NurtureUK is a UK charity dedicated to improving children's social, emotional, mental health, and wellbeing by promoting a "nurturing approach" across the entire education system, helping kids feel safe and develop vital skills for life, learning, and resilience, often through tailored interventions like Nurture Groups and using tools like the Boxall Profile. They support schools, councils, and trusts with training, resources, and evidence-based strategies to tackle issues like poor attendance, behaviour, and social-emotional barriers to learning. 

 

Nurture at St Andrew’s

What is nurture?

Nurture is a tried and tested way of relating to children that helps them develop vital social skills, confidence and self-esteem, and become ready to learn.

The concept of nurture highlights the importance of social environments – who you are with and not who you are born to – and its significant influence on social and emotional skills, wellbeing and behaviour.

The nurturing approach to education offers a range of opportunities for children and young people to engage with missing early nurturing experiences, giving them the social and emotional skills to do well at school and with peers, and to develop their resilience and self-confidence. It encourages pupils to take pride in achieving - addressing the social and emotional needs that can hamper learning. 

 

The Six Principles of Nurture

Everything we do has been based on and guided by the Six Principles of Nurture. For example, our National Nurturing Schools Programme is based on the Six Principles of Nurture that have successfully underpinned nurturing approaches for over 50 years. 

Today there are hundreds of National Nurturing Schools around the UK. Teachers are trained to focus on the social and emotional needs and development, as well as the academic learning of all pupils, and to embed the Six Principles of Nurture throughout the policies and practices of a school. Learn more about the Principles.

Our Children’s Version of the 6 Principles

Our pupils came together to discuss the 6 principles. They changed the language to make it more accessible for children of all ages across the school. They drew pictures as well to help all the students understand what each principle meant and how it could help them each day at school