Ysgol Uwchradd
CAERGYBI
NURTURE
Many children in school are insecure about their worth and often may not be able to articulate their feelings. Instead, they show their discomfort through their behaviour, examples of which may include self-withdrawal, achieving much less than they could, not making good relationships. Alternatively, they may engage in behaviour which is considered as 'acting out', disrupting others' learning, uncontrolled outbursts of destructive behaviour, put simply 'seeing red’.
Whatever the behaviour, the result is that they do not positively engage in education. Understanding what lies behind their behaviour can help all teachers to be confident in understanding individual pupil's behaviour, and ultimately help them with managing their class dynamic, which is where the Boxall Profile comes in.
The Boxall Profile helps with:
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Early identification assessment - supporting staff to develop their observational skills and their understanding of children and young people's difficulties.
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Target setting and intervention - setting individualised, achievable targets that reinforce target behaviour and skills.
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Tracking progress - helping staff review children and young people's target behaviour.
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Whole-class dynamic - understanding trends in behaviour can support staff to create bespoke learning plans to support whole-class learning.
NURTURE
Our Nurture group is a small group of up to 15 pupils. Nurture offers a short term, focused intervention which addresses barriers to learning arising from behavioural, emotional or social difficulties (BESD), in an inclusive, supportive manner. The environment provides a safe base, helping pupils to cope with the demands of a secondary school or sudden trauma and sometimes perhaps with the transition from primary to secondary school to help their confidence. Whilst in the nurture group pupils continue to remain part of their own class group and usually return full time within 4 terms. Nurture offers pupils breakfast when they arrive at school, followed by a flexible curriculum comprising of arts and crafts, literacy and numeracy support, and ELKLAN sessions. There is also a chill-out space within the Nurture room that is equipped with bean bags and sensory lights.
All pupils accessing the Nurture room will have a Boxall profile. The Boxall Profile is an online resource for the assessment of pupil’s social, emotional and behavioural development. The Boxall Profile is a two-part assessment tool designed to track the progress of cognitive development and behavioural traits of children through their education. The two-part checklist, which is completed by staff who know the pupil best, is quick — and, very importantly, identifies the levels of skills the pupil possess to access learning.
Improve Social, Emotional Skills
Our Pupils develop confidence and self-esteem and learn to take pride in their work. They become better at managing their emotions and empathising with others, as a result, we see that they are able to form far more positive relationships with their peers and teachers.
Improve Attendance
As pupils feel safe in the nurture group and in school, they are able to enjoy school more and their overall attendance improves.
Improve Attainment
We have seen that pupil's academic performance increases following nurture provision. Pupils are able to access extra support in literacy and numeracy skills sometimes on a one to one basis but also in focused support groups.
Improve Behaviour and reduced Exclusions
Our pupil's behaviour significantly improves after they get familiarised with the set up in our nurture room. They feel more settled and they find school easier to cope with. Their behaviour as they start dipping into mainstream lessons also improves which reduces the risk of anger outbursts and disruptive behaviour.
Improve Parent-Child Relationships
Our nurture group staff often engage with parents and invite them to the nurture room for refreshments and a chat. This supports the development of a more affectionate and communicative relationship. Parents feel more confident in coming to school to see their child's work and achievements.
Impact on the whole school
The nurture group helps develop affective bonds between our staff and pupils. This helps create a whole school approach towards recognising the importance of creating trusting relationships with pupils as well as showing a genuine interest in them.
Improve Mental Wellbeing
1-8 children and young people in todays society have a clinically diagnosable mental health problem. Our nurture group contributes to helping pupils develop their social, emotional skills, resilience and positive behaviours for them to do well in school and in life.
Improve Emotional Literacy
The programme followed by our nurture group improves pupil's understanding and identification of emotions. Pupils learn what their environmental cues are that trigger irrational responses and changes in their behaviour. Our staff model appropriate behaviour between adults and thus always participating in constructive interaction.
Improve Behaviour Management Techniques
Pupils are introduced to relaxation techniques which support them in managing their behaviour. The Nurture room includes a relaxation area where pupils can remove themselves from stressful situations and carry out mindfulness techniques that will continue to help them in later life.