What does it mean to ‘nurture’ a child at school?

Nurture, Ignite, Achieve! This is our ethos for learning here at Wandsworth Prep and why myself and so many of our dedicated teachers chose to work here. Meet the teaching staff and you will feel the ethos of the school. Each teacher is unique and wonderfully diverse in many ways yet we all share one goal: we recognise that children require certain nurturing conditions in which to blossom and grow.

I have always been fascinated by education and its different approaches to success; some philosophies believe that carrots should be dangled over children’s heads so that they strive single mindedly towards a given goal, with little thought for themselves or those around them as long as they get there first. Like the tallest sunflower, they may win the battle to be closest to the sun, yet can they cope with the heat once they get there and how strong are their roots? Often, those are the ones blown over by the first gust of life’s challenging winds. By nurturing children’s characters - we give them the positive learning behaviours for life.

Our Wandsworth Prep values are constantly referred to as children move through our school: Be Fearless, Be Independent, Be Kind, Be Positive, Be Inspiring, Be Collaborative and Be Resilient. That is quite a list! In fact many adults would be lucky to be endowed with so many of those characteristics. By nurturing characteristics, we openly address children’s strengths and acknowledge those areas that need development. We invite children to be specific about their own learning behaviours and to recognise them in others. I for myself, shall be working on mine this term and learning from the pupils and teachers around me; I know I will find them inspiring!