A St Albans school has been recognised for its happy, inclusive, and nurturing culture.

St Peter’s School has received the National Nurturing Schools Award (NNSA) after successfully completing a two-year programme.

Headteacher Gillie Young and reception teacher Fiona Boggis led an initiative to effectively embedding six principles of nurture into school life, including the classroom as a safe space and supporting each other through change.

The award was presented by St Albans MP Daisy Cooper at a special assembly for the entire school.

Gillie said: “Nurture is incredibly important to us and at St Peter’s we recognize the whole child – it’s not just about their academic progress and development, it’s about their emotional wellbeing as well.

"We want to ensure that we develop skills in all our children so that they are ready to take the next step to secondary school and beyond. We also want to ensure that we create the right learning environment for the children so that we are building supportive and nurturing relationships between the children and all the staff that work at St Peter’s.”

Fiona added: “Having a nurturing approach is central to our school life, as we know children learn best when they feel happy and secure. We are very proud of the work our school community has done to achieve this award and we look forward to continuing to develop our practice.”