumstances will increase significantly during this period, as always early intervention from schools will prevent social and emotional issues escalating.

When we emerge from this difficult time, there will be lasting impacts, on individuals, on families and on society as a whole. Nurture will have a vital role to play in helping children and young people come to terms with this and in supporting them to flourish, whatever difficulties they and their families have been through.

As a charity, nurtureuk stands ready to support the heroic teachers and other professionals who change the lives of those children most in need. The Boxall Profile Online will continue to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This key tool for understanding individual children’s social and emotional needs and planning how best support to them will be of use to more professionals than ever before. We will have more updates on the support we’re able to offer, including online training and one-to-one support very soon.

Thank you for all you as teachers and other professionals do, your roles are more important now than ever. Stay safe and remember, even in this time of great turmoil, you make a huge difference to the lives of the children in your care.