Inclusive and nurturing schools

The Inclusive and Nurturing Schools (INS) programme aims to reduce school suspensions and exclusions through systems change. It supports schools to reflect on and critically assess their culture, practices and policies. The programme also provides tools and training for teachers to support vulnerable pupils in a targeted trauma-informed way, as well as upskilling professionals working in and with the schools.

It has two separate, but interconnected strands: 

• Inclusive and Nurturing Schools strand aims to reduce school exclusions by supporting schools to adopt a whole-school approach to nurture. The nurturing approach to education aims to equip children and young people (CYP) with the social and emotional skills to do well at school and with peers. This is to develop their resilience and self-confidence by replicating early nurturing experiences. In this way, CYP’s needs may be better identified and supported, their mental health and emotional well-being improved and the need for exclusion reduced. This strand is delivered by Nurtureuk.
• The Healthy Relationships strand aims to empower the whole school community to address sexual harassment and gender-based violence through education, training and guidance. This strand, titled Re:set, involves working creatively with schools to deliver a whole-school approach to embedding promotion of healthy relationships. This strand is delivered by Tender Education and Arts.

The Anna Freud Centre have been commissioned to conduct a mixed-methods, realist, process and impact evaluation.

The theory-based approach involves using different methods to collect data. These are analysed individually and interpreted together to assess a pre-specified hypothesis about why, how and for whom the INS programme is effective.

An interim evaluation report is scheduled for March 2025, with a final report due to be delivered March 2026.