History and Background
Nurturing in the UK has a rich and intricate history, dating back to the very first nurture group, set up in the London Borough of Hackney in 1970.
The Nurture Group Network grew as the need for an umbrella body to oversee, train, and support nurture practitioners became apparent in the aftermath of the abolition of the Inner London Education Authority in 1990.
The Network continues to grow from strength to strength, empowering individuals working with the nation's most marginalised and vulnerable children and young people to continue doing the amazing and transformative work they do at grass-roots level.
Our Life President, Marion Bennathan OBE, explains below quite how the Network came into existence, the background to nurture, and her pivotal role in driving the nurture agenda forward.
1 - Nurture groups: the beginning
4- Nurture groups under threat
5 - The Nurture Group Network - the foundations
6 - Developing the Nurture Group Network
Nurture Groups - the beginning
Nurture groups began in Hackney in 1970. Marjorie Boxall stood above the divide of behaviourism versus psychodynamics. She connected with small children brilliantly, and inspired many teachers and assistants to provide what they needed to progress. The Inner London Education Authority gave funding but, solidly behaviourist, gave no official support. Marjorie was indomitable. By the mid-1980s 50 groups were in existence, spread almost by work of mouth. With inclusion coming, a powerful group of head teachers issued a clear statement to ILEA that if inclusion was to work for children with EBD, nurture groups were essential.
Flourishing in Avon
In the meantime I was learning fast in a wonderful atmosphere in Bristol. EPs worked closely with psychiatrists, social workers had good links with other children’s agencies. We kept the ethos when Bristol became half of the County of Avon in 1974. Child guidance was widely regarded as a poor use of resources, getting to only a very small number of pupils with problems, in school and elsewhere. We changed all that and built what was regarded nationally as an efficient service, with no one profession being in charge, instead having a Central Committee which eventually I chaired. But our structure was too difficult for the various employers to cope with and with a change in SSD senior management we were to be made to split into our different professional groups.
I also ran a Further Professional Studies Course at the University, starting in traditional style, reading lists, lectures. Tough on teachers who have worked all day. Not unusual for someone to fall asleep. I gradually realised that teachers know a lot more then they think they know, it was a question of giving them confidence to look at their work with fresh eyes. Spending a day in a special school, many came back slightly shocked: ‘they’re not doing anything I couldn’t do’. Marjorie came to lecture and held the class spellbound for the whole session. Throughout this time I kept in touch with nurture groups but my efforts to get funding in Avon were scuppered by the advisory service. I was convinced of the value of real co-operation between professionals if there is trust and good communication but I was also tired of fighting. My sister inconsiderately died suddenly at the age of 65. I though if that was my fate I would retire at 60 and go to London.
Developing Young Minds
Already active in the Child Guidance Trust, by then near moribund, with Fred Stone, Professor of Child Psychiatry in Glasgow, I took the lead in updating it to Young Minds, with the aim of making everybody working with children aware of the growing knowledge of neuroscience, the importance of early relationship and effective intervention. I was honorary Director for 2 years until we were funded and I stepped down
Nurture Groups Under Threat
By 1990 ILEA had been abolished. Marjorie retired, her brilliant pamphlet The Nurture Group in the Primary School (1976) was out of print, nurture groups were in serious danger. The Council of the Association of Workers with Maladjusted Children knew about nurture groups (AWMC) shared their central concepts and decided a book was needed. Effective Intervention in Primary Schools: Nurture Groups (Bennathan and Boxall 1996) incorporated the pamphlet, drawing heavily on material from Enfield where nurture groups and their procedures were well established. We toured the UK talking to many audiences expecting to have to argue our case but no: there was immediate understanding. ‘We know that children bring to school what has happened to them from the start. Go and tell the government to make this knowledge part of educational policy.’ In 1997, four of us from AWMC got to the DfEE, two heads of special schools, Paul Cooper from Cambridge University, and me, so in the policy papers on inclusive education, nurture groups were consistently recommended, as is recorded in the introduction to the 2000 edition of Bennathan & Boxall .Training was much in demand and in 1998 extremely popular accredited Courses were set up in the Universities of Cambridge, Leicester and London, prepared and largely delivered by a training group from what became the Nurture Group Network. Due to a lack structure about who made decisions, the Universities kept the profits, much needed for the development of what became the Nurture Group Network. The Boxall Profile, until then a booklet run off as needed for training, was turned into a Handbook, rapidly a best seller, and a source of income.
The Nurture Group Network - the foundations
We needed an organization . A group of people from the AWMC, still providing a base but giving us great freedom, and from ILEA and Enfield began to meet regularly. A clearer structure was needed and in 2001 Eva Holmes led on training, Paul Cooper led on research, creating the Cambridge Research Project with DfE blessing, Mark Turner led on publicity, promotion, communication and fund raising. I became Director with a part-time secretary and my study the official NGN address ‘Council’ meetings open to all interested were held and plans for development were discussed. We set up a database and planned funding. Mark establised and ran a website. A memorable meeting took place in London on September 14 2001, its opening coinciding exactly with the 3 minutes’ silence in memory of those killed in the terrorist attacks. We all felt the world had suddenly got much more dangerous and what we could best do was to help all our children to grow up strong and kind. The atmosphere was astonishing, a ‘passion’ for nurture groups
appeared and has not gone away. We defined our vision, that nurture groups and nurturing should be available to all children who needed them. Plans for growth depended on adequate funds. Mark and I prepared a detailed application to the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation. They were sympathetic and provided the money for a professional fund raiser who sorted out our structure, set up a business plan to ensure a result from the National Lottery. They said an excellent project and an excellent application but the government should be funding us. So we had to look to our own resources. Conferences, lectures, the Gulbenkian Foundation helped and we had begun our own training courses. Staffing expenses were low. Nurture groups continued to spread, evaluations consistently showed great results. Inspection reports were uniformly good. Publications grew and brought us an income.
Developing the Nurture Group Network
In 2004 we appointed Jim Rose, who had run secure units, advised the Home Office on young prisoners. In spite of protesting that he had never taught, never worked with young children he was quickly at home, lecturing, training. Martin Haskayne was appointed Training Manager in 2005 joined later by Helen Stollery; training and income grew rapidly. We firmed up our governance with elected members of a Management Board which Marian Evans chairs with astonishing energy and astuteness. Irene Grant became Deputy Director (Scotland) in 2008 and Scotland flourishes. We started 2009 with a splendid event in the House of Lords, funded by a generous donor. Angela Sarkis CBE became CEO and the rest is recorded in Newsletters 12, 13 and 14.
Future aspirations
So what do I wish for the NGN? The passion for nurturing work will continue, of that I have no doubt. We have got it right and when people can be got to see a nurture group in action they agree. So I wish that those in power had the grace to listen, that we are funded to be able to keep growing. Apologies to the many, many people I have left unnamed. To describe their work I would need to write a book. We started something big in 1996 and long may it flourish.