TEACHING unions have raised concerns changes to nurture provision are being introduced too quickly, without being thought through, and will result in a much worse situation.
Last week, the Department of Education and Children announced that 11 teachers’ jobs were under threat under moves to reorganise ‘nurture provision’.
From September, schools with stand-alone teacher-led nurture groups will be replaced by a ‘whole school’ approach, using only education support staff as additional support.
Related article: {http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/education/eleven-jobs-at-risk-in-dept-of-education-1-5500902|Eleven jobs at risk in Dept of Education}
Nurture care offers short-term extra support for small numbers of pupils, usually for just part of a school week, to address social and emotional needs including self-esteem, anxiety, confidence, and communication skills.
A joint statement by the National Union of Teachers, Association of Teachers and Lecturers, and National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, called for MHKs and MLCs to debate the move ‘as a matter of urgency’ and seek to reverse the decision by making extra funds available.
Karl Flint of the NUT said: ‘We have been reassured time and time again that front line services will not be affected and yet here again we have teachers, working directly with students, who potentially face redundancy.
‘The department has failed to produce any evidence in support of changing the pattern of delivery or any business plan to justify this move economically.’
Andrew Shipley of the ATL said, ‘We have highly-trained and skilled individuals in nurture teachers who have sought to do their best for the pupils they work with.
‘This will be lost to schools and the risk is that we are storing up problems for the future as issues which individual pupils may have are not being addressed and difficult situations in classrooms will be made worse.’
Norman Davies of the NASUWT said: ‘This is a downgrading of the support that we give to pupils and their families at both primary and secondary level in those schools with teacher-led nurture groups.
‘Only a few years ago we were celebrating the success of schools in achieving gold standards for nurture practice. Many of the nurture groups have achieved accredited Boxall Quality Mark status, in recognition of the high standards and effectiveness of practice.
‘Now we are saying that this is something, which we no longer want.’
A number of schools have already moved over to the new approach.
In the joint statement, it said the DEC’s Children’s Service was being stretched to fund staffing of a new provision for older children with complex needs at the Isle of Man College, and also to provide for new children coming to the island with high and complex levels of need, yet with no funding being made available for these projects.
It said that insufficient nurture provision would have a ‘knock on effect for all children in mainstream classes, and cause greatly increased class teacher workloads’.
The department started consultation with affected staff on Thursday, and will ‘explore redeployment into other suitable vacant posts within education’.
A number of schools already operate through the new approach. There are currently three DEC secondary schools and six primary schools with formal, teacher-led nurture groups.
In a DEC press statement it said that ‘evolving change in practice’ was a key driver behind the move, but that the department’s Services for Children was also trying to meet increasing demands for services for children with complex special needs so resources need to be re-targeted.
It said the ‘vast majority’ of the division’s £8.1m budget was spent on specialist staffing in schools.
Services for Children provides additional support for all pupils with a wide range of physical, emotional and other special needs, on a demand-led basis, which changes all the time.
Services for Children director Sally Brookes has insisted that pupils requiring more nurturing in order to succeed at school would receive the extra assistance they needed following the change.
‘We have been piloting different approaches to how we deliver nurture support and have found a model that uses education support staff is very effective.
‘Children needing extra nurturing still have their learning planned by their class teacher and the support comes from staff who are skilled in providing that support.
‘This change allows us to maintain this quality provision while diverting resources to other areas of Services for Children’s provision.’
Schools affected are: Auldyn/Scoill Ree Gorree, Manor Park, Scoill yn Jubilee, Ballacloan, Peel Clothworkers’, Victoria Road, Ramsey Grammar, Castle Rushen and Ballakermeen.