The Nurture Room (Child Psychology Documentary) | Real Stories

Where's Jamie? Where's Jamie gone? Is he hiding? Right, look at me. Now, Reece thought you were looking for someone to play 'Passes' with. And he would like to play 'Passes' with you. Jamie: No! Well, if you don't want to play with Reece, maybe Reece can have the ball to himself? No, wait here. No, wait here. Now, I think football is better when there's two people. (to Reece) I don't think you should be laughing. Jamie: I don't want to play with Reece! Well, Reece would like to play with you. An

d we've only got a little bit of our playtime left. I'll tell you what we'll do. Why don't the three of us play? Jamie: No. And I'll pass it to you, you pass it to Jamie, and Jamie can pass it to me? And we can have a game of triangle? Instead of just football. Would you like to teach Mrs. Gobraith how to kick the ball? Jamie: No! Why not? Jamie: No, no, no, no, no! Now, why don't we go play Passes with the ball to the buildings? Jamie: [shouting 'no!'] And you can tell me what colours of footba

lls we need for our room. Would you like to try that? Jamie: No! Are we going to play with Reece? Jamie: No! I don't want to play with Reece! [school bell rings] No, play time's finished. Jamie: No. Yes. It's time to go into class. Let's go. Upsy-daisy. He's... stubborn. And he refuses to do as he's told. And he crawls about the floor. And now, developmentally, he's gone a way back. And he's behaving like a toddler. Now, the way Jamie is behaving is not the right way. You're all behaving the rig

ht way. And Angela, Mrs. Gobraith needs you to help. You have to show Jamie the right way to behave. The biggest problem for him, and for his teacher, is he refuses to take part. Most recently, he's started leaving the classroom. [classroom chatter] Oh dear, oh dear. No, no, no. No, you're not running away Jamie, because it's not safe to run away. You're staying here 'til I find out what Jordan's going to do. And then we'll find a place that you can go where you'll be safe. And you can take some

colouring with you And some of your nice crayons, ok? Shall we go and look at the pictures and see? C'mon, we'll go pick one, so you can colour. And we'll get the good crayons from our room, will we? C'mon, lets go. Up-a-daisy. One- help me up, help me up, I'm stuck, I'm very old. You'll need to help me up, I'm stuck! Help me up! Help me up! Right. This way to the room. Lets go look at the pictures. Lets go look at the pictures. Stand up. Stand up for me. Well, we'll just have to sit here and e

verybody who comes past will say 'Why is Jamie laying on the floor? Has he fallen over?' 'Can he not get up?' And I'll have to say 'you'll need to step over him.' 'Cus he's like a big lump laying in the middle of the corridor.' What are you going to do if somebody goes like this: BOOP! 'oh, sorry, I thought it was a rug.' What will you do then? No, we're not running away. This is what we can do: We can go and get pictures from the colouring books 'cus you did a very good picture this morning. It

was beautiful. We can go and do that. Right, lets go then. Give me your hand, and we'll go and have a look in my special colouring book Give me your hand, I'll pull you up. ONE! TWO! Let's go. I was mucking about, and... Just, Carrying on and talking during Maths and Language, and all that stuff. I was falling behind, and getting into trouble I threw chairs a bit, and break stuff, and stuff like that. Try to hit the teachers, throw stuff shout at the teachers, push the teachers. I used to go ab

out punching walls and doors. Yeah, I had a quite bad temper. Bad. Jason, what we're going to do now, is what we do first thing in the morning, is we're going over to the gym and we do something called 'Basic Moves.' It's going to be a class there, and some other boys and girls, and we can see how you get on with it You're not going to be shy, are you? Jason's just joined us from another school It's his first day today He was very anxious, very apprehensive about coming Its the other children th

at you've met, they were asking for you yesterday. They were saying, 'where's Jason? Where's Jason?' So they want to see you. So, do you want to go over and see them? And then if you're too shy, you- Are you listening? If you're too shy, you can come back, ok? Mum will go first. Could you get Jake and- We'll be first in. We'll be first in. How about I close my eyes? Tell me when all the lights are on. They're all on, but it takes a wee minute to heat up, look at that. And then it gets brighter a

