Treetop Nurture Room

We pride ourselves at Longwood for being aware of the needs of our learners and responding when and where necessary.  We have noticed a decline in the mental health of our pupils so needed to focus upon how we could best support them and thier families.  

Good communication and trust with parents and carers is the key to our success. The many factors that may affect our pupil's wellbeing in the family home are often reported to us by parents who value our support. Relationship break-ups and the external pressures of social media are supported through raising awareness, parental workshops, discussions and coaching strategies.  The Longwood Team felt that more specific emotional support could be enhanced even further.  

The Longwood Team initially utilised time to rigorously identify the pupils who had low self-esteem, emotional distress, anger issues, and pupils who were struggling to form friendships.  These pupils needed additional support and a safe environment in which to focus upon their specific personal issues. 

Our Treetop Nurture room is a space designed to ensure pupils feel safe and secure and therefore able to develop their individual needs further. The Treetop nurture room has a cosy seating area under a canopy of foliage, a table area to work or share games and a creative zone for sensory exploration. It is zoned to ensure pupils can learn and explore in a calm environment. 

Our small nurture sessions normally consist of four to six pupils however we also timetable individual 1:1sessions for those pupils who need this. The nurture groups are part of the school’s Inclusion and PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) provision. Its core purpose is to offer our pupils the opportunities to re-visit early learning skills that will promote and support their social and emotional development.

The Longwood team believe that children’s learning is most effective when they have a sense of emotional well-being, good self-esteem and a feeling of belonging to their school community. Our Treetops nurture room provides our pupils with the opportunity to develop their maturity and resilience.  

 All the staff have noted an increased love of school, confidence, attainment and self-esteem from the pupils that have used the nurture room. Pupils demonstrate a renewed love of learning and excitement to work. They want to learn!  As a school the Longwood Team have been overwhelmed by the success of our nurture room. It provides a calm purposeful learning space for all the pupils who really need it. We are so excited to be instrumental in its further development. We know that the nurture room will continue to have a positive impact upon all the pupils who use it.