Mrs Dunleavy, the School’s Nurture Lead coordinates and leads nurture sessions in school. Mrs Dunleavy is also a trained  Emotional Literacy Support Assistant (ELSA). 

The school provides nurturing support for children who may be experiencing difficulties for a variety of reasons. These may include:

•           Friendship difficulties – keeping/making friends

•           Quiet, shy, withdrawn

•           Finding it hard to listen to others or join in

•           Finding it difficult to settle into class

•           Low self-esteem

•           Bereavement

The purpose of the support is to provide positive learning experiences for children who are experiencing such difficulties. There is much research evidence that children’s learning is most effective when they have a sense of emotional wellbeing, good self-esteem, and a feeling of belonging to their school community. If we feel that your child would benefit from nurture support, we will contact you to discuss the type of support we think would help, what the support will look like and why. This support may be a small group or 1:1 with either a teacher or a teaching assistant, and it will consist of short-term, focused, and specialised help. The children may do a range of activities, including sensory play, role play, speaking and listening activities, stories, and social interaction programmes. These activities will be specifically designed to meet the needs of each child.

 The support aims to:

•           boost confidence and self-esteem

•           support to improve social skills and independence

•           build up and maintain friendships with their classmates

•           help them understand what they are feeling