Empathy Week 2026: My Culture, Your Culture, Our Culture
Written by Hannah Wilson
Founder and Director of the Belonging Effect (formerly Diverse Educators).
My Culture, Your Culture, Our Culture
Culture is more than traditions, food, language, or clothing. It is the story of who we are and where we come from. It shapes our values, our beliefs, the way we see the world, and how we connect with others. During Empathy Week, the theme “My culture, your culture, our culture” reminds us that understanding culture is not just about learning facts – it is about learning empathy.
Celebrating Your Own Culture
Celebrating your own culture is important because it helps you understand yourself. Your culture carries the experiences of your family, ancestors, and community. It gives you a sense of identity and belonging. When you recognise and value your culture, you gain confidence in who you are and where you come from.
For many people, culture is also a source of strength. Traditions, celebrations, and shared values can provide comfort during difficult times and joy during happy ones. They remind us that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. When we celebrate our culture, we honour the sacrifices, struggles, and achievements of those who came before us.
Celebrating your own culture also helps prevent it from being forgotten. In a fast-changing world, traditions and languages can easily fade away. By sharing stories, practising customs, and passing them on to younger generations, we keep culture alive. This is especially important for cultures that have been marginalised or misunderstood. Pride in one’s culture can be a powerful act of resilience.
Celebrating Other People’s Cultures
While celebrating your own culture helps you understand yourself, celebrating other people’s cultures helps you understand the world. Every culture has its own history, values, and ways of expressing meaning. When we take the time to learn about them, we broaden our perspectives.
Celebrating other cultures builds empathy. It allows us to step outside our own experiences and see life through someone else’s eyes. This understanding reduces stereotypes, fear, and prejudice. Instead of focusing on differences as barriers, we begin to see them as opportunities to learn.
Respecting and celebrating other cultures also creates more inclusive communities. When people feel that their culture is acknowledged and valued, they feel seen and accepted. This sense of belonging strengthens relationships and encourages cooperation. It reminds us that diversity is not a weakness but a strength.
Our Shared Culture
When we celebrate both our own culture and the cultures of others, we begin to create our culture – a shared space built on respect, curiosity, and understanding. This shared culture does not erase individual identities. Instead, it connects them.
“Our culture” is found in moments of listening, sharing, and standing up for one another. It is present when we celebrate cultural festivals together, learn new languages or traditions, and challenge discrimination. It is built when we choose kindness over judgement and curiosity over assumptions.
In a globalised world, our lives are increasingly connected. Schools, workplaces, and communities are made up of people from many different backgrounds. Learning to appreciate both our differences and our similarities helps us live together more peacefully and respectfully.
Why It Matters
Celebrating culture – your own and others’ – is important because it builds empathy. Empathy allows us to understand feelings, experiences, and perspectives that are different from our own. It encourages compassion and reminds us of our shared humanity.
When we value culture, we value people. And when we value people, we create a world that is more inclusive, respectful, and kind.
Empathy Week reminds us that while we may come from different cultures, we all share the same need to be understood, respected, and accepted. By celebrating my culture, your culture, and our culture, we take a step closer to a more empathetic world.
Find out more and register your school to be part of Empathy Week 2026 here.
What Makes People Stay Working in a School?
Written by Hannah Wilson
Founder and Director of the Belonging Effect (formerly Diverse Educators).
Schools are more than buildings where learning happens. They are communities shaped by the people who work within them. While recruitment is vital, the real measure of a successful school is not just who it attracts – but who it keeps. People stay in schools where they feel valued, supported, developed, and able to belong as their whole selves.
Creating this kind of environment requires intentional action across recruitment, development, and retention, underpinned by a commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and a genuine culture of belonging.
Recruitment: Attracting People Who Can Thrive
Recruitment is often the first experience someone has of a school’s culture. It sends a powerful message about who is welcome and who belongs.
Inclusive recruitment starts with equitable processes. Job descriptions that focus on essential skills rather than narrow experiences, transparent pay structures, and flexible working options all help to widen the pool of applicants. When schools actively challenge bias in recruitment – through diverse interview panels, structured questioning, and clear criteria – they create fairer opportunities and stronger teams.
Representation also matters. A diverse workforce brings broader perspectives, lived experiences, and role models for pupils. Schools that value diversity are clear about it in their recruitment messaging, policies, and practice – not as a tick-box exercise, but as a strength that enriches learning and working life for everyone.
Crucially, recruitment should be about values alignment, not conforming to fit in. People are more likely to stay when they are hired for who they are and what they bring, not for how closely they match a preconceived mould.
Development: Investing in People, Not Just Roles
People stay in schools where they can grow. Professional development is not simply about compliance or career progression – it is about feeling invested in and trusted.
High-quality development opportunities should be accessible and equitable. This means ensuring that part-time staff, support staff, early career colleagues, and those from underrepresented groups all have access to meaningful training, mentoring, and leadership pathways. When development is uneven, so too is retention.
An inclusive approach to development recognises that people learn and progress differently. Coaching, peer collaboration, reflective practice, and flexible CPD pathways allow individuals to build confidence and capability in ways that suit their needs and aspirations.
Development also includes emotional and professional support. Schools are demanding environments, and staff wellbeing matters. Leaders who prioritise workload management, psychological safety, and open communication create spaces where people feel able to ask questions, make mistakes, and learn – key ingredients for long-term commitment.
Retention: Creating Reasons to Stay
Retention is not achieved through loyalty alone; it is earned through daily experiences.
People stay in schools where they feel respected and heard. Inclusive workplaces actively seek staff voice, involve colleagues in decision-making, and respond thoughtfully to feedback. When people believe their perspectives matter, they are more likely to remain engaged and committed.
Equitable processes play a critical role in retention. Fair appraisal systems, transparent progression routes, and consistent approaches to performance management build trust. When staff see fairness in how decisions are made – about opportunities, recognition, or challenge – they are more likely to feel secure and valued.
Belonging is perhaps the most powerful factor of all. A culture of belonging goes beyond diversity policies; it is felt in everyday interactions. It shows up in how meetings are run, how differences are respected, how conflict is handled, and how success is celebrated. Belonging means people do not feel they have to hide parts of themselves to succeed.
Leadership and Culture: The Thread That Connects It All
Leadership is the golden thread running through recruitment, development, and retention. Inclusive leadership is intentional, reflective, and values-driven. It recognises power, challenges inequity, and models behaviours that others can trust.