nd brighter and brighter and brighter and brighter and its all lit up. Oh wow! You're good at gym! Oh- here we are. Jason had been in several other schools before he arrived in Wellshot, and had a bit of a chaotic time with his education. His behaviour in some of the schools was... pretty wild, to say the least. They found him difficult to manage He wasn't able to socialise with the rest of his classmates, wasn't able to go out to the playground. And even in the classroom, he had to be excluded.

So he has not been used to interacting with other children So we thought the nurture class would be an environment for him Where there's only a small number of children, and he gets a chance to interact in a more positive way. Jason! Stop at the door. Andrew? Can you come and show Jason how we stop at the door please? Right, you're going to be coming, sitting with me today. That's for you. Five. What number comes after five? No, not seven. Till you've finished it. Have you finished that page ye

t? Where are you? What's this? Jason? Is that a question mark? Uh huh. Come on, then. Come on, then. You're usually very fast at this! Come on. What side did we say it was? Are you going to sit on your bottom? Child: No. Why, have you not got a bottom? [giggles] Have you lost your bottom? Excuse me! You are very nearly finished that page and then you can go and choose to play. Alright? I think the nurture environment might be one that Jason really responds to. Its set up slightly different from

a normal classroom Its meant to be a link between home and school for children who are not emotionally ready for the strict boundaries of school. They have this safe environment to act out some of their issues, but under control. Oh, you're nearly finished! Oh! And Dillon's nearly finished! Who's going to be finished so I can put the computer on, I wonder? Oh, is it going to be you, Dean? We'll soon find out! All in all, he was containable and fine for a first morning but I foresee quite a few p

roblems ahead. It really annoys me, 'cus all I hear is the teacher talking, talking and shouting and talking and shouting And I'm sitting there [she huffs] Go away! [singing] There was a man, who lived on the moon, who lived on the moon, who lived on the- [gasp] Fuck off! Don't fucking [muffled]. What do you want to be when you get older, Jordan? A footballer? [playground chatter] [school bell rings] Child: They get fuckin' shot. Jordan: Who just done that? You're dead, man. She's a big girl And

she's strong [laughs] And she's quite forceful So, if you're her age, she's quite intimidating, she is. Teacher: Which one are you on now? Jordan: I've done that! That's not- [inaudible] That's not that. Teacher: That's explaining how to do it. Jordan: I know. I've just done it all. I read it all. Teacher: Alright, so you know what you're doing? Jordan: I'm on this bit. [inaudible] Teacher: That's right. Jordan: Five times nine, and then the answer will be- what is it you do again? Teacher: Wha

t is five times nine? Jordan: Five nines are... Fifty-four? Teacher: One before fifty? Jordan: Oh! Fourty-four. Forty-six. 44, 43, 42, 41, 45? Teacher: Forty-five. Remember your five times table goes up in fives. Three times three is? Jordan: Three threes are nine. Nine, nine, nine.... [Hums] [sings] A sweet-hearted, sugar-coated candyman.... Jordan: [inaudible] Is it that one, a twelve? Is that one down there a twelve? She'd been diagnosed early on as having ADHD And was been given Ritalen to a

ddress this And from what we could see in school, It wasn't having any great affect on her behaviour. She was under tables, Over tables, Shouting at people, shouting at teachers. Refusing to do what she was told. Not getting on with classmates. Being aggressive. After the holiday, we started her off with a new teacher who had a very strong personality Very out going. And they seemed to get on really, really well. We didn't have any major problems. And then, unfortunately, the teacher was very ve

ry ill And had to stay off for a long period of time. Jordan: Is that one a twelve? And that was when it really 'kicked off', as we put it That's a technical term [laughs] She just, erm, didn't cope with that at all. Interviewer: What do you mean? There were a few days when she was so out of control, that We had to ask her mum to come and get her. And take her home. Then we decided, maybe we should step in. So we brought here down her into the nurture room. And I think the good thing about this

