Nurture Group Network | Shane

Shane’s childhood was chaotic and stressful; by high school, he was fighting with others to try to assert his power until the relationships he made at a nurture group helped him find a different way of relating to people.

Nurture groups are small groups run in schools to support children like Shane who, for a variety of reasons, are having trouble accessing their education. The Nurture Group Network invited us to make portraits of three young adults who had used the groups during high school: Connah is autistic, and was being labelled as ‘naughty’, Emma developed intense anxiety, Shane had a very troubled childhood – just his name was enough to put teachers on guard for his behaviour.

These three have given us a really nice suite of short films. Of course, in three minutes we can’t get to know them, but by focussing closely on stories specifically about their educations – the difficulties, the time in nurture groups, the outcomes – we get a glimpse into a transformative time in their lives, and feel a moment of connection.

Huge thanks to Connah Strong, Emma Canavan and Shane Seddon.
More thanks to Yvonne Monaghan at Nurture Group Network (who found them and persuaded them to talk to us), and to Kevin Kibble and Adam O’Reily also at NGN for giving us the opportunity.

ClientNurture Group NetworkInfoShot on Blackmagic Production camera with Canon 17-55m f2.8 lens at 4k by Brad Bell for StoryPartners. Shot raw, processed as Kodak 5213 with FilmConvert in DaVinci ResolveDate19 November 2016Linknurturegroups.org