Leaders set the tone for whether a school is a place people endure or a place they choose to stay. When leaders demonstrate empathy, fairness, and accountability, they help create a culture where people feel safe, motivated, and proud to work.
Importantly, inclusion and belonging are not static goals. They require ongoing learning, honest conversations, and a willingness to adapt. Schools that embrace this journey openly send a clear message: everyone matters here.
A School People Want to Stay In
People stay working in schools where they feel connected to purpose, supported in practice, and recognised as individuals. When recruitment is inclusive, development is equitable, and retention is driven by belonging, schools become places where staff can flourish – professionally and personally.
In building diverse teams, inclusive workplaces, and fair systems, schools do more than retain staff. They create communities that reflect the values they aim to instil in their pupils: respect, opportunity, and belonging for all.
Creating Psychological Safety in Schools: Building Trust for Pupils, Staff, and Parents
Written by Hannah Wilson
Founder and Director of the Belonging Effect (formerly Diverse Educators).
In a world that is constantly changing, schools are being asked to do more than ever before. They are not just places of learning, but communities where young people grow, adults work, and families connect. Yet one essential ingredient often gets overlooked: psychological safety – the sense that it is safe to speak up, make mistakes, ask questions, and be yourself without fear of ridicule or punishment.
Coined by Harvard researcher Amy Edmondson, the term “psychological safety” refers to an environment where people feel respected, included, and confident that their voices matter. While the concept emerged from studies of workplace teams, its relevance to education is profound. Schools that nurture psychological safety for pupils, staff, and parents create the conditions for deeper learning, stronger relationships, and healthier wellbeing across the community.
Psychological Safety for Pupils: A Foundation for Learning
For pupils, learning inherently involves risk – the risk of being wrong, of not understanding, of standing out. When students feel unsafe to fail or to speak up, they disengage, hide their struggles, or act out. When they feel safe, they take intellectual risks, collaborate, and grow.
How schools can build it:
- Normalise mistakes as part of learning: Teachers who model vulnerability (“I don’t know the answer – let’s find out together”) show that uncertainty is not weakness, but curiosity in action.
- Encourage voice and choice: Giving pupils real opportunities to influence classroom norms, projects, or school decisions signals respect for their perspective.
- Respond to behaviour with empathy: Instead of “What’s wrong with you?”, try “What’s happened for you?”. Trauma-informed approaches remind students that they are seen and supported, not judged.
- Celebrate diverse identities and stories: Representation in curriculum, displays, and classroom discussions communicates that every background and identity belongs.
When pupils feel safe, they do not just learn better – they thrive. They are more resilient, more engaged, and more able to take the healthy risks that learning demands.
Psychological Safety for Staff: The Heart of a Healthy School Culture
Teachers and school staff are the emotional climate-makers of a school. Yet education can be high-pressure, high-stakes, and emotionally demanding. When staff feel psychologically unsafe – afraid to admit mistakes, speak up about workload, or try new approaches – creativity and wellbeing suffer.
Building safety for staff means:
- Leadership that listens: School leaders set the tone by asking for honest feedback and responding constructively. Phrases like “What do you need?” or “What would make this better for you?” open doors.
- Permission to be human: Staff who can talk openly about stress, uncertainty, or failure model the same authenticity we want for students.
- Collaborative problem-solving: Rather than top-down directives, invite co-creation. Involve staff in shaping policies, curriculum, and wellbeing initiatives.
- Psychological safety in meetings: Encourage questions and divergent views without fear of reprisal. Recognise contributions and credit effort, not just outcomes.
A psychologically safe staff culture fuels innovation, trust, and retention. As one teacher put it: “When I know I am trusted, that I can speak honestly and still be respected, I do my best work.”
Psychological Safety for Parents and Carers: Strengthening the School-Home Partnership
Parents and carers are essential partners in children’s education. But they too need to feel that they can approach the school without fear of judgment or dismissal. When parents feel psychologically unsafe – worried they will be labelled as “difficult” or “uninvolved” – communication breaks down, and pupils lose out.
Ways to build parental safety:
- Welcome curiosity, not compliance: Encourage questions and conversations rather than expecting silent agreement.
- Make communication two-way: Use surveys, listening sessions, or informal coffee mornings where parents can speak freely.
- Acknowledge emotions: School issues can trigger strong feelings – about fairness, inclusion, or a child’s needs. A calm, empathic response goes a long way: “I can see this matters to you; let’s explore it together.”
- Be transparent: Clear explanations of decisions, policies, and next steps reduce uncertainty and build trust.
When parents feel valued as partners rather than judged as outsiders, collaboration deepens – and the child benefits most.
Practical Strategies for a Whole-School Approach
Creating psychological safety isn’t a one-off initiative – it is a cultural commitment. Here are some practical steps schools can take to embed it across the community:
- Set shared values and norms: Make “respect”, “listening”, and “learning from mistakes” explicit cultural pillars.
- Model it from the top: Leaders who admit their own learning moments signal that vulnerability is safe.
- Train for empathy and communication: Provide staff development on trauma-informed practice, restorative conversations, and active listening.
- Measure what matters: Use anonymous surveys or student voice groups to gauge how safe people feel – and act on the findings.
- Create visible reminders: Displays or messages around the school that celebrate kindness, courage, and belonging reinforce the norm.
The Payoff: Belonging, Growth, and Flourishing
When psychological safety is strong, schools transform. Pupils engage more deeply. Staff collaborate more freely. Parents and carers trust more fully. Challenges still arise – but they are faced with honesty and compassion, not fear or blame.
At its heart, psychological safety is about human connection. It is about creating the kind of school where everyone – whether they are five or fifty – feels that they matter, that their voice counts, and that they can grow without fear.
As one headteacher put it:
“We can’t expect children to take learning risks if the adults around them aren’t allowed to take emotional ones.”
So let’s build schools, colleges and trusts where everyone can speak up, be heard, and belong. Creating psychological safety is not a luxury – it is the foundation of a thriving school. When we get it right – for pupils, staff, and parents/ carers – trust, wellbeing and learning all manifest and become embedded in the culture.
Sanctuaries of Inclusion & Incubators of Innovation!
