Early Years Love and Nurture Rating Scale

Love and nurture are inseparable and are often at the heart of early childhood provision. Nurturing practices dominate early childhood pedagogy and thankfully the words love and loving are making a resurgence within early childhood education and care. In our book Love and Nurture in the Early Years we draw an analogy between tending a garden and loving and nurturing children. We acknowledge that loving and nurturing practices are predominantly unmeasurable and any attempt to assess this in a quantifiable way will be subjective. Any observations, or even judgements made, will be subject to the values, attitudes and beliefs of those completing the scale. Therefore, we hope this tool will never be used in any way that links it to a formal appraisal system, but is instead used as the basis for discussion, self-evaluation and review. We hope it is helpful to you, and your children benefit from reviewing loving and nurturing practices in your provision.