Applying nurture as a whole school approach

Abstract

AimsApplying Nurture as a Whole School Approach (ANWSA) (Education Scotland, 2016a), supports practitioners to evaluate the implementation of whole establishment nurture. Closing the poverty related attainment gap is a central aim of Scottish Government policy. Educational Psychologists (EPs) with their expertise in health, wellbeing and attainment are key to progressing this goal.MethodThis initiative took place in a primary school within Inverclyde authority utilising the change methodologies of Implementation Science (IS) and collaborative action research. Impact data regarding Nurture Principle 4 (NP4), ‘Language is a vital means of communication’, was gathered collaboratively using mixed methods to triangulate and synthesise findings.FindingsData highlighted that a focus should be place on: peer-to-peer classroom coaching regarding applied approaches to nurture, tracking outcomes from restorative meetings, an early years language acquisition programme and a systematic approach to emotion check-in. A fidelity structure was created based on the dissemination of the project in year one, which will increase the initiative transportability into similar contexts.ConclusionPreliminary results indicate the positive impact of nurture interventions on health and wellbeing. Long-term implementation plans include dissemination of all six nurture principles in the school over four years. Data will continue to be gathered linking the gains of the project on academic attainment and wellbeing via a chain of impact.LimitationsCollaborative action research projects involve data being gathered throughout. Impact data synthesised is already showing positive gains in terms of wellbeing, attainment and effective pedagogy. Full implementation of this project will take 4 years; as such finalised data will be available in 2021.