Written by Laura McPhee
Laura McPhee is Director of Education at University Schools Trust. Prior to this, Laura was an experienced headteacher. She has a proven track record of leading transformational change management and successful school improvement journeys across London. Laura is a facilitator for the National Professional Qualification facilitator for Headship (NPQH) and a School Improvement consultant. She holds a number of trustee positions and enjoys guest lecturing for ITT courses. She is the author of 'Empowering Teachers, Improving Schools: Belonging, Psychological Safety & School Improvement' and a co-author of 'Tackling Poverty and Disadvantage in Schools.'
I’m sitting at the back of the teacher training induction session, pretending to read the welcome pack, when a large imposing figure appears at the front. He thanks us all for coming and quickly moves on to a lengthy monologue, warning us of the perils that lie ahead. He informs us in no uncertain terms, that training to be a teacher will be the most challenging thing we’ll ever have to do.
‘Hmmm. Doubt that. I’ve beaten cancer twice,’ says a jolly voice next to me, beaming.
I’ve been hiding in the back row with the other ‘mature’ students – who, as it turns out, are not so mature after all. The beaming voice is Kate, who like me, has a healthy disregard for rules. We become fast friends and slope off for coffee.
But the introductory ‘talk’, with hints of a dark reckoning, is still ringing in my ear. I thought this was the beginning of a new adventure, so why did it already feel like a zero-sum game?
I was yet to realise that the well-meaning individual, terrifying us all into submission that day, was in fact preparing us for the high stakes career that lay ahead.
As educators, we champion accountability. But accountability in the absence of psychological safety, can stifle innovation, limit progress and encourage poor behaviours.
I was lucky. I was a quick learner and, for the most part I was surrounded by exceptional teams and leaders who were extraordinarily generous with their expertise and professional support. But that hasn’t always been the case.
The evidence base suggests I’m not alone.
I would bet my mortgage that you, or someone you know, has at one time or another been worried about expressing their opinion at work for fear of reprisal. Perhaps you’ve thought twice about sharing a concern or idea? Or were afraid to ask a question? Maybe you’ve faced unfair criticism, chastisement or social exclusion.
Perhaps you’ve had to battle systemic barriers in the workplace?
The sector at large has been impacted. In a profession that is high stakes, a lack of psychological safety has, at times, resulted in exclusionary practice. This is amplified when weak education policy creates perverse incentives. For example, through ‘off – rolling’ or exclusionary practice around admissions.
We’re also seeing a direct correlation between staff engagement and pupil engagement. Unsurprisingly, when staff feel trusted, purposeful and supported. So do pupils.
However, research shows that our sense of belonging isn’t evenly distributed, with disadvantaged pupils and Black pupils reporting significantly lower levels of inclusivity. (Jerrim, 2025).
There’s much debate across the sector about what it means to belong, yet too often a crucial part of the conversation is overlooked. Psychological safety is the missing part of the puzzle for many pupils, parents and educators.
Professor of leadership and management, Amy Edmonson describes psychological safety as the ability to share concerns, ask questions and provide supportive challenge, without fear of reprisal.
Let’s be clear, this is a well-researched field, with a robust evidence base that points to the benefits of psychological safety across industries.
Research shows that organisations with the highest levels of psychological safety are more resilient and innovative. They perform better than others.
When we remember we’re people first, professionals second; we can connect the dots. Higher levels of psychological safety positively impact staff retention and productivity.
Remarkably, there’s very little information for school leaders about how to practically apply the principles of psychological safety. And yet, there has never been a more urgent need to consider the psychological safety and belonging for staff and pupils.
Hence my research in this area was borne out of personal and professional frustration…
Whilst cross-referencing the evidence base, with qualitative data from schools and universities nationally that have strong cultures, recurring themes began to emerge. This took the form of 10 pillars, or areas of school strategy that we want to ensure are underpinned by psychological safety to foster inclusivity:
- Leading with purpose
- Creating a culture of belonging
- Cognitive diversity
- Learning from failure
- Professional Development
- Coaching and Mentoring
- Distributed leadership
- Flexible working
- Innovation
- Place-based support for the community.
I’ll be using this blog to explore these 10 pillars; sharing research, evidence informed practice and case studies that exemplify psychological safety in schools for staff, pupils and the wider school community.
Frameworks for implementation:
Typically practitioners engaged in developing psychologically safe environments are signposted to Dr. Timothy Clark’s, 4 stages of psychological safety:
- Stage 1 – INCLUSION SAFETY: feels included and part of a team
- Stage 2 – LEARNER SAFETY: safe to learn and ask questions
- Stage 3 – CONTRIBUTOR SAFETY: safe to contribute and share ideas
- Stage 4 – CHALLENGER SAFETY: safe to contribute and challenge the status quo
Whilst this model prompts some useful thinking, it’s not without its challenges. We know from our own experience that progress is rarely linear! However, we could be forgiven for interpreting this framework as though we should be smoothly transitioning from one stage to the next. In reality there may be very good reasons why teams or individuals stall or need to revisit key principles to deepen their understanding. Of course, it’s also quite possible for team members to be moving at a different pace.
We know that too often underrepresented groups are required to carry out their roles in workplaces that are not inclusive or reflect the systemic barriers that exist in wider society. Yet these colleagues still need to move beyond stage 1 to find agency and autonomy.
For this reason, many practitioners have embraced Amy Edmonson’s 4 Domains of Psychological Safety as outlined in ‘The Fearless Organization Scan’:
- Attitude to failure and risk
- Inclusion and diversity
- Open conversation
- Willingness to help
This model reminds us to keep all four domains in mind when cultivating psychological safety. We can see how these domains are intrinsically linked and interdependent.
What might success look like if we’re brave enough to hold ‘open conversation’ and become ‘willing to help’? How can this approach drive more impactful solutions and tangible outcomes when it comes to inclusion?
Furthermore, we know that when it comes to psychological safety, the work is never done. Rather it is constantly evolving. It’s dynamic and shifts based on each new interaction and or shared experience…
“Psychological safety creates sanctuaries of inclusion and incubators of innovation.”
Dr. Timothy Clark
Whose Values Are They Anyway?
Written by Adrian McLean
Ambassador of Character, Executive Headteacher, TEDx Speaker, BE Associate Trainer & Coach, Governors for Schools Trustee, Positive Disruptor
This blog is based on a provocation I gave to the Practical Wisdom Network to the question of “Whose values are they anyway?” I approach the provocation through the character lens of practical wisdom.
