In response to the article “School nurture approaches could ‘mask’ behaviour issues, union says” from 9 April, it is felt by the Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists (ASPEP) that a brief outline of what a whole-school nurturing approach is, and isn’t, would be helpful as well as trying to unpick why teachers feel that a nurturing approach may be being used wrongly.
Education establishments have identified an increase in distressed and dysregulated behaviour by young people, many consider these behaviours to be related to young people’s experience of lockdown. This increase in behaviour has also been identified as a current challenge by both ASPEP and by education directors’ body ADES.
These difficulties stem from a number of issues: an increase in mental health difficulties, financial pressures in families and a reduction in young people across the UK attending school on a regular basis. The lack of predictability, routine and fracturing of key relationships with school staff for a year during a formative period of young people’s lives has left a legacy: staff are absorbing and dealing with the legacy of a pandemic.
The article in question does not explicitly set out why teachers and establishment staff think that the training linked to a nurturing approach is masking behavioural difficulties, but what it does outline is that there is an escalation in behaviours and that the policies in some establishments are not thorough enough when dealing with complex behaviour. It is here that it may be helpful to separate what can be supported by a nurturing approach and where bespoke planning for individuals is required.
A whole-school nurturing approach, which has the delivery of nurture principle training as a core part of the approach, is not specifically designed as a targeted support for individual young people who present with such distressed behaviour that other young people or school staff members are being physically hurt.
Rather, a nurturing approach should be located within a whole establishment where all adults should have access to training that enables them to be informed about the nurture principles and how they should influence their practice when working with children and young people, especially those affected by trauma.
These principles are evident in the promotion of an understanding of the benefits of a relational approach for all within the establishment. This means that there is a focus on promoting healthy, positive and trusting relationships.
A nurturing approach has been highlighted as a key means to support relationships, behaviour, wellbeing, attainment and achievement in Scottish schools in a number of policy documents, such as Included, engaged and involved part 2: A positive approach to preventing and managing school exclusions, and the draft guidance for Included, engaged and involved part 3.
While the research pre-dates the pandemic, the Behaviour in Scottish Schools survey (last update in 2017, with the latest report due out later this year) explored school staff’s experience of young people’s behaviour in schools, as well as identifying how they effectively supported positive behaviour. This demonstrated that a nurturing approach, along with other relationship-based approaches, is one of the most commonly cited approaches used to support positive relationships and behaviour and to prevent serious and disruptive behaviour in Scottish schools.
There are still, however, some misconceptions about nurturing approaches - for example, that they are overly permissive - but when implemented effectively, they balance care and challenge alongside structure, high expectations and firm boundaries.
In reference to the 9 April article, for young people whose levels of distress and dysregulation are so great, there should be a thorough assessment of their needs and context (both within and outside of school), up-to-date and focused individualised planning, and possible risk assessment. It may also be appropriate to request the support of support services, such as educational psychology among others, to ensure that there is a thorough understanding of the young person’s support needs and how to meet them.
In summary, nurture-principle training for staff in schools should never “mask” behaviour issues. It is an approach that should support the promotion of positive relationships - but if a young person’s presentation within those relationships reaches a level of concern, other targeted supports are required, as outlined above.
Maura Kearney is a principal educational psychologist in Renfrewshire and Sam March is a principal educational psychologist in South Lanarkshire. Both are writing in their capacity as members of the ASPEP (Association of Scottish Principal Educational Psychologists) executive committee
