1. Health and Wellbeing at Pinkie: A Nurturing School
Colette Bonnar
5th March 2019

2. Session Aims
We will share our rationale and approaches to tackling the evolving needs of our school community.
We will address the steps we took to improving engagement and skills for learning.
Opportunity to reflect and share practice.
Come away with practical suggestions for building a nurturing school community.

3. Our Context 61% of our children in SIMD 1-3
23% registered for free school meals
400 children on roll P1-P7
65% children in SIMD 1-3 have ACES (that we know about)

4. Data
Tracking:
Whole School tracking attainment and engagement vs support.
On/Off Track, Level Achieved
Free School Meals, SIMD, Known ACEs
Universal / Additional / Targeted support
Engagement levels – Leuven Scale
Over time

5. Leuven Scale

6. ACES
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) refer to stressful events occurring in childhood (between 0 to 18 years). These impact profoundly on the child’s readiness and ability to learn and participate in school life.

7. ACES

8. Engagement of Children in SIMD 3

9. Engagement of pupils in SIMD 6,7 and 9

10. Pupils in SIMD 3 on track numeracy

11. Percentage of children off track with ACEs

12. What did our data tell us?
Pupils who were NOT scoring 4 or 5 on the Leuven Scale were far more likely to be off track with learning.
There were approximately 20% more children with ACEs in SIMD 3 off track with their learning compared to those in SIMD 6,7 and 9.

13. What did we need to do? We needed to increase engagement for all.
We needed to further support children in SIMD 3 with ACEs so that they would be more engaged and ready to learn.

14. How did we decide to do this?
Restorative practice, Our Values
Emotion Talks, Big Deal, Little Deal, Growth Mindset
Numeracy & Literacy interventions: Small groups, Nessy, Phonological Awareness, 1:1 RWI
Outdoor learning groups – self-esteem, confidence – specific groups of children
Pupil voice through Digital Artist in Residence & The Pod
Social groups: Explorers, Lego Therapy
Music – Jamming club, Phonological Awareness through Music, IDL, Parent group
Expressive Arts After School Clubs - Music/Dance/Drama 65% uptake P1-P7.
Senior SW Practitioner: 3 days per week in school
Parent groups – Tea & Toast, Home Start, Raising Children with Confidence Courses
Soft play
Gross Motor Skills, Fine Motor Skills
Summer / Easter Lunch Clubs
Soft start within Nurture, Nurture playtime/lunch time/ assemblies
Nurture group 9 – 10:30 daily, Nurture interventions

15. Measuring the Impact Engagement (Leuven Scale) in class On/Off Track
Phonological Awareness Scores
Attendance
Referrals to Social Work
Boxall Profiles

16. Improving Engagement through Music
Leuven Scale carried out with every class - in class and within music
Class data October 2017 and December 2017
Music data December 2017

17. Nurture at Pinkie
Film – link to follow

18. Education Scotland June 2018
The school gathers a wide range of data in relation to children’s wellbeing and development. This information is being used to profile the social and economic context of the school, track individual progress, introduce intervention strategies and identify issues for further development.
Staff are proactive in building positive relationships with children and their families. Important information about children’s health and wellbeing is shared appropriately and is being used effectively to plan positive outcomes for children. Throughout the school, adults and children demonstrate relationships which are supportive, nurturing and caring. Pupil support assistants provide highly effective and sensitive support. They are proactive within the classroom in supporting children and contribute to a safe and purposeful social environment in all areas of the school.
Staff demonstrate their commitment to ensuring wellbeing and inclusion. For example, they have increased their knowledge and understanding of factors which underpin wellbeing such as nurture principles, mindfulness, trauma and attachment theories.
There is a nurturing ethos across the whole school which supports the development of positive relationships at all stages.
The school has adopted a wide range of evidence-based intervention programmes to support children’s gaps in their learning. Regular and focused sessions such as outdoor learning, phonological awareness, early writing skills and reading are impacting positively on children’s health and wellbeing.

19. Education Scotland June 2018
The school is prioritising effectively the promotion of social, emotional and mental wellbeing through the work of the nurture class. The highly individualised and very flexible approach taken to supporting identified children is having a positive impact on their readiness to learn. Various interactive strategies are used effectively to tune children into their emotions and those of others and are beginning to impact positively on their emotional literacy and wellbeing. Class teachers work well with support for learning staff to identify children who would benefit from additional support for wellbeing. A comprehensive assessment tool, together with professional judgement, is used very effectively in the nurture class to identify individual targets and to measure progress
Staff work closely with a wide range of partners to increase their capacity to meet the diverse needs of children. They are developing, for example, effective strategies around trauma, attachment and restorative practices, so that they are better placed to meet the needs of all children.
The school’s commitment to inclusion is demonstrated further by the steps taken to ensure that support programmes are continued over school holiday periods. This is supporting children to manage transitions well, enabling them to make a positive start when returning to learning
Staff are responsive to the circumstances of all children including looked after children and those for whom English is an additional language. Children across the school are benefitting from being included in programmes to support specific health and wellbeing needs. The school has identified children who would benefit from a soft start to the day and has creatively developed an extended nurturing day facility. Children are offered gym sessions and nurture activities. This flexible approach to address barriers to learning ensures that almost all children who use the service are prepared for learning at the start of the school day and ready for home at the end of the day. Working with a range of professionals, the school is taking a positive approach to minimising any barriers to learning.

20. Nurturing Schools
What does Nurture look like in your school?

21. What Next? Sensory Circuits, Fabulous Fingers
The playground, Secret Garden
Visual Support Project
Rights Respecting School
Enhancing our Daily Mile
Continuing to improve engagement and attendance for all
Extending use of Boxall Profiles
Embedding the Circle document

22. Further Reading
Nurture, Adverse Childhood Experiences and Trauma informed practice: Making the links between these approaches - Education Scotland
Tackling the Attainment Gap by preventing and responding to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) - The Scottish Adverse Childhood Experiences Hub
Applying Nurture as a whole school approach - a framework to support self-evaluation - Education Scotland