Nurture Provision and The Hive
Over recent years in we have developed a nurture provision (based on the 6 principles of nurture) within Canmore Primary School in order to meet the needs of our pupils and to complement the training that all staff have undertaken around nurturing approaches and trauma informed practice.
Our nurture area is called the Hive and is situated on the upper balcony next to the Support for Learning room. Staff work in the Hive every day alongside a number of pupils who access the provision on a part time basis. Class teachers provide daily literacy and numeracy tasks to be completed in the Hive, which provides a calmer, quieter space to focus in addition to providing a safe space in which to meet challenges, make mistakes and develop resilience in a smaller group context.
The Hive ethos is a calm, supportive and inclusive environment in which developing life skills such as emotional regulation and social skills are at the forefront of daily activities and modelled by the staff working in and around the area.
The 6 principles of nurture are:
- Children’s learning is understood developmentally
- The classroom offers a safe base
- The importance of nurture for the development of wellbeing
- Language is a vital means of communication
- All behaviour is communication
- The importance of transition in children’s lives
Pupils who work within the Hive remain part of their larger class group at all times and may join their class for lessons in PE, ICT or outdoor learning as appropriate. Pupils transition back into class from noon each day in order to share their morning experiences and learning with their teacher, and also to integrate into the class for a short period before lunch, before returning to work within their class for the afternoon session.
The aim of all parties for pupils accessing the Hive is for them to integrate fully back into their mainstream class, a process which is carefully planned and managed once the pupil shows readiness for this next step.
The Hive also is a flexible space which operates during break and lunch times to accommodate pupils who may find the playground a difficult place to navigate for a variety of reasons.
Some pupils may be supervised within the Hive on certain days and outside on others, need to be inside for health reasons for a short period, or only access the playground when Hive staff are on hand to support them. Throughout each day pupils from across the school find their way to the Hive in order to find support, comfort or just a trusted and friendly face to talk over an issue or help them to regulate before returning to class.
Our Hive continues to maintain this flexibility of approach in order to meet the needs of our pupils and our school community.
A few website of interest are listed below.
Getting It Right For Every Child – https://girfec.fife.scot/
Our Minds Matter – https://www.fife.gov.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0026/193382/Our-Minds-Matter-Framework.pdf
A-Z of Topics for Parents – https://www.handsonscotland.co.uk/
https://www.moodcafe.co.uk/parents-and-parents-to-be/