room for Jordan is She knows the rules. She knows they're firm. She knows we're not going to shout and get angry But we are going to deal with it And she's going to have to face The consequences of her actions And take some responsibility. Yes and no. Ok, up you go then. Good boy. So we've got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 children And 1, 2, 3 adults Jordan, how many altogether? Nine and three? Twelve altogether. And let me see, somebody's tired, I think, today. Let me see you, Jordan? Wee bit tired

today? Right, we'll have a wee talk later on. Four, five, six, seven, eight... So did you get into any trouble at all at maths? Did you shout out? Did you? When? [sings] We will, we will always- Did you shout out again? [shouting] Why did you do that? Because you've been great in here today, haven't you? Mm-hm What have your class got this afternoon, can you remember? She's got this- I don't know, This defense mechanism that goes up I dont know- I think it- It stems from A low self-esteem or an

insecurity, I don't know. I don't know why and I don't know where it's come from Are you tired, honey-pie? You sit there until you're ready to come, ok? And when you're ready to come, we'll find something to do. Ok? But I know that when she first meets people She's very suspicious She's not good at trusting strangers. It takes a long time to win her trust. She doesn't believe she's good at anything. Let me know when you're ready. I'll tell you what you could do, Do you fancy doing the dishes wi

th Angela? Mm-mm. Oh you lazy monkey! So you'll eat your breakfast but you won't do the dishes? [laughs] I'll come back in a minute. You have a think. I think She's very pretty Jordan doesn't. Jordan doesn't have anything good to say about herself. The way I see it is, there's a really nice girl in there. I've seen her. I've met her. But- She doesn't let many people meet that. She likes to keep it hard- she likes to keep people at a distance. And I don't know why. [shouting] Oh dear! Oh are you?

In my house! Why is he in? Cus he's been bad? No, he's had his playtime. He had an early playtime today. So he stays here and plays? Yes. Just for a wee minute. Ok? Jason is in the nurture class for the majority of the day. He displays quite aggressive behaviour. He finds it very difficult to take direction or follow any instructions. He really has no interest in learning. He doesn't seem to have much structure in his behaviour. That's our listening time. And we're going to come back and do our

language work, our phonics. Then, if we get time, we have a wee story at the end and then its lunchtime. And then your mum'll be for you. Ok? I want to do something quick. Make it killed. Make it be dead, and [unintelligable] Cus it's just fake. I don't want to hear it's fake. I don't like to hear stories about that. Sometimes when they're playing, the play is not what we'd call 'nice play.' And You just have to stand back and let them act out how they're feeling. Make sure you step in when it'

s safe Interact positively with them But not judge them, or not say 'don't do that' when they're burying dead bodies in the sand Or They're putting the stuffed toys in the oven Just stand back and let them get all that out because Who's to say what they've seen or heard before they've even come to school that morning? Hey! I've just found a dead body. You'll have to phone the police. Mickey's locked in jail, and he heard that person. 'Hey, I mean you, get me out of here! Quick and smart!' He die

d [unintelligable] No he's not, he's in the shop. Get in jail! You've been a bad boy No I'm not! And get me out of here! If I need to break this door down, I will do it. Do you want it cut, James? Lovely manners James. Remembering to say please and thank you. Do you want yours cut, honey? No? No. Lets look at our rules, please. Good looking. Jamie, can you look at the rules? Now at the top, with big Ginger, and he says: We have good table manners. Now remember, we've got our stickers to get. IF

we have our good table manners. Now I don't think it says in our good manners put cheese all over your face, does it? Do you think that's what you're supposed to- You'll have to make one of them once. No, I don't think we're going to make one that says 'put cheese all over your face.' I don't' think- Make one that says 'don't put cheese over your face' But we know not to put cheese over our face! You're the only one who did it. So don't do it anymore! I like it. Don't do it anymore. Its [unintel

