One common period of challenge is the move from Primary to Secondary school. This can be hard for anyone but is often particularly challenging for children who haven’t yet met national expectations of achievement or who are in some way vulnerable. 

We assess these children when they join us, in order to determine whether they would benefit from being placed in our Nurture Group. This is a smaller-than-average class group which receives constant support from a higher-level learning assistant in addition to regular subject teachers. 

In this group, we teach the school curriculum in a way that is designed to be accessible by the children and to help them make progress from there. We place a strong emphasis on Literacy and Numeracy because these are foundational skills that enable progress elsewhere. 

Children can remain in the Nurture Group for as long as they need this level of support, but we believe strongly in the benefits of full integration into mainstream school life and will work towards that goal at a pace that suits the individual child.