After a year-long process, a primary school has celebrated receiving the National Nurturing Schools Award.

The staff of St Peter’s Church of England Primary School in Mount Pleasant, Aylesford have been given the accolade by Nurture UK for creating a nurturing environment for its pupils.

Head teacher Jim Holditch was delighted the school’s efforts had been recognised.

He said: “It was incredible. There was an online assessment that took a full day with staff and students all being involved.

“In education, you’ve never done enough but it was pleasing to hear the assessor say we should be proud of what we have achieved.

“We started the process a year ago and there was a lot of work to do but it mainly involved highlighting the things we were already doing.

“There were a few things we added thanks to the process, but it has only helped add to our provisions.”

Tracey Crouch, MP for Aylesford and Chatham, attended the school when they were handed their award.

She said: “This has been a really special day for the school.

“It is a really important award in terms of how a school treats and nurtures its children and it teaches more than just what the curriculum asks them to teach them.

“This is about kindness. It's about community, it's about friendship.

“I'm sure all schools are talking about nurture and doing it incredibly well.

“It's about putting themselves forward and showcasing what it is they're doing.

“Quite a lot of schools are very humble in terms of saying we're doing all these amazing things please recognize us. I'm thrilled St Peter's has done that.”

Staff at St Peter’s have implemented a lot of features into their education to help nurture and build resilience in the young pupils’ characters.

Mr Holditch said: “This isn’t just an approach a few of us take. This is governors, parents, and a very settled staff who stay here because this is such a nurturing, child-centred environment.

“It wasn’t about SATs or league tables; they wanted an environment where everyone was nurtured and developed from the start point.

“The children are seen as individuals, we put a great deal of effort into establishing a bond with them.

“We know when they’re having their ups and downs and within the limits of the resources we have, we put a great deal of effort into supporting them, their emotional development, wellbeing, happiness, just as we do to their academic development.”