Walk into any school or scroll through a Multi-Academy Trust’s website, and you’ll see them: Respect, Aspiration, Ambition, Integrity, Courage. Neatly framed, laminated and polished like a branding exercise.
But a question should haunt us: Whose values are they anyway? Who decided that these specific words should shape the daily culture, decisions and futures of an entire community? To answer this, we need to understand the difference between values and virtues and, most importantly, the practice of practical wisdom.
Practical wisdom isn’t just book smarts; it’s life smarts. It’s the ability to do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way, balancing rules with humanity. It’s the skill of making good decisions in messy, real-life situations – choosing what’s good, right, and true, not just what the rulebook says.
Values are the principles we declare we hold, like claiming to value our health. But virtues are the habits that make those values real. If health is the value, then virtues like self-discipline, perseverance, and temperance are what turn it into a daily practice. Self-discipline is choosing a walk over crashing out on the sofa; perseverance is showing up to the gym on the days you just don’t feel like it; temperance is enjoying food without swinging into excess. Put simply: values are what we say, but virtues are how we live, especially when it’s difficult.
Who Decides?
In practice, values are almost always handed down. A trust board. A group of senior leaders. Sometimes, one headteacher with a vision. But how often do we invite students, families, or associate staff into the process? How often do we open the doors to the community whose children will live with the weight of these words? Too rarely. Values are often written in a room by people who will not face their consequences. If that doesn’t unsettle us, it should.
Take, for example, “British Values.” They didn’t emerge from a national conversation; they were written into statutory guidance in 2014 following the “Trojan Horse” affair in Birmingham schools; a moment laced with political anxiety about extremism, identity and belonging. They were less the fruit of civic reflection and more a defensive assertion of national identity.
When one-size-fits-all national values are imposed on a plural, multicultural nation, the risk is that they flatten nuance and erase lived realities.
- What does “democracy” mean to a young person who has never seen their community represented in positions of power?
- What does “rule of law” mean to families who feel over-policed yet under-protected?
- What does “individual liberty” mean when opportunity is unevenly distributed and discrimination silently closes doors?
- What does “mutual respect and tolerance” mean when some identities are merely “put up with” (not representing the true meaning of tolerance), not celebrated or centred?
From a DEIB perspective, this is not neutral ground. British values often land less like a common commitment and more like a top-down script. Practical wisdom reminds us that to live well in community is not about repeating someone else’s script but cultivating the virtues to navigate complexity, difference and difficulty with integrity.
Values vs. Virtue
Aristotle taught that true flourishing wasn’t about abstract ideals but about virtues embodied in practice. As philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre notes, a value on the wall is just a word. A virtue lived out is a habit formed through struggle and character.
Integrity isn’t a poster; it’s the painful choice to tell the truth when it would be easier to conceal it. Empathy isn’t a slogan; it’s the practiced attention to the quiet child in the back row who carries the weight of the world. Without virtuous practice, values are just advertising, not meaning.
What’s Good, Right, and True?
Schools often claim they are places where children learn what is good, right, and true. But these words are slippery. What counts as good for one community may not for another. What is right in an affluent suburb may not be in a town hollowed out by unemployment. And truth, let’s be honest, is never neutral. Curricula are choices. Discipline policies are choices. Definitions of success are choices. Those choices reflect particular cultural and political traditions, not universal truths.
This is why DEIB cannot be an “add-on.” If our values exclude or silence the lived experiences of children from different racial, cultural, religious, or socioeconomic backgrounds, they are not values. They are exclusions dressed up in nice fonts. Belonging is not assimilation into someone else’s values; it is co-creating values that are genuinely shared.
Flourishing. Defined by Whom?
Too often, the system narrows flourishing to one measure: exam results. Grades are the currency of human worth, but here’s the paradox: the system itself is designed to prevent everyone from “succeeding.” Significant numbers of children will always be labelled “below standard” because that’s how exams are normed. The Department for Education’s media guidance is instructive:
- If results go up, its proof policy has raised standards.
- If results go down, its proof policy has raised standards.
A neat trick. But let’s be clear: nobody becomes better at maths simply by sitting a harder paper, especially if they ‘fail’ it. Yet this is the frame in which “flourishing” gets defined: harder benchmarks, narrower outcomes, national straplines.
So if flourishing is defined only by grades, or boxed into compliance with a centrally imposed set of British values, then flourishing is not about children at all. It is about alignment and fitting in. It is about living up to someone else’s story of what counts as good, right, and true.
That is not flourishing. That is conformity.
Pathways for Co-Creation
So, what is the alternative? Practical wisdom points us toward a different path:
- Co-creation with communities: Values forged through dialogue with students, parents, staff, and local voices; not handed down as final.
- Virtue in practice: Schools embedding habits of integrity, courage, empathy, and service in daily routines and structures; not as posters but as pedagogies.
- Flourishing as dignity and contribution: Schools are judged not only on exam results but on how their students leave with the capacity to live lives of meaning, purpose, and contribution to the common good.
- Local nuance, national honesty: Acknowledging that “British values” are not universal values, but one political frame; opening space for communities to shape how values are lived in their context.
The Dare
So here’s the provocation: Whose values are you really living by?
- Are they values chosen in Whitehall and laminated in your corridors?
- Are they values written in a boardroom and handed down like policy?
- Or are they values forged, tested, and lived in the daily practices of your community?
The dare is this: stop treating values as safe branding. Start treating them as dangerous commitments. Dangerous because they demand something of us. Dangerous because they unsettle power. Dangerous because they might actually make our schools places where all young people, not just the ones who fit the script, can truly flourish.
I’ll leave you with the question, not as comfort, but as a challenge:
Whose values are they anyway? Are you ready to change the answer?
Leading with Heart: Why Humanity Belongs in Leadership
Written by Sarah Mullin
Deputy Headteacher and EdD student
When Chancellor Rachel Reeves appeared tearful during Prime Minister’s Questions, it became national news. Speculation followed. Some questioned her professionalism. Others expressed empathy. But what if her emotion wasn’t about weakness or pressure — what if it simply showed that she cared?
We may never know what Reeves was feeling, and that’s not the point. What matters is how society responded. In contrast, when Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s voice cracked with emotion moments earlier, many praised his sincerity. The double standard reminds us that we still judge emotional expression differently in men and women — and that’s something schools have the power to change.
