Developing a WholeSchool Nurturing Approach in Clydebank High

Developing a Whole-School Nurturing Approach in Clydebank High School Alison Fotheringham Educational Psychologist West Dunbartonshire Psychological Service

West Dunbartonshire • Population approximating 90, 000 • Very small area geographically 2/32 • 2 nd most deprived Council in terms of ‘income deprived’ population • 3 rd most deprived Council in terms of ‘employment deprived’ population • 26% of children grow up in poverty • At age 16, there is a 16% poverty gap in attainment levels between the poorest pupils and their classmates.

Clydebank High School • Large secondary school: around 1280 pupils • 60% of pupils living in SIMD 1 -3 • Historically high numbers of pupils struggle with the transition from Primary- Clydebank High School • A nurture group has been established in the school since 2016 • School recognised need for whole-school approach to nurture

Family Support Hub • Part of WDC Scottish Attainment Challenge Project • Included range of interventions: o o o Family Opportunities Team Youth Engagement Office Increase time from school counsellor Additional staffing 0. 4 DHT Adult learning programme Additional EPS time: • Developing mindfulness across the school • Developing nurture group • Developing whole-school nurturing approach

Key Expected Outcomes • Improved school ethos with nurture used as a shared framework for understanding social and emotional needs • Evidence of the implementation of the nurture principles in the classroom e. g. awareness of body language, modelling of positive relationships • More young people included in mainstream school throughout their secondary education

Nurture Principles Training o 7 module training programme: Introduction to nurture and attachment followed by 6 nurture principles: o Session delivered every week from September 2017 with around 10 members of staff released to attend o Flexible model of delivery

Nurture Principles Training • Session 2017 -18 o 36 training sessions delivered o 63 members of staff attended at least one session o 28 members of staff completed the training • Session 2018 -19 o o 31 training sessions delivered 60 members of staff attended at least one session 42 members of staff completed the training 2 re-connector sessions

How did we measure impact? • Staff were asked to complete the ‘Teacher and Early Years Practitioner Staff Questionnaire’ (Education Scotland) pre and post training • Interviews with ‘targeted’ young people • Interview with Clydebank High DHT • Evaluations after each sessions on satisfaction/ content of training • Analysing school data (attendance figures, exclusion figures etc. )

What did we find? • Statistically significant differences pre and post training on reported staff understanding of nurture principles and implementation of nurturing practice. • Gains made equally across all nurture principles Nurture Principles Scores 20, 0 14, 9 16, 0 Score /20 13, 0 12, 0 11, 5 16, 6 15, 8 12, 6 13, 8 16, 1 13, 4 15, 8 12, 8 Pre Post 8, 0 4, 0 0, 0 NP 1 NP 2 NP 3 NP 4 NP 5 NP 6

What did we find? • Post-training, staff more frequently mentioned: o Thinking about learning developmentally o Treating children as individuals o Greeting children by their name o Taking a ‘firm but fair’ approach • DHT reported change in school ethos and staff more able to manage low-level behaviour issues

Quotes from staff ‘How to deal with challenging behaviour has been useful to know for future situations’ ‘[The training] reinforces ways to work better with young people who are more vulnerable and require support; which is a lot of my working day’ ‘I have become more aware of my non-verbal communication’ I have found that my relationships with the pupils I teach has improved as I am more aware of the challenges/ barriers they may be facing. ’ ‘I now have a greater understanding of pupils’ lives outside the classroom’

Next Steps • Support staff in Clydebank High to continue delivering nurture principles training • Re-connector sessions for staff who have finished the training • Set up nurture steering group • Nurture principles to be built into SMT observations • Repetition of focus groups with young people over time • Explore attainment data with school