Nurture Groups in School and at Home

 Nurture Groups in School and at Home
 Paul Cooper and Yonca Tiknaz
 Jessica Kingsley Publishers
 ISBN1843105284,
 £15.99

 Star rating: 4/5

Nurture groups were set up as temporary separated transitional settings “which enabled students to cope more effectively with the demands of main stream schooling”, writes Lyn Reeve. This book successfully describes to the professional and non-professional alike the benefits and rationale of these groups in the UK.

The gentle pace of the book does not detract from its clear message: there is no blame no fault only unhappy children and desperate parents and teachers.

Each chapter is clearly defined and the main points summarised, making its content accessible. Indeed, one of the book’s greatest strengths is the importance placed on the role of the carer and professional working together and not in isolation.

The inclusion of “at home” in the title was pertinent. But the authors do not try to analyse why these children behave as they do, instead seeking for solutions in a non-patronising way. As such, the book provides essential information and advice for teaching professionals who run nurture groups and for carers running them at home.

Having worked alongside a successful and established nurture group in a large school in the past, I can see with hindsight how this book would have benefited myself and the parents I was working with. I would have no hesitations in recommending it to any adult involved with nurture groups or interested in the underpinning principles of how a child learns.

Lyn Reeve is a primary school teacher in Derbyshire