Written by Chloe Watterston
Chloe is an educator, athlete, and advocate for inclusive, curiosity-driven learning, dedicated to creating spaces where every young person feels safe, valued, and empowered. Her work across mainstream and SEND education, community projects, and curriculum reform is driven by a passion for amplifying marginalised voices and breaking down barriers to learning.
When the Department for Education announced a new national curriculum (to be implemented from 2028), headlines focused on oracy, digital literacy, and enrichment. Yet behind every subject reform lies a deeper question: Do our students feel like they belong here?
A sense of belonging – feeling seen, supported, and valued – is the heartbeat of learning. Without it, even the best-designed curriculum risks falling flat. For pupils who are neurodiverse, disabled, or marginalised, belonging isn’t a luxury; it’s the foundation of success.
This guide translates the government’s new framework, which centres on life skills, enrichment, and stronger foundations, into practical actions that put belonging at the centre of every classroom and corridor.
“Belonging isn’t an outcome of curriculum reform — it’s the condition that makes reform work.”
Curriculum Design: From Coverage to Connection
Goal: Build a curriculum that feels relevant, achievable, and identity-affirming for all.
- Audit representation: Ensure diverse identities, including disability and neurodiversity, appear meaningfully across units and texts.
- Chunk and scaffold: Sequence content clearly for learners who need structure; use visual roadmaps and checklists.
- Bridge knowledge with identity: Link new content to students’ own experiences and communities.
- Amplify oracy: Give pupils the language to share their thinking aloud, it builds both confidence and cognition.
Example: Pair Macbeth with The Hunger Games to explore power and morality through different cultural lenses.
Enrichment for All: Making the ‘Core Entitlement’ Inclusive
Goal: Deliver the new national “core enrichment entitlement” – arts, sport, nature, civic life – so that every pupil can take part meaningfully.
- Audit participation and remove barriers (costs, timing, accessibility).
- Offer sensory-friendly, shorter, or flexible versions of activities.
- Provide varied roles – performer, planner, designer – so every learner can contribute.
- Train staff to understand fatigue, sensory needs, and invisible disabilities.
Example: For civic engagement, let students design campaigns or social media projects if public speaking feels overwhelming.
Pedagogy & Climate: Making Belonging the Norm
Goal: Build classrooms that balance structure with humanity.
- Predictable routines reduce anxiety; flexible responses show care.
- Replace “behaviour management” with “community agreements.”
- Display student contributions publicly – belonging must be visible.
- Give feedback as conversation, not correction.
Example: Begin each lesson with a one-minute grounding question like “What’s one thing that made you smile this week?” Small rituals can anchor connection.
Staff Culture: Belonging Starts with Us
Goal: Equip teachers to teach through belonging, not just about it.
- Embed neuroinclusion in CPD: autism, ADHD, chronic illness, not as “issues,” but as perspectives.
- Hold peer reflection sessions: “Whose belonging have we strengthened this term?”
- Celebrate staff who champion inclusion.
- Model belonging in leadership – consistency, curiosity, compassion.
Example: Host a termly “Belonging Showcase” where staff and students co-present examples of inclusive success.
Measuring What Matters
Goal: Track belonging with the same intent as attainment.
- Use quick-pulse surveys: “Do you feel you’re understood here?”
- Cross-reference belonging data with attendance and enrichment participation.
- Form neurodiverse and SEND student panels to co-design improvements.
- Include belonging outcomes in school development plans.
Example: If ADHD students report low belonging, pilot flexible seating or movement breaks — then re-survey to measure impact.
Final Thought
Belonging is not a soft extra, it’s the soil that allows learning to take root.
As we rebuild the national curriculum for the next generation, we can decide what kind of classrooms our students inherit. Will they be systems of delivery, or communities of connection?
With intentional design, the new curriculum can become more than a framework of knowledge. It can be a map towards a society where every young person feels seen, capable, and connected – not just prepared for life, but part of it.