Nurture classes

[Mypoorweeboy]

Received a call from school today about my wee boy and how they want to recommend something called nurture classes.
I've not had time to process info and I've googled which just makes me so worried.
I have queried his social skills with school before and his private nursery before that. But was told he was just quiet and sensitive. He's in P2.
I'll be calling the school tomorrow so I'm looking for any info you might have, intelligent questions to ask etc.
I am out atm so won't be back to this till later so thanks in advance x

In my limited experience, nurture classes are designed exactly to help with social skills, so try to see it as a positive thing that the school have picked up on your concerns too. I'd be inclined to try to find out:

• what issues they've identified that suggest he would benefit from this
• what kind of activities/ discussions will take place
• how you can support this activity at home.

Hope it's a fruitful discussion for you, I know it's horrible when you feel that your child has been 'marked out' in some way but hopefully this will be a really positive and useful experience for him.

I would ask;

• How much of his week will be spent in the nurture group
• What subjects will he do there (it should still be learning focussed even if it is through play)
• What his individual targets will be
• How long the intervention will be
• The qualifications of the staff who run the group (they are supposed to be Teacher led but in reality rarely are- personally I wouldn't want my DC in a nurture group run by TAs for more than 50% of their week)
• How successful the intervention has been for other DC
• Where is the nurture group/ what facilities do they have for it

Nurture groups can be amazing things but you need to check your school do it 'properly' rather than just running a part time playgroup for DC struggling in class.

Thanks for your positive words and for articulating some of my muddled thoughts.
I'm so proud of him. He is really bright (I know I'm biased ) and is a generally happy boy. He has struggled socially but, since starting school, he has come on leaps and bounds. He has friends he's had since he was a baby and a little sister. He plays with lots of the kids in his class (he says) but hasn't one best friend. I actually think that's healthier but maybe I'm wrong.
He's one of the best readers in his class (or so he says) he has had lots of positive comments regarding his writing and he seems good at maths. On the other hand his memory is bad (he struggles to remember what he's done at school for eg) though this might be selective. He's a bad loser, though getting better with practice. He can have extreme reactions to pain esp if there is blood involved and I have posted before (have nc for this) regarding his taking 2 hours to calm down after grazing his leg (no blood)