Whole-school approach to nurture

Making the most of the nurturing approach

The nurturing approach to learning makes most impact when it’s not just an intervention, but reaches everyone in a setting. It’s an evidence-based approach to supporting improved behaviour and increased attendance in your school, leading to better attainment and reduced exclusions.

The nurturing approach considers how a child’s social environment affects their emotional wellbeing, their social skills, and how ready they are to engage at school and in the wider community.

By building nurture into your school’s culture and everyday work, through our National Nurturing Schools Programme, for example, your team can help pupils to develop the social skills they need to thrive, and the confidence and resilience to deal with whatever life throws at them - at school, and for the rest of their lives.

Small children eating toast around a table

A group of school children and a teacher doing an experiment on a table

Making it work in your setting

Developing a nurturing culture will be different for every school. It isn’t about signing up to an off-the-shelf programme, but about looking at your school’s core beliefs and your pupils’ needs, and how you can support them to achieve their very best.

The approach is underpinned by Quality First Teaching and the Six Principles of Nurture, promoting healthy outcomes for your pupils by responding to their emotional needs.

We can help your school start your journey using the Boxall Profile® Online, our unique tool to assess and support the emotional & behavioural development of all pupils aged 4-18, used by thousands of schools across the UK.

We can support your school to develop a nurturing culture with the National Nurturing Schools Programme, an 18-month programme that includes an unlimited Boxall Profile® Online subscription, joining hundreds of schools across the UK on the nurturing journey. Find out more or sign up now.

If you already have the National Nurturing Schools Award, you can renew your award at a special rate after three years.

The Boxall Profile®

An assessment tool which provides an overview of pupils’ social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs, and how to respond to them – both in the classroom and with specific nurturing interventions.

The Six Principles of Nurture

Developed by educational experts Eva Holmes and Eve Boyd in 1999, these are the core principles that should inform any nurturing culture and ethos.

Nurture Groups

A short-term intervention providing focused support to pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties which make it harder for them to learn in a mainstream class.

Part of the graduated approach

Whole-school nurture is part of the graduated approach that ensures that every child in the school has the opportunity to flourish in their education. Through this approach, we can help you to measure and support the social, emotional and mental health of all children, so no child falls through the cracks.