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The Mulberry Bush Nurturing Schools Project: The impact of embedding whole school nurturing practices including a nurture group on children’s progress and wellbeing and staff wellbeing.
The Mulberry Bush Organisation and Nurture UK have supported primary schools in Oxfordshire to embed nurturing practices at a whole school level, as well as through a targeted Key Stage One nurture group.
About the project
Five primary schools were supported between March 2021 and July 2023, and the project was extended to a further four schools between April 2023 and July 2025.
Schools received training in nurture, attachment aware practice, trauma and brain development, and emotion coaching, and were supported through consultation and supervision.
Research questions
Data collected throughout the project addresses the impact of introducing a whole school nurturing approach on:
- the wellbeing and progress of a cohort of mainstream children in Key Stage 2
- the wellbeing and progress of children attending the nurture group in Key Stage 1
- the wellbeing of mainstream staff and nurture group staff
- the views of parents and carers
- whole school data: progress and attainment, incidents, and exclusions