AQW 3772/22-27

Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 29/09/2022
Answered On Date: 14/10/2022
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Education how the locations of the 16 new Nurture Groups that have been taken forward as part of Fair Start were decided.

Answer:

The locations of the 16 new Nurture Groups were selected using the following criteria:

The school has:

a high number of pupils with social services involvement (Children Looked After (CLA), child on the Child Protection Register (CPR) or child known to social services); and

a high number of pupils living in areas of deprivation (as measured by the Extended Schools eligibility criteria);

There are no school sustainability issues;

The latest P1 and P2 enrolment number is at least 20 for each year group;

The school’s Board of Governors and Senior Management Team are supportive of nurturing principles and whole school nurture practice.

For those schools which were not included in the recent announcement who remain committed to nurturing principles they can engage in the Nurture in Education Programme, which is delivered by the Education Authority. This programme is available to all primary, special, post-primary schools and Education Otherwise Than At School (EOTAS) settings to allow staff to avail of training and support in nurture approaches.