In my doctoral research with women secondary headteachers, many shared the pressure to appear composed at all times. One told me:
“I’ve learned to hide my emotions because if I show them, people assume I’m not coping.”
Another said:
“I care deeply about my staff and pupils. But there’s still a sense that to be respected, you have to be hard.”
This expectation isn’t just unfair — it’s limiting. When we reduce leadership to stoicism, we ignore the relational skills that make leaders truly effective: empathy, emotional intelligence, and care.
That’s why these public moments of emotion matter. Because our young people are watching.
Girls need to see that leadership doesn’t require hiding your feelings or shrinking your identity. That you can be strong, successful, and still be yourself. And boys need to see that care and vulnerability aren’t weaknesses — they are part of responsible, emotionally mature leadership.
In schools, we have the chance to model a broader, healthier version of what leadership looks like — not just in what we say, but in how we lead. Staff and students alike benefit from environments where humanity is welcomed, not hidden.
Let’s create a culture where showing heart doesn’t undermine leadership — it defines it.
Courageous Conversations
Written by Hannah Wilson
Founder and Director of the Belonging Effect (formerly Diverse Educators).
What is a Courageous Conversation?
In courageous conversations, whether in the context of performance appraisal, mentoring, or coaching, individuals are encouraged to express their views openly and truthfully, rather than defensively or with the purpose of laying blame. Integral to courageous conversations is an openness to learn.
What Is an Example of a Courageous Conversation?
Typical examples include handling conflict, confronting a colleague, expressing an unpopular idea on a team, asking for a favour, saying no to a request for a favour, asking for a raise, or trying to have a conversation with someone who is avoiding you. Research shows that many women find such “courageous conversations” challenging.
How Do You Frame a Courageous Conversation?
- Set your intentions clearly.
- Create a container.
- Prepare facilitators & groups.
- Set it up.
- Open with vulnerability.
- Have the discussion.
- Come back together and close.
- Support each other.
What Does the Research Tell Us About Courageous Conversations?
According to the work of Susan Scott there are The Seven Principles of Fierce Conversations:
- Master the courage to interrogate reality. Are your assumptions valid? Has anything changed? What is now required of you? Of others?
- Come out from behind yourself into the conversation and make it real. When the conversation is real, change can occur before the conversation is over.
- Be here, prepared to be nowhere else. Speak and listen as if this is the most important conversation you will ever have with this person.
- Tackle your toughest challenge today. Identify and then confront the real obstacles in your path. Confrontation should be a search for the truth. Healthy relationships include both confrontation and appreciation.
- Obey your instincts. During each conversation, listen for more than content. Listen for emotion and intent as well. Act on your instincts rather than passing them over for fear that you could be wrong or that you might offend.
- Take responsibility for your emotional wake. For a leader there is no trivial comment. The conversation is not about the relationship; the conversation is the relationship. Learning to deliver the message without the load allows you to speak with clarity, conviction, and compassion.
- Let silence do the heavy lifting. Talk with people, not at them. Memorable conversations include breathing space. Slow down the conversation so that insight can occur in the space between words.
Ten years of ‘No Outsiders’ assemblies: driving inclusion at a whole school level
Written by Andrew Moffat
Andrew Moffat has been teaching for 25 years and is currently PD Lead at Excelsior MAT. He is the author of “No Outsiders in our school: Teaching the Equality Act in Primary Schools” and “No Outsiders: everyone different, everyone welcome”. In 2017 Andrew was awarded a MBE for services to equality and diversity in education and in 2019 he was listed as a top ten finalist in the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize.
No Outsiders assemblies are 10 years old this month! Hooray! This is amazing – it’s gone by in a flash and I can remember each one like it was only yesterday … all 693 of them and with over 300,000 views.
The point of a No Outsiders assembly is to make the ethos real. The No Outsiders scheme is based on 43 picture books with a progression of lesson plans written for children in Reception to Year 6. The picture books are great; I’m using some wonderful authors and classic reads in there. Some of the picture books are based on real life stories, but it’s still different to discussing a photo taken of a real person in the last week.
I realized in the early days of introducing the scheme in my school, that the lesson plans were not enough. You can’t build a whole school ethos on 6 lesson plans in each year group spread over the year; you need a weekly inclusion injection. Assemblies are the way to do this – everyone together discussing and driving the inclusive narrative. My aim was to find interesting current pictures to discuss with children and find ways to reach a ‘No Outsiders’ conclusion: “That’s why we say there are no outsiders here- everyone is welcome.” The assemblies became a key driver in our effort to develop the inclusive language and understanding. Everyone attended the weekly assemblies, and I encouraged staff to comment and relate to their own experiences in front of the children. Furthermore, as all the teachers were in the assembly, they would be referencing it throughout the week with their class.
I was worried when I first started doing the assemblies that we were summarising with the same sort of conclusion every week and I was reflecting whether children might get bored and start blandly replying, “No Outsiders” to every question, but it never happened. Even so, I started thinking about better questions and discussions; foster empathy skills and critical thinking; get a debate going with the children- ‘why does that person think that?’ and give them space to consider new and different ideas to their own.
Oracy changed everything. I remember attending an oracy inset at my school in about 2021 and it was a game changer. The oracy lead at the time suggested we worked together and used No Outsiders assemblies to teach oracy and it was a perfect solution to both our aims.
The aim in oracy is to teach children to speak; to use sentence stems and articulate their feelings; to agree and disagree. Disagreeing is ok as long as you disagree respectfully. This was key for No Outsiders because I could put in to practice this idea that different opinions were ok as long as you voiced them with respect and non-judgement. The ability to hold two points of view and balance opinions has always been central to a no outsiders ethos- I’m not teaching children what to think; rather I am teaching children to think. Now, using oracy, I had strategies and literally scripts (sentence stems) that I could use to encourage children to see other points of view and articulate those points of view in a reasoned manner, without necessarily agreeing with those points of view.
The first No Outsiders assembly was published on June 27th 2015. Looking back at my first attempt., it’s very different to the No Outsiders assemblies I am publishing today. It’s short, there are few questions and there is no attempt at recognising different points of view. Still, it’s a good first attempt and interesting to see how far we have come since June 2015.
