Huckleberries Nurture Farm

Our Nurture Groups are for children in Year 1 to Year 7 who are struggling with their emotional well-being.  Children attend Huckleberries one day each week for at least one school term (and usually two).  70% of our placements are offered free of charge to children in need, who have no additional funding (i.e who do not have an Educational and Health Care Plan (EHCP) or Education Other Than At School (EOTAS) package of support). As we obtain grant funding to provide these places, we are unable to offer free places to children in receipt of such support.  Our remaining places are offered to children with an EHCP/EOTAS package whose primary need is social, emotional and/or mental health, and these placements are funded by the child’s local authority or school.

Referrals

Referrals are welcome from schools, GPs, local authorities, social care services, charities working with the child, or parents.  Please refer to our Admissions Policy for further information and if you wish to make an application please complete our Application Form.  Applications where a child is on roll at a school can only be considered with a declaration of support from the child’s school or LA.

Referrals may be made for children who are struggling to thrive in mainstream school for any reason – including anxiety and/or emotional based school non-attendance, neurodiversity, specific learning difficulties, bullying, emotional  distress, self harm, suicidal thoughts, children who have suffered trauma (e.g. through abuse, bereavement, or being under the care of the local authority), and those whose emotional well-being has been affected by family circumstance.

Group Size

Our group size is small with a ratio of at least 1 adult to 4 children. There is no requirement for a member of school staff to accompany children attending the Nurture Group, unless the child needs 1:1 support to work independently due to a specific physical need such as hearing or visual impairment or disability. We currently do not have the resource or capacity to work with children with a severe Special Educational Need or Disability.

Our Offer

As a trauma informed organisation Huckleberries offers a safe place for children to belong, we help children to cultivate their self-confidence, self-control, sense of autonomy and responsibility, master new skills, take risks, and learn the importance of generosity though caring for others, themselves, and cultivating kindness and gratitude.  We use nature-based child-led learning, connecting with the animals, each other and themselves to grow and recover.  We go on hikes, look after the animals, cook on the campfire, grow our own produce, tend our bees, play, learn self-reflection and compassion through yoga and mindfulness, as well as direct learning to enhance emotional agility. Children leave us happier, more connected and more able to re-engage with life.