What start of term rituals and routines can educators create in our classrooms to centre student belonging?
Written by Hannah Wilson
Founder and Director of the Belonging Effect (formerly Diverse Educators).
Belonging is what students feel. Mattering is what students believe about their value to others.
A student can feel accepted but still wonder whether anyone would notice if they were absent.
True inclusion is when students know:
- I am welcome here.
- I am known here.
- I am valued here.
- I contribute here.
- I make a difference here.
So as we plan to set up our new classrooms and meet our new students at the start of a new academic year, what should we be intentionally planning and consciously considering to ensure that we centre belonging and mattering at the heart of our learning environments?
Theme 1: Look from the outside in
The most powerful question educators can ask at the start of the academic year is not “What do I want my classroom to be?” but “What does it feel like to be a student walking into this classroom for the very first time?”
Belonging begins with perspective-taking. For some learners, the first day is exciting. For others, it is filled with uncertainty, anxiety or the question, “Will I fit in here?” Looking from the outside in encourages educators to notice the small moments that communicate whether students are welcome, valued and safe before a single lesson begins.
Theme 2: Safety creates the conditions for growth
Students bring with them the seeds of who they are – their strengths, hopes, identities and experiences. The role of the school is to cultivate those seeds.
This means creating an environment where students feel physically, psychologically and emotionally safe. It is about setting clear expectations alongside compassionate relationships. Like a safety net beneath a tightrope, boundaries do not restrict students; they give them the confidence to explore, take risks, make mistakes and discover who they are becoming.
When students know they will be supported if they stumble, they are far more willing to participate, lead, question and learn.
Theme 3: Belonging grows through contribution
Belonging is not something educators simply give to students. It develops when students have meaningful opportunities to shape their community.
Leadership roles, student voice, peer mentoring, classroom responsibilities and collaborative decision-making all communicate a powerful message:
“You are not just part of this school – you help make this school what it is.”
Feeling heard is just as important as being listened to.
Theme 4: Students need to see themselves
Creating belonging is also about what students encounter every day through the curriculum.
The books on the shelves, the scientists, authors and historians studied, the case studies, examples, photographs and research all send messages about who matters.
When diversity is woven naturally throughout learning – not reserved for awareness days or special events – it communicates that different ethnicities, religions, family structures, genders, abilities and lived experiences are an ordinary and valued part of society.
Representation tells students: “People like me belong here too.”
Theme 5: Know the learner behind the learner
Relationships remain the foundation of belonging.
Learn names and pronounce them correctly. Show genuine curiosity about students beyond their attainment or behaviour. Ask about their interests, aspirations, cultures and lived experiences – and keep asking.
Students quickly recognise the difference between being known and simply being managed.
When educators remain interested throughout the year, they communicate one of the strongest messages of mattering:
“I see you, and you matter to me.”
Theme 6: Build belonging together
One practical way to establish this culture from day one is to create a class agreement or class contract collaboratively.
Rather than presenting a list of rules, invite students to explore questions such as:
- How do we want everyone to feel in this classroom?
- What helps us learn best?
- What behaviours create belonging?
- How will we respond when mistakes happen?
- What responsibilities do we all share?
Co-creating expectations fosters ownership, accountability and mutual respect from the outset.
Final Thoughts
Perhaps the greatest gift educators can give at the beginning of the academic year is not a perfectly organised classroom or an engaging first lesson – it is the certainty that every student belongs and matters.
Belonging does not happen by chance. Mattering is not left to luck. They are cultivated through thousands of intentional moments: a smile at the classroom door, a correctly pronounced name, a curriculum that reflects the richness of our communities, an invitation to contribute, a conversation that says: “Tell me about you.”
Students flourish in environments where they feel safe enough to be themselves, valued enough to contribute, and supported enough to grow. Every interaction, every curriculum choice, every relationship and every opportunity for student voice helps create that culture.
The question is not simply: “Do our students belong?”
The more important question is: “What are we intentionally doing every day to ensure every student knows they belong – and that they matter?”
Recommended Reading:
If you would like to explore the evidence behind belonging and mattering in greater depth, these are two excellent places to start:
- Professor Kelly-Ann Allen’s articles on school belonging
- Gordon Neufeld: The First Week of School – Creating Connections and Emotional Safety
How Inclusive Is Your Workplace?
Written by Hannah Wilson
Founder and Director of the Belonging Effect (formerly Diverse Educators).
When we hear the word inclusion, many of us think about policies, legislation or equality training. While these are important, true inclusion is something much simpler – and much more powerful.
It is about how people experience your workplace every single day.
Do they feel welcome? Are they listened to? Can they contribute without fear of judgement? Do they believe they belong?
These questions matter because inclusion is not simply about meeting legal obligations; it is about creating an environment where people can perform at their best.
Research consistently shows that inclusive workplaces benefit from greater engagement, stronger collaboration, improved innovation and better staff retention. When people feel respected and valued, they are more likely to share ideas, solve problems and contribute positively to organisational success.
Yet inclusion is not achieved through good intentions alone.
Often, the greatest barriers are not deliberate acts of discrimination but everyday habits, assumptions and systems that unintentionally exclude people.