Here it is (June 27th 2015): https://no-outsiders-assembly.blogspot.com/2015/06/assembly-picture-1-british-values.html
The picture shows a hand holding an old photo at chest height of an army squad. The focus is on the photo and the medals pinned to the jacket of the person holding up the photo. We can’t see their face.
Our activity:
Sword Beach, France Normandy veteran Alan King, from the Norwich and District NVA, holds a photo of himself (front second left) and his comrades from B Company taken on VE Day 1945, as dozens of British veterans made a cross-Channel pilgrimage to Normandy to honour the legacy of comrades killed in the D-Day landings 71 years ago. Photograph: Jonathan Brady/PA
- Who is this man?
- Why does he wear medals?
- Who do you think is in the photo he holds?
- What happened on June 6th 1944?
- Why does Alan King want this photo to be seen?
- What do you think are his feelings about that time?
The obvious change over the last 10 years is the development of questions. I would still use the photo today but if I were writing this assembly in 2025, the questioning would be completely different. Here’s a plan using the same picture but ten years on. The questions to ask the children use italics.
Our activity:
- What do you see in the picture? What do you think this story is about?
- There are two pictures here, how do you think they are related?
The photo shows Alan King who is a France Normandy Veteran.
- What is a Veteran?
- What does “France Normandy” mean – what famous event happened on the beaches at Normandy in WW2?
Alan holds a picture showing his comrades, taken on VE day in 1945. Alan is in the picture on the front row, second left.
- Why do you think Alan is holding this picture?
- What is VE day, what does it stand for and what happened on that day?
- We can’t see Alan’s face in the photo today; we just see his medals and the old Alan in the photo he holds. Why do you think the photographer chose to do this?
- Do you think the photographer should have sown Alan’s face? What are the arguments for and against this decision?
This photo of Alan was taken in 2015 as dozens of veterans crossed the English channel to Normandy to honour the legacy of comrades killed in the D-Day landings on June 6th 1944.
- What were the D-Day landings, what happened on that day?
- Why do you think veterans chose to make the crossing again 71 years later?
-
- On the day in 1944 how many people do you think were involved in the crossing? (there were 175,000 soldiers involved.) Why only dozens today?
- Why do we still remember that time when it was so long ago? Why not forget about it?
- What can we learn from Alan?
- Why is this about No Outsiders?
- Which British value is this about?
I love the questions about the focus of the image- why can’t we see Alan’s face? This is a great debate, and we can encourage pupils to think about and articulate both sides of the argument using sentence stems such as:
- “I would like to start by saying…”
- “I can see both sides: on the one hand, ___________, on the other…”
- “One argument might be…”
- “Building on…”
- “That’s an interesting point, have you thought about…”
Today I always end my assemblies with the two questions, “Why is this about No Outsiders?” and, “Which British value is this about?” to ground the discussion in our school and link it back to the experience of the children in school.
So, how should I finish this ten year anniversary blog post? It can only be to choose 5 of my favourite assemblies. It’s an impossible task to choose 5 out of over 500 so I will select 5 assemblies that reflected key events at the time. A key strength of these assemblies is I can write them quickly in response to any news event that I think schools need to talk about. I can respond right away, and schools can use the resource the next day.
1 – The death of Queen Elizabeth II
The photo shows thousands of people congregating outside Buckingham Palace.
I struggled at first to think of an angle that linked to No Outsiders and then when commentators kept referring to the stability and constant presence that the Queen represented in their lives, I realised my focus could be on how equality laws and attitudes have changed while she was on the throne and also how people from different backgrounds felt the same way about her. This assembly is by far the most viewed assembly of the last ten years. https://no-outsiders-assembly.blogspot.com/2022/09/queen-elizabeth-ii-1926-2022.html
I did meet the Queen in 2017 when I received a MBE. I had about one minute with her, and she asked what I did in school. I told her what No Outsiders was aiming for and how we taught it in schools – I got in the protected characteristics and British Values! I think she didn’t quite know what to say at first and my boyfriend in the audience who was watching said you could see her concentrating and thinking of a reply. Then she said, “Very important for all our futures, I should think.”
2 – England losing the Euros final 2024
The photo shows Gareth Southgate in a kit on a pitch cheering. The impression is he has just scored a goal.
The Euro final between England and Spain was held on a Sunday evening in July 2024 and I knew that the game was going to be the only topic of conversation in school the next day. It had to be the theme for the Monday morning assembly, but I didn’t want to be writing an assembly at 10:00 on a Sunday evening about the result. I needed an assembly that could be used in schools the next day regardless of the result.
I found a fantastic article on radio 4 about Gareth Southgate and a speech he gives to the players in the changing room before every match. In the speech, Gareth talks about what it means to be English and about Pride in the game. He also says this:
“I am the England men’s football team manager. I have a responsibility to the wider community to use my voice and so do the players. It’s their duty to interact with the public on matters such as equality, inclusivity, racial injustice, while using the power of their voices to help put debates on the table; to raise awareness and educate.”
A Head teacher contacted me after using this assembly to say it visibly lifted the children on Monday morning after they came in despondent and disappointed because of the result. That was exactly the response I hope for. This assembly became the third most viewed of the ten years.
3 – General elections
The photo shows Prime Minister Theresa May standing alongside Lord Bucket Head at the count in her constituency for the general election.
General elections give us a wonderful opportunity to talk about British values and this picture from 2017 says it all. It’s a perfect vehicle to get children discussing democracy and how it works.
The assembly also referenced Mr Fish Finger who stood in Westmorland and Lonsdale. Questions to consider included:
- 37,469 more people voted for Theresa May than voted for Lord Buckethead; why?
- Do you think Lord Buckethead and Mr Fishfinger wanted to win?
- Why do you think Mr Fishfinger and Lord Buckethead stood for election?
- Some people voted for either Mr Fishfinger or Lord Buckethead. Did their votes count? Why?
- Should Lord Buckethead and Mr Fishfinger be allowed to take part in elections? What would happen if they won?
- What does this story demonstrate about democracy in the UK?
- Why is this about No Outsiders?
4 – Fish and Chips
The photo shows Gary Lineker in a cafe tucking in to a plate of fish and chips.
When the horrific violence against refugees erupted last summer in Southport and across the country, I published assemblies for schools to use when they returned in September. In the autumn term 2024 I was invited by a school in Southport to deliver No Outsiders training to their staff. Five other local schools joined the training and the local police also came.
