A classroom that feels like home from home

There is also an adjoining kitchen, a play area and dressing up costumes.

The atmosphere is rather homely which, as teacher Emily Collins explains, is precisely the point.

The Rainforest Room belongs to the nurture group at Dines Green Community Primary School – a class that runs in the afternoons for youngsters who do not thrive in a mainstream classroom.

The idea dates back to the 1960s when educational psychologist Majorie Boxall came up with the strategy for creating a bridge between home and education for vulnerable or disadvantaged children.

The key focus in nurture groups is to teach children social and emotional skills within a safe, calm and predictable environment.

The group’s ethos is ‘Children may forget what you said, children may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel’.

There can be no more than 12 pupils and they are encouraged to socialise over a meal with the adults who essentially model positive behaviour.

Usually nurture groups have breakfast together but in this class it’s afternoon tea when the children are asked to sit down, share food and talk to each other.

Prompting communication and language development is a crucial part of the sessions and the group may play board games to learn how to take turns and cooperate.

The group, made up of children aged four to seven, also does gardening, grows vegetables and takes trips, such as to the supermarket or to the garden centre.

The children are encouraged to dress up and express ideas and feelings through role play.

Most importantly, every child in the group is treated individually, according to their particular intellectual level and developmental stage.

Mrs Collins, who has taught for 11 years but has only been a nurture teacher for the past year, said: “I was always incredibly frustrated about having to teach to agerelated epectations when we are told kids learn at their own pace.

They can do that here.

“We are not trying to force these kids like round pegs into square holes.

“It’s okay if they come here and roll on the floor and suck their thumbs.”

So why do some schoolchildren need this type of nurturing care?

Mrs Collins said: “There could be a whole host of reasons why children struggle with these skills.

“It could be family break-ups, in some cases abuse, or a traumatic event.”

Others may just find school and larger classrooms to be a stressful environment. According to Mrs Collins, some of the children can be aggressive or completely withdrawn.

She describes one boy as “needing to control every situation” and said he would often throw violent tantrums.

The nurture group has a thinking chair which the team – Mrs Collins and teaching assistant Maz Button – encourage children to sit on and reflect.

However, she said consistency was the key to tackling difficult behaviour.

She said: “We didn’t give him the attention he wanted.

“We left him to have a tantrum.

“If they can get themselves to the thinking chair they can go there.

“Otherwise we leave them to what they are doing.

“Whatever they are doing, if they are kicking off or biting or scratching, they are trying to tell you something.

“They are not doing it because they want to be bad.

“They aren’t bad. They are frustrated because they can’t express how they feel verbally.

“It’s often what you would find in a toddler or little baby because they are still at that stage.”

However, she said they do not turn a blind eye to bad behaviour.

She said: “It’s everything you would do normally with your own children.

“If you would tell your own children off then you tell them off.”

She said the boy in question is now a transformed character.

As well as tantrums, the group struggles with youngsters who do not communicate well.

Mrs Collins said initially the children would not talk to each other or to the adults.

The challenges make it all the more rewarding when the children begin to come out of their shells.

Mrs Collins said: “Often they can’t control their behaviour and emotions and then they are able to do so.

“They are ever so pleased because they are able to go off and have friends, where before maybe their behaviour prevents them from having friends.”

There are also benefits for the whole school because if the children are helped to feel secure early on, they are less likely to need a dedicated additional member of staff later on in school.

She also believes the support offered by the nurture group helps prevent exclusions.

She said the school had an excellent relationship with the children’s parents who are also invited to come into the class and offered non-judgemental support and friendship.

The purpose, though, is always to get the children back into mainstream education.

Mrs Collins said: “They are lost in big classrooms so it’s a bit of a break for them.

“They stay for four terms but the purpose is always just to get them to be able to cope in their own classroom.”