The facilitation of children's emotional intelligence (EI) through social and emotional learning (SEL) and wider pastoral support schemes is common practice in schools. Although the benefits of enhanced EI have been widely reported, little is known about its 'dark side': emotional manipulation, or how this may manifest in school settings. Focus…

This article presents the results of a small-scale research project that aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a part-time nurture group recently established in one primary school. Qualitative interviews were used to gather staff, pupil and parental perceptions about the nurture group. These focused not only on what difference the nurture group…