ligible] No. In your mouth. Go. Maybe his tongue's not long enough to reach it all. What do you think? I think he's got quite a long tongue. Do you? James! Hey, you haven't tried that before. I have. No you didn't. We need to do our stickers. Are we ready? And we'll need to be quick. Here we go. Now Oh, here we are! They were hiding. Ok. Let's think about who had good table manners today. What about James Trotter today? He moved chair. Oh dear, so he did. Got cheese all over his face. He's not f

inished his toast. Well, not today. I don't think you've remembered your manners today, James. Now Jordan's done very well. She's been really sensible, And she noticed that Damien was stamping. And she didn't make a big fuss, she just said 'Damien', and he stopped. So that was great. Jordan, what colour would you- Orange. Jamie? Jamie, look at me. Turn round a minute, please. Some children find this room a very difficult place to cope with. Jamie, for example. And I'm sure if we were to ask Jami

e He wouldn't say the Nurture Room is the easy option I'm sure before we just got him in here, when he just sat in class And didn't interact very much and never got involved in anything That was probably easier for Jamie. Are you not going to join in with the Bunnies song? Than having to deal with these two adults who hold you accountable for what you've done, and Yea, you can throw a temper tantrum but we're still here and we're still being patient and we're still being firm and we're still bei

ng consistent, and this is what's going to happen he finds that very difficult to deal with. Now then I have stickers to give people to say thank you. Jamie can't have one? Oh, that's sad. Callum can have a sticker, and look what's happened, Callum MacGregor! Callum: Finished! Oh, well done! I am so proud that you're such a kind boy. Just you ignore him, he's trying to annoy you. So you don't let him, ok? How many do you need, Al Varis? You need seven stickers. And Jordan, I'll tell you, needs f

our. Chloe, you need eighteen. Right. We're waiting. These boys want their prize. Look, a snap game. Playing cards. The frisbee. Right, what are you going to have, Callum? Have you come to see what there is, Jamie? You have to stay there. Its only the boys who get a prize, remember. What have you picked? The bubbles! Well done. Jamie? Would you like to put the prizes back in the box for me? Put it in, please, Jamie. We're going to lunch, boys. Jamie, the chicken? Right, Jamie, you come with me.

Put it in, please. Right, let's go Jamie, we'll put it in the cupboard. Excuse me, everyone. When he first came in here, nothing was happening he was sitting very quietly and he really wasn't putting effort [in] at all But once he realised that the boundaries were very firm, he started to kick against them And he finds that aspect of the nurture room very difficult. Right, everyone look this way. Now we're going to say bye. Thank you for being my friend, Angela. Thank you for being my friend, Av

aris. Thank you for being my friend. Thank you for being my friend. Well done! Look at Jordan now, make good eye contact. Thank you for being my friend. Give me that please. No, you can't have these now. In a minute, sweetheart. Thank you for being my friend, Jordan. Well done. I'm not going to do it. Right, ok, you don't have to do it. Just leave him be. Callum, would you please go get your jacket for me? Damien, go and get your jacket please. Go and get your jacket. James, could you go please

and get your jacket? James on Jordan's knee please? Andrew, sit on Angela's knee. In fact, Andrew, would you please go and put the art corner lights off for me? You could ignore it and let that behaviour carry on but then you have problems in the upper school when the children become bigger Then what you're looking at is exclusion. Or suspension. And that, in my own personal opinion, doesn't solve the problem. You can suspend a child and put them out of school for three days or two weeks, or wha

tever and they come back The problem has not been addressed It's not been solved. So its going to happen again. I'll have the blue one, I think. Oh, see if you can untangle that. No, these two, Jamie. Very gently, because they'll break if you're too rough. Ok you- No looking! Right, put your fishing rod in! You'd better try to catch another one before they all swim away! Oh no! Oh no! Right, ok, here we go! Oh, I feel something! Oh, it got away! You try. There's only one left. Can you catch him?

