Written by Kathryn Wright
Dr Kathryn Wright is Chief Executive Officer of Culham St Gabriel's Trust, an endowed charitable foundation dedicated to supporting high-quality religion and worldviews education. She works with schools, researchers, policy makers and wider communities to explore how education can foster inclusion, belonging and understanding across difference. Kathryn is passionate about creating opportunities for every child and young person to flourish in diverse and democratic societies. Find out more at www.cstg.org.uk.
When we talk about belonging in schools, we often focus on relationships, representation, voice and participation. These matter enormously. Yet there is another dimension of belonging that we do not always name explicitly: the freedom to be yourself, to express what matters to you, and to know that your identity will be respected.
This is where Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) has an important contribution to make. Culham St Gabriel’s Trust, a charitable foundation, has recently published a new toolkit and model policy offering school leaders a practical framework for creating cultures where every member of the community can flourish.
At first glance, some people may assume that FoRB is only relevant to Religious Education or to pupils from faith backgrounds. In reality, FoRB is much broader. It is a human right that protects the freedom of all people to hold, change, express, or reject religious and non-religious beliefs. It belongs equally to, for example, the Christian, the Muslim, the Jew, the Humanist, the atheist, the Sikh, the spiritual-but-not-religious young person, and the pupil who is still exploring what they think about the world. It also belongs equally to the pupil, the parent, the teacher, the governor, in fact, the whole school community
However, what interests me most is not FoRB as a legal concept, but FoRB as a belonging concept.
Belonging is often described as the experience of being accepted, valued and included. Yet it is difficult to feel that you belong if essential parts of your identity must remain hidden. Equally, it is hard to develop trust within a community if difference is treated as something to fear rather than something to understand.
The toolkit begins with three simple educational principles. Pupils should have opportunities to talk about religion or belief, talk about freedom, and learn about human rights.
These principles resonate strongly with the wider belonging agenda.
When pupils learn to talk about their own beliefs and hear about the beliefs of others, they develop the language and confidence needed to engage across difference. When they learn about freedom, they begin to understand that their rights exist alongside the rights of other people. When they learn about human rights, they discover that dignity, equality and respect are not privileges granted to some, but entitlements belonging to everyone.
Importantly, the framework moves beyond curriculum content. It recognises that belonging is shaped by the daily decisions schools make.
Does staff training include religion and belief literacy? Are teachers equipped to distinguish between genuine curiosity, clumsy language and hate-motivated behaviour? Do policies clearly address antisemitism, anti-Muslim hate and other forms of religiously motivated discrimination? Are pupils given opportunities to express their views respectfully, even when disagreement exists?
These are not peripheral questions. They are questions about culture.
The strongest aspect of the framework is its emphasis on both promoting and protecting FoRB. Too often inclusion work focuses only on celebration. Celebration matters, but it is not enough. Schools must also be prepared to respond when individuals experience prejudice, exclusion or discrimination. The documents acknowledge that some of the most common violations of FoRB in the UK are experienced through discrimination and hate incidents, making active protection just as important as promotion.
This distinction feels particularly significant in our current climate. Schools are navigating increasingly complex conversations about identity, belief, freedom of expression and social cohesion. Leaders can feel caught between competing pressures. Yet the answer is rarely to avoid these conversations. More often, it is to create the conditions where they can happen safely, respectfully and thoughtfully.
That is why belonging and FoRB are such natural partners. Both are grounded in the conviction that people matter. Both seek to create environments where individuals can participate without leaving part of themselves at the door. Both require us to balance individual freedom with collective responsibility.
Ultimately, a school where freedom of religion or belief flourishes is not simply a school where pupils learn about rights. It is a school where those rights shape everyday practice. It is a school where difference is encountered with curiosity rather than suspicion, where dignity is protected, and where every member of the community can say, with confidence: “I belong here.”
Link to the resources: https://www.reonline.org.uk/resources/inclusive-schools-promoting-and-protecting-freedom-of-religion-or-belief/