Rothesay Nursery School
Shaping children’s futures through Thrive in the Early Years
Rothesay Nursery School has embedded Thrive into every aspect of its practice, creating a nurturing and emotionally supportive environment for its children.
By helping staff understand early brain development and respond calmly when children are distressed, dysregulated or withdrawn, Thrive has strengthened the nursery’s calm culture and given staff a clear framework for supporting wellbeing.
The Context
Rothesay Nursery School supports children with a wide range of needs, including vulnerable children, children with English as an Additional Language and children with complex SEND needs.
- Location: Luton
- Pupils: 116 (ages 2–5)
- FSM: 16.7%
- Thrive introduced: 2018
- Licensed Practitioners: 3
Why Thrive?
Rothesay’s Thrive journey began in 2018, when Deputy Headteacher and SENCO Elizabeth Leer and a colleague attended introductory Thrive training.
Elizabeth admits she was sceptical at first because the nursery already had a positive, nurturing approach. The training helped confirm what the team already believed about how adults should be around young children, while giving them a clearer framework and shared confidence.
With a background in psychology, Elizabeth also found Thrive a useful refresher on neuroscience and how the brain works in the Early Years. Thrive gave the team a consistent approach that could be applied across everything they do.
A TOOLKIT FOR EARLY YEARS WELLBEING
How Thrive was implemented
Rothesay describes Thrive as a toolkit that helps staff support children effectively.
- Staff use Thrive consistently across nursery practice, helping to support children’s emotional wellbeing, regulation and communication throughout the day.
- Thrive strategies help staff respond calmly when children become distressed or dysregulated, with a clearer understanding of what may be happening in the child’s brain and how this links to emotions.
- The Approach has also helped staff notice and support children whose needs may be less visible, including those who are very quiet or withdrawn.
- Rothesay uses Thrive-Online for one-to-one work and class action plans, adapting how it is used so it fits the rhythm of Early Years practice, where new children start every term.
- The team continues to use Thrive support when they have questions or want to strengthen an aspect of practice.
The Thrive Approach helps us to give our children the best possible start to their education.
Elizabeth Leer
Deputy Headteacher and SENCO, Rothesay Nursery School
CALM RESPONSES IN CHALLENGING MOMENTS
Supporting children when they need
it most
Thrive has been especially helpful for children who are dysregulated, distressed or finding it hard to communicate.
When children become overwhelmed, staff understand what may be happening in the child’s brain and can respond in a way that helps them feel safe and supported.
Since the pandemic, Elizabeth has also spent more time supporting children who are very quiet rather than visibly dysregulated. Thrive has given the team practical ways to notice those needs and respond with curiosity and care.
Consistency across the setting
Thrive has helped Rothesay create a calmer environment for both children and staff.
The nursery has a consistent approach to communication, so children receive clear, steady messages from the adults around them. Staff are curious about behaviour and ask what might be causing it, rather than responding only to what they see on the surface.
Elizabeth says this curiosity has been one of the most useful parts of Thrive: when staff see behaviour, they ask why the child may be behaving in that way.
SHAPING CHILDREN’S FUTURES
Building strong foundations
for learning
The Early Years are a crucial stage of development. Children’s brains are forming new connections all the time, and positive experiences at this stage can help set them up for future learning.
At Rothesay, Thrive supports staff to create the relationships and environment that help children feel secure, understood and ready to learn.
When Ofsted visited the nursery, inspectors commented on how calm the setting felt. The team was also confident that, if needed, Thrive-Online could provide evidence of its approach to wellbeing and the progress children were making.
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