Well done! So how many have you got? I'll hold your rod for you. 1..2..3..4..5..6..7 And how many have I got? 1..2..3..4..5 So who's getting more? You or me? ME! How many more have you got? Do you know? How many extra ones have you got? Two! You've got two more than me. Put them back in your line. Right, jacket and I'll get mine, and we'll see who gets it first- you or me. I'll get mine out of the cupboard. You get yours from there. Oh, meet me in the middle. Ha-ha! Who won? Who won? Me! No, wa

lk with me, please. No, walk properly. Now lets count these stairs. Are you ready? 1..2..3..4..5 Right... 6..7..8..9..10 11..12..13..14..15..16..17..18 19..20..21 stairs! Good counting! Well, its supposed to calm you down. It helps you and it gives you... more ability. Is that it? Its just different. God made the room. Somewhere where it can help and support children with anger and issues [inaudible] just be nice to eachother [inaudible] Is it different to your big class? Yea. How is it differen

t? Because the builders made it different. [classroom sounds] We shouldn't have to ignore Jordan. Jordan, you're the biggest here. You should be showing everyone else how to behave. Well you just ignore her please, Callum, because you're working very, very hard. Very hard, Callum. You're going to have to stop and I'm going to have to get you to leave the table. Smelliest. You're the smelliest. You just ignore her. Here we go, you're doing very, very well. Well that's not bad at all. Smelly bum.

Right, I want you to come with me until your work is finished, please. Come over to the other table. Lets go. Because you're putting everybody off. And you're putting yourself off. Let's go. Come on, clever girl. Up you get. Right, Jordan's not going to move, so we've solved that problem Everybody stop what you're doing and I want you to lift your work, and we'll come over here. And you're all moving so sensibly, too. You sit there. Thank you. Callum, you sit down, you've done very well. Is it m

uch better anyway, Damien? Good. I'll leave you your rubber, Jordan, because you'll need that. I'll get a different one. Rectangle. Triangle. Square. Square. Rectangle. Circle. And triangle. Do that one first, we'll worry about the next one next. At first she wasn't very happy, because obviously she was older, she wanted to be with her own class. She didn't want to be down here with all the cuddly toys and things And she was a bit huffy when she first came down. Now, Mr MacDonald, are you ready

to meet your class? Can we see everybody? Looking at Mr MacDonald And Mr MacDonald looking at you And we're going to say 'Good morning, Mr MacDonald' Good Morning Mr MacDonald! Alvaris did it very well. Are you ready, Mr MacDonald? I think he may be a bit shy. But that's alright, Mrs Gobraith will help him so he doesn't have to be too shy. And he's done it before, and he's done it very well. Everyone: 1..2..3 Today is Monday and snowing and one more Today is Monday and snowing. Give James a clap

, he did very well. But she did start to make progress, and we started to see her she just opened up she just became a different girl. She, erm... She started to smile and laugh and play and talk to people. And she made eye contact. [singing 'The Pirate Song'] It was lovely to see. It was really rewarding for us. Because obviously we'd pinpointed Jordan correctly. and given her what she needed. I'm hoping that she'll go into class and settle. And that maybe just once a week or so she could come

down and say hello for a while. And that will be enough support. But we won't know until we get her back in her own class. Well that was good teamwork, well done for working together. You want to go and dry your hands? Make it like those people in the shops who are flooding. Help us! We're flooding! We're flooding! We're flooding, help us! Make it so somebody died. Look, he died. I died, I died. I'm dying too. Get us out of here, we're all dying! Help! There's somebody still in here! Lets get up