Think about your own workplace:
- Who speaks most during meetings?
- Are different communication styles welcomed?
- Does everyone have equal opportunities to develop and progress?
- Are recruitment processes truly inclusive?
- Do policies reflect the diverse needs of today’s workforce?
- Does everyone feel comfortable raising concerns or challenging ideas?
These questions encourage us to look beyond compliance and consider workplace culture.
One of the most valuable concepts we explore during training is that diversity and inclusion are not the same thing.
Diversity is about who is present…
Inclusion is about what happens once people arrive…
A diverse workforce without an inclusive culture can still leave individuals feeling unheard, overlooked or excluded. Inclusion requires conscious effort from everyone, not just leaders or HR professionals.
It is also important to remember that diversity is not always visible.
Many colleagues may be managing invisible disabilities, neurodivergence, long-term health conditions, caring responsibilities, mental health challenges, cultural differences or other experiences that shape how they engage with work. Creating inclusive environments means recognising that one size rarely fits all.
Fortunately, inclusion doesn’t always require large-scale organisational change.
Often, it is the small actions that make the biggest difference:
Listening with curiosity…
Using inclusive language…
Making meetings accessible…
Being open to flexible ways of working…
Inviting quieter voices into conversations…
Questioning assumptions before making decisions…
Taking time to learn from different perspectives…
Perhaps the most powerful question we can ask is:
Who might this decision work well for – and who might it unintentionally disadvantage?
Whether we are recruiting, designing services, communicating with customers or leading teams, this simple question helps us make more thoughtful and inclusive decisions.
Importantly, creating an inclusive workplace is not about getting everything right all the time.
We all have biases. We all make assumptions. We all make mistakes.
An inclusive culture is one where people are willing to listen, learn, reflect and adapt.
It is about replacing certainty with curiosity and recognising that inclusion is an ongoing journey rather than a destination.
Every organisation, regardless of size or sector, has opportunities to become more inclusive.
The question is not whether your workplace is perfect. The real question is: How inclusive is your workplace – and what is one thing you could do differently tomorrow?
Supporting Religiously Diverse Staff to Feel Safe and Included in Teacher Training
Written by Belonging Effect
Belonging Effect is committed to shaping intention into impact and supporting people with their Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging strategy and training needs.
As schools and teacher training providers continue to build more inclusive environments, conversations about supporting staff from diverse religious backgrounds are becoming increasingly important. While much attention is rightly given to supporting pupils, creating a culture where trainee teachers and school staff feel safe, respected and able to bring their whole selves to work is equally vital.
Recently, a teacher training provider approached us seeking advice on how best to support a trainee teacher who has chosen to wear a niqab. Their question was thoughtful and proactive: how can we ensure she feels welcomed and supported, particularly when there are currently no colleagues within our school communities who wear a niqab?
The answer begins with a simple but often overlooked principle: inclusion is not about making assumptions. It is about creating conditions where people can tell us what they need and trusting them as experts in their own experience.
Start with the Individual
Every person’s experience of faith and religious expression is different. While some women who wear a niqab may choose to remove it in certain professional settings, others may not. Some may require specific adjustments, while others may not need any additional support at all.
The most effective starting point is a respectful conversation with the trainee herself. Rather than focusing on what challenges might arise, ask open questions about what would help her feel comfortable, safe and supported throughout her training journey.
This approach not only avoids assumptions but also demonstrates trust, respect and partnership.
Focus on the Environment, Not Just the Individual
When organisations think about support, attention often centres on the individual who may be perceived as “different”. However, in many cases the greatest opportunity lies in preparing the wider environment.
Religious literacy and awareness training can help colleagues better understand different forms of religious dress and practice. This is not about requiring staff to become experts in every faith tradition. Rather, it is about building confidence, reducing misconceptions and creating a culture where curiosity is respectful and inclusion is everyone’s responsibility.
Small actions can have a significant impact:
- Ensuring all staff engage with the trainee as they would any other colleague.
- Addressing questions or misconceptions through education rather than leaving individuals to explain or defend their choices.
- Encouraging respectful conversations about diversity and inclusion.
- Challenging stereotypes when they arise.
These everyday behaviours often have a greater impact on belonging than any formal policy.
Consider Practical Adjustments
As with any member of staff, there may be practical considerations that support comfort and wellbeing.
Potential adjustments could include:
- Access to well-ventilated spaces during warmer weather.
- Private or discreet spaces if required for personal comfort.
- Consideration of uniform or dress expectations where relevant.
- Opportunities to discuss placement-specific considerations before entering a new school environment.
The key is flexibility and dialogue rather than assuming that particular adjustments will be required.
Representation Matters
Inclusion is reinforced when people can see themselves reflected in their environment.
Schools and training providers may wish to review resources, displays, library books and curriculum materials to ensure they reflect a diverse range of religious identities and experiences. For example, when discussing Muslim communities, representation can extend beyond images of the hijab to include the diversity of ways Muslim women choose to express their faith.
Visible representation helps communicate an important message: you belong here.
Preparing for Questions from Parents and Communities
Inclusion sometimes involves preparing for questions from the wider school community. While most interactions are likely to be positive, schools may occasionally receