We are delighted to announce that Stepgates Community School has been successful in its application to become a Locality Nurture Hub (LNH).

LNH are small nurturing environments in schools working to support a small number of pupils with significant and emerging social, emotional and mental health needs. 

‘The Den’ Nurture Hub is a school intervention run by two members of staff.  The aim is to replace missing early experiences by developing positive pupil relationships with both teachers and peers in a supportive environment.  Effective nurture hub practice follows the six principles of nurture.  Our assessment tool, the Boxall Profile, determines which pupils would require to be in the Nurture Hub based on their social, emotional and mental health needs.

Research has shown that a nurturing approach to education works for all pupils, helping every child to learn.  This practice will help children develop their social and emotional skills and has been shown to improve behaviour, attendance and attainment, and reduce exclusions.

Wellbeing is a huge priority at Stepgates Community School as we feel children need to be calm, focused and regulated, in order to learn and achieve their full potential. As a result, we took part and continue to take part in the Compassionate Schools Programme. All staff have been trained in Attachment and Trauma, and how to support our children who have needs in this area, with all children using Zones of Regulation. We continue to work towards the Nurturing Schools Award through the National Nurturing Schools Programme.  We are delighted to offer a short-term intervention for pupils with social, emotional or behavioural difficulties which make it harder for them to learn in a mainstream classroom.