! Make it that somebody's dead, because they sank too much. Because Jason has been in isolation for almost a year with his schooling he found it difficult to interact with the other children. That was his graaave. Would you like to go up and visit the class today, Jason? Can they come down here? Well you're going at lunch time, so its not time for them to come down here. But if you want to go and visit them, you can go and visit them. If you feel you're ready. Ok? What do you think you feel? Not

alright. Not okay. Not okay with that. That's ok. Jason. Thank you, I'm ok. Jason, I heard Ms White asking you to come out of there. It's not that you're not fine. I know you're fine. You have to do your work, though. Right, over to the computer. Then you can get to play. Jason. Over. First time please. Come on. All the wee ones are doing their work. Come on. Jason: I'm angry. Jason, come on. Ms White's asking you. I don't want to do it. Because I'm not doing it anymore. Because I can't start i

t again. What is it you're stuck with? What bit's the problem? I don't want to do it again. I'll just have to start again. I don't want to do that. Jason! What! Jason! Right, Jason, come on. Come on. We've had plenty of time to play, and when you finish this, you can play again. Sleeping?! It's just had lots of good food! It's Jason's turn. When these children are taken away from the mainstream class The mainstream class can function properly And without interruptions, without the time being spe

nt on these particular children. These particular children benefit from coming to the nurture class Because they get the attention that they need. I'm too tired to do this. Goodnight. Four eights. Who has four eights? Four eights- go! Ten seconds! One... two.... Jordan was not getting on well with the other children in the class. Most especially the girls. The girls were quite intimidated by her. So were the boys, but mostly the girls. And we kind of looked at Jordan and thought, what is a big p

roblem in here for her? And we thought, she doesn't have any friends. Not the way that children have, where they've got their best pal, or there's a wee group they hang about with. And we thought that the reason for that was probably because she was completely unpredictable. And the children were afraid of how she was going to react if they happen to bump into her. Or if they said the wrong thing. So we thought, 'how are we going to do this?' We thought, we'll get the girls down into this room w

here its nice and relaxed. And where she would feel safe but so would they. And so that hopefully the girls in the class would begin to see a kind of inkling of the Jordan we know. This nice girl who's very kind and has a really good heart. And likes people, but for some reason doesn't like to show that side of herself. Now, I'm going to embarass Jordan now, I think. Because, when you're in this room, you get stickers. And it's not for work. Because in this room, work is important, but more impo

rtantly we learn about how to treat other people. How to be kind. How to say 'sorry' How to admit if you're in the wrong. How to apologise if you are in the wrong and apologise properly How to show that you're a good listener by looking at the person who's speaking. And every time that you do one of these things and lots of other different things then, you get a sticker. So they're not for good work. Which actually makes them harder to get. And Jordan has filled her chart. Now I don't know if Jo

rdan is going to pick something in front of you all. Or if she just knows whats in the box now But I would really like it if she did, because I think its good for you all to know That the Jordan we have in here works really hard on manners being kind, like I told you last week she is fantastic with the younger children. Very patient, she is very helpful And she's earned those twenty stickers. She didn't get them for nothing. And I think it would be really nice for Jordan if all the people in her

class and some of her friends appeared and saw her getting a prize. because I think she deserves it. Would you like to see her pick something? Class: Yes Do you think you could? Yes? She's embarassed. It's not often you see that, is it? How many of you get embarassed when people point you out and make you do something? Hands up if you get embarassed. Mm-hm. So, Jordan's just the same as the rest of you She gets embarrassed by the same things Right? So she's not so different from you. At all. No

w, are you going to pick something? Aww. Let me see it, is it the dog one? Give her a clap, she did great. Well done. And I'm really proud of her, because even though she's embarassed, she picked something. And a few weeks ago, She wouldn't have behaved like this. She'd run away in a bad temper, shouting. And being really angry. So I'm really proud of her, that she's managed to do that in front of all of you. Now we come to the hard one. Jamie coming up the stairs wait until I think He walked be

side me but he took my hand, I didn't have to take his. He took mine. It wasn't because he was doing anything. And he came up the stairs one at a time. And he was chatting quietly. Go put a soldier point up, well done. And I'll get the soldiers out of the cupboard. Well done. Right. Feel about and see if you can find one you want. Picked one? What colour have you got? A green one!