Nurture groups call for a place in government policy
Katy Morton
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
A group that provides early intervention for primary school children took its concerns to the House of Lords last week in a meeting hosted by Baroness Warnock to encourage the Government to endorse nurture groups and incorporate them into policy.
The appointment of the new chief executive of the Nurture Group Network, Angela Sarkis (pictured), was also announced at the meeting, which marked the 40th anniversary of nurture groups.
Ms Sarkis, whose experience is in working with disadvantaged and vulnerable children, replaces Jim Rose, who stepped down from the position after working at the group for the past five years.
Ms Sarkis said, 'There is a huge potential to this job. My ambition is to raise the profile of nurture groups through evidence that they really work. It's an opportunity to influence and change, which I am very excited about.'
The meeting at the House of Lords was shown film of group work at schools in Enfield, London, where nurture groups originated, and Glasgow, where a study in 2007 linked them to improvements in children's behavioural problems (News, 11 January 2007).
Lindsay Kelly, nurture group teacher at the Prince of Wales School in Enfield, which featured in the presentation, said, 'We have had many successful experiences of children learning how to cope with their feelings and manage their behaviour, enabling them to access the learning opportunities given in their mainstream classes and beyond.'
The Nurture Group Network wants to encourage all local authorities in England to fund the groups, following the lead of Glasgow, where they are currently supported by grants.
Ms Sarkis plans to visit local authorities to urge them to set up nurture groups within nurseries, primary and secondary schools to take an early intervention approach to improving behaviour that would avoid costly solutions later on in a child's life.
