Making Special Education Inclusive by Farrell Peter;Ainscow Mel;

Author:Farrell, Peter;Ainscow, Mel;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: David Fulton Publishers

The most central issue that is relevant to the impact of nurture groups concerns the extent to which all staff are involved, in particular the links that exist between the staff and students who work in the nurture group and the rest of the school. Case studies show how setting up and maintaining a nurture group can involve the development of whole-school policy and practice to the benefit of a large number of staff and children, although this is far more difficult where more than one school sends children to the group.

If the nurture group is not properly connected into the school, it potentially faces an unintended consequence of any isolated social group: labelling of the members of that group by those outside it. The concern has been expressed that children in nurture groups could be seen by their peers and by staff in the mainstream class as naughty children, such that the group acts as a ‘sin bin’ for the school.

Where whole-school development is possible, case studies demonstrate that it can extend to areas of curriculum planning, staff learning new approaches to behaviour management and positive discipline, and the development of a more positive attitude towards families under stress and the children. Important, practical and sometimes sensitive issues may come to the fore through such whole-school dialogue. Through observations of nurture group practice, the issue of physical contact with children (occasional hugs etc.) has been raised in one of these schools and discussed among the whole staff for the first time, aware as they are both of children’s need for such reassurance and affection, and of the extreme caution needed to avoid any possibility of sexual abuse.

Is there an ideal composition for a nurture group, in relation to inclusion? Three interrelated factors are relevant here: the size of the group, the age of the children and the mixture of emotional and behavioural difficulties they present. The small group in case study III could not be larger, given the level of disturbance that these particular children bring to the group; but it is at least uncertain that they can be resettled into full-time mainstream provision, which is the test of an effective nurture group. The first two case studies give some indication of a manageable range of size for children, the majority of whom are expected to resettle into their classes.

In respect of age, if the Boxall model of two to four terms is adhered to, children should have ideally entered the nurture group in Year 1, even if this implies that children have not reached Stage 3 (School Action Plus) of the SEN Code of Practice. Younger children appear to benefit most from the nurture group; moreover, they will thereby leave the group before Year 3, avoiding further complications with transition arrangements into the Key Stage 2 curriculum and wider social group.

Another issue raised through the comparison of groups is an opportunity cost of the nurture group: what do children lose out on through long periods of full-time separation

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.