Staff
Who we are
The Nurture Group Network has three offices in the UK, and is staffed by a small but incredibly enthusiastic and hardworking bunch!
Glasgow
Our Glasgow office takes a lead on our evaluations and Quality Mark Award, and is staffed by Irene Grant, our National Director. To get in touch, call 0141 280 0524 or email irene@nurturegroups.org
Irene Grant
Irene joined NGN as Assistant Director – Scotland in October 2008, after over eleven years as Senior Officer SEN/ASL within Glasgow City Council. She became National Director in March 2011.
One of her proudest achievements was establishing a nurture group pilot within the City in 2001 which rapidly expanded to 58 fully funded groups before she left, with further expansion to 69 in 2010. This was mainly due to the positive response from staff and parents who maintained that it was the best initiative ever to reach Glasgow’s schools. Knowing the importance of an evidential base, Irene was also involved in the largest evaluation study across the UK with evidence provided across the board of statistically significant improvements in nurture group children compared with 16 matched control groups. The improvements also included baseline literacy gains which were better than those of the children who remained full time within their own classes.
Irene has also had teaching experience in all sectors of education including pre-5, primary, secondary and FE including a number of years within an SEBD secondary setting. She has postgraduate certificates in SEN and Dyslexia, with vast experience at authority level of almost every form of additional support needs including LAC, accessibility issues and strategy development.
Irene is based in Scotland in an office in Paisley and is totally committed to nurture. Although her primary focus is Scotland, she is also involved in a number of policy and practice developments on a national level including the QMA.
Wigan
Our Wigan office deal with all enquiries related to training courses and publications, and is staffed by Judith Bitcon (Office Manager) and Lynne Griffiths (Administrative Assistant). Having been with the Network for some years, what Judith and Lynne don't know about our publications and training courses isn't worth knowing, so if you're interested in ordering a publication or booking a place on a training course, please contact the Wigan office on 01942 303 201 or orders@nurturegroups.org
National Training Officers
Our National Training Officer works across the whole of the UK in a range of settings, providing training and support to practitioners of nurture. To discuss bespoke training courses, find out more information about existing courses, or to discuss anything related to training, you can contact Helen on helen@nurturegroups.org.
Helen Stollery
Helen joined the Nurture Group Network as a National Training Officer in September 2007. She comes from a teaching background, working as a mainstream teacher for some time. Whilst teaching, she set up and ran a nurture group within an infant school. Before becoming a teacher, she spent 3 years volunteering in Bermuda for Bermuda Overcoming Learning Difficulties (BOLD), where she supported children with social and emotional behavioural difficulties as well as working closely with parents and teachers.
Since joining the Network, Helen has delivered and developed a range of courses. She takes the lead on the 4 day accredited training courses, the Boxall Profile for Young People courses, as well as a range of bespoke training courses on everything from general awareness raising to getting the most out of playtime. Helen also delivers our Training the Trainers course, as well as assessing applications for the Quality Mark Award.
Helen cares passionately about the social and emotional wellbeing of children, and believes wholeheartedly that nurture has the power to turn lives around.