This assembly was a direct response to any voices arguing refugees are not welcome, by making clear how England has benefitted from refugees. In a short video, Gary Lineker celebrates National Fish and Chip day, by asking where all the food on his plate originates.
I recently asked the Head Teacher of the school where I delivered training to reflect on the impact of that training a year later and here is his response:
“The No Outsiders programme has had a huge impact at our school. The assemblies are fresh, relevant and provide wonderful opportunities for interactive assemblies that cover vital issues. In addition, the units of work for classrooms provide a depth of discussion that has really improved provision at our school. The programme has been embraced by the whole school community and is one of the most positive things we have undertaken in the last few years.”
5 – Start of a school year
The photo shows a sky dive formation involving 113 people making a flower shape in the sky.
The most re-used assembly of the last ten years has placed this one as the second most viewed overall. It’s perfect for the first assembly of a new school year. I find small ways to update it every time I repost, but the essence remains the same. It uses a photo of a world record flower formation skydive performed by an international crew and asks what is the impact when people of different nationality, gender, religion etc work together. Why don’t all the black sky divers stay together, and the white sky divers stay together? The flower formation took 13 attempts to get right; why didn’t they give up after 5?
There’s also a lone figure top left who is not part of the formation – who are they, what are they doing? What do you think people are shouting to them? My most recent update included questions about how the photo was taken- from what angle and form where? And how long would the divers have to make the formation? What can we learn from them?
https://ks1no-outsiders-assembly.blogspot.com/2024/09/start-of-school-year.html
I want to say thank you to anyone who has used a No Outsiders assembly over the last ten years and also to anyone who has got in touch to give feedback. I can’t see a time when I won’t be writing and publishing these assemblies; I think I’ll be writing them long after I am retired! The assemblies still give me joy both to write and deliver, and when things get challenging in the world outside, they give me hope. These assemblies are my way of saying “It’s going to be ok – we can get through this together. Together we are strong.”
Here’s to the next ten years. Cheers!
Signposting:
No Outsiders assemblies are published weekly free to access on the No Outsiders website www.no-outsiders.com
Andrew Moffat also sends assemblies in powerpoint form to schools on a mailing list each week. To join the free mailing list and receive the power points, contact Andrew on his school email a.moffat@excelsiormat.org
Designing Neurodivergent-Friendly Classrooms: Rethinking Inclusion from the Inside Out
Written by Sana Siddiq
Sana Siddiq is an educator, coach, and creator of The Elevate Framework™, guiding schools to lead with empathy, equity, and emotional safety. Her work centres neurodivergent inclusion, systemic transformation, and holistic development—supporting educators to unlearn outdated systems and build compassionate, conscious spaces where every learner can thrive.
As the educational landscape evolves, the call for inclusive classrooms has grown louder. But inclusion, when viewed through a neurotypical lens, often amounts to little more than accommodation. True inclusion must be co-designed with, not just for, neurodivergent learners—and that demands a radical reimagining of the systems, assumptions, and environments we teach within.
A Paradigm Shift: From “Fixing the Child” to Rethinking the System
Traditional classroom models are built on industrial-era expectations of standardisation, control, and passive compliance. These models were never designed for neurodivergent minds—and expecting children with ADHD, autism, sensory sensitivities, or anxiety to thrive in such spaces without reconfiguration is not just misguided, it’s unjust.
Instead of asking: How can we make this child fit the classroom? we must ask: How can we make the classroom fit the child?
This isn’t just semantics—it’s a shift in power, responsibility, and educational ethos. Inclusion is not the work of putting ramps in place for those who can’t walk the stairs. It’s the work of redesigning the building altogether.
What Does a Neurodivergent-Friendly Classroom Actually Look Like?
- Sensory-Conscious Spaces
Sensory overwhelm is one of the most commonly misunderstood barriers to learning. Yet classrooms are often visually cluttered, fluorescent-lit, noisy environments. We must move beyond tokenistic “calm corners” and instead build entire spaces that are:
- Predictable in layout
- Low-arousal in aesthetic (muted tones, warm lighting)
- Flexible in sensory offerings (noise-cancelling headphones, wiggle stools, movement options)
Rather than viewing sensory needs as “special,” we can normalise and embed these supports universally, benefiting all learners.
- Regulation as a Collective Culture
Many schools still use behaviourist models—token charts, clip systems, sanctions—that confuse dysregulation with defiance. But neuroscience tells us that the developing brain cannot access executive functioning when in fight, flight, or freeze. What a dysregulated child needs is not a consequence—it’s co-regulation.
Neurodivergent-friendly classrooms:
- Teach and model regulation proactively
- Offer regular body breaks, movement prompts, and access to regulation tools
- Embed emotional check-ins as a non-negotiable part of the day
- Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
UDL isn’t about creating “special resources.” It’s a mindset that recognises there is no one-size-fits-all learner.
This means:
- Offering multiple means of engagement (movement-based, visual, auditory)
- Supporting alternative ways of showing knowledge (video, drawing, mind maps, voice recordings)
- Designing flexible tasks from the outset, rather than retrofitting support
- Agency and Autonomy as Core Pedagogy
Many neurodivergent children feel disempowered by school systems that reward obedience over authenticity. Reclaiming agency is not just empowering—it’s protective.
You might:
- Involve students in co-creating classroom agreements
- Offer opt-in group work, or self-paced learning tasks
- Provide choices in how, where, and when work is completed
Thought Leadership: We Need a Cultural Shift, Not a Checklist
This work is not about box-ticking or surface-level strategies. It is about dismantling ableist structures baked into our educational systems.
We must move away from the deficit narrative that views neurodivergence as a problem to be solved. Instead, we need to centre neurodivergent voices, lived experience, and expertise in how classrooms are shaped. Ask yourself:
- Who are our systems currently built for?
- Whose needs are framed as “challenging”?
- Who has to work harder just to belong?
The answers to these questions reveal more about our values than any mission statement.
Leadership Implications: Inclusion Is a Leadership Practice
School leaders must lead this shift with courage. Neurodivergent-friendly practice must be embedded into:
- Curriculum design
- CPD and teacher training
- Safeguarding and wellbeing policies
- Recruitment, voice, and governance
Inclusion cannot rest on the shoulders of one passionate SENDCo or learning support assistant. It must be championed, funded, and normalised from the top down.
In Summary
Designing neurodivergent-friendly classrooms is not about making tweaks to traditional practice. It’s about interrogating the very foundations of what we call “normal” in education. It’s about rejecting the idea that some learners are “too much,” and instead building a world that is wide enough to hold all ways of being.
Because the truth is, what works for neurodivergent children works better for all children: more agency, more flexibility, more emotional safety, more belonging.
And that’s not just inclusion—that’s transformation.
Women of a certain age: The menopause at school
Written by Sarah Wordlaw
Sarah Wordlaw is a headteacher working in an inner-city South London primary school. She has successfully rewritten the curriculum in her school and is passionate about how teachers can use the curriculum to make the next generation better than us! She has led various subjects and areas of the school over her educational career and worked in many different capacities in a wide range of educational establishments. She identifies as a queer woman of mixed heritage and often felt unseen in taught subjects, both as a child and as an adult, which has fuelled her interest in diversity and inclusion.
Developing an anti-misogynist culture in your school starts from the top. There must be a commitment from leadership at all levels, and it must be threaded throughout all school practices and policies.
However, women remain under-represented within school leadership (Bergmann et al, 2022). In England, the school leadership characteristics and trends report (DfE, 2022) reveals that at primary level, 85% of primary teachers are female compared with 74% of headteachers.
Traditionally, notions of leadership are connected to perceptions of masculinity – having “strength” or “gravitas”. In reality, being a successful primary school leader requires someone who is both strong and vulnerable, someone who is driven and compassionate, someone who is commanding and empathic.
Female teachers are less likely to be promoted to headship or senior leadership than their male counterparts, and part-time teachers are 45% less likely than full-time to be promoted to both headship and even to middle leadership (DfE, 2022).
That being the case, I wonder if the reason we don’t talk about menopause as much as we should is because senior leadership teams can often be male-dominated.
Menopause in schools
Menopause is a significant time for women, usually occurring between the ages of 45 and 55. The menopause is defined as when a woman’s periods have stopped for at least 12 consecutive months.
The first step to take as a school leader is to understand what the menopause might involve for a colleague – and it is not just hot flushes!
A report from the Fawcett Society reminds us that that 84% of women describe the lack of sleep and 73% the brain fog that can come with the menopause as being difficult – this compared to 70% who said this about the hot flushes or night sweats; 69% say they experience difficulties with anxiety or depression due to menopause (Bazeley et al, 2022).
The report is cited in a recent Headteacher Update article written by employment law expert Kelly Rayner. In this piece – which is well worth a read, as indeed is the Fawcett Society report – we are also reminded that 8 in 10 women experiencing menopausal symptoms are in work and that 44% of women said their ability to work had been affected by the menopause, while 1 in 10 have left work due to menopause symptoms.
The National Education Union reminds us that the menopause is “an occupational health issue for women educators, as well as also being an equality issue” (NEU, 2025). Symptoms can include:
- Hot flushes or night sweats
- Heavy or light periods
- Headaches/brain fog
- Insomnia
- Urogenital issues
- Loss of confidence
- Low mood
- Poor or reduced concentration
- Anxiety and panic attacks
- Joint pain and muscular aches
However, despite the clear impact these symptoms might have on someone’s working life, sadly, the menopause is rarely mentioned in many workplaces, particularly when the leaders are male.
Women should be able to work in a supportive and understanding environment with reasonable adjustments made when going through menopause. The NEU offers a range of resources, including checklists for school leaders, posters to raise awareness, and a model school policy (see further information).
Practical issues
There are a number of practical questions that we can consider immediately. Drawing on the NEU’s advice, these include:
- Do you have a menopause policy and are all staff aware of it, especially line managers? Again, templates can be found via the NEU and The Key among others.
- Is the staff team “menopause-aware” – this will avoid female members of staff having to raise it as an individual issue?
- How do you ensure adequate ventilation in classrooms and staffrooms? Do staff have access to good temperature control for classrooms?
- Other simple provisions can include leaving doors open, ensuring that windows can be safely opened, access to fans, and fitting blinds to windows.
- What systems are in place for cover if a staff member needs to go to the bathroom or get a cold drink mid-lesson? Indeed, is there ready access to cold drinking water?
- Ensure you have sanitary products available in toilets – you could have a basket of a variety of different products in your women’s toilets
- What systems are in place to ensure swift permission for absence to attend menopause-related medical appointments.
The NEU advises leaders to support requests for flexibility, such as undertaking non-contact time at home or requests to reduce hours or change hours temporarily. Remember, offering cover in the short term is better than having to hire new staff members in the long term
Its advice for leaders states: “Give control to individual teachers and support staff over their immediate working environment – a clear message will empower staff and reduce requests to the leadership team.”
A positive culture
Your approach and your written menopause policy must create a culture in school which is positive. For example, supporting staff members experiencing difficulties helps to improve the wellbeing of staff, retains great and experienced teachers, reduces recruitment costs, and works towards gender equality. These are key messages.
Other advice for school leaders includes:
- Get to know your staff: Have regular catch-ups so you build trust and are in touch with how they are feeling and what they are experiencing.
- As the NEU advises above, give control to female staff over their immediate working environment – this is empowering
- Research and encourage access to support services locally. Many local authorities run menopause working groups for local government employees – make your whole staff team aware of this and offer cover if there were women who would like to attend the support meetings.
- Understand that every woman’s experience of the menopause is different. Build a supportive culture at work by having an open-door policy. Ensure a private conversation can take place if needs-be and make sure you follow-up and review any actions alongside agreed adjustments
Final thoughts
Having a menopause policy helps to develop gender equality in schools (and beyond) as it addresses the specific health needs of women going through menopause, which can impact work, potentially leading to unequal treatment and career progression disadvantages.
Further information & resources
Bazeley, Marren & Shepherd: Menopause and the Workplace, Fawcett Society, 2022: Click here
Bergmann, Alban Conto & Brossard: Increasing women’s representation in school leadership: A promising path towards improving learning, UNICEF Office of Research, 2022.
DfE: Transparency data: School leadership in England 2010 to 2020: Characteristics and trends, 2022: www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-leadership-in-england-2010-to-2020-characteristics-and-trends
NEU: Working through the menopause: Resources including template policy and school leader checklists: https://neu.org.uk/advice/equality/sex-and-gender-equality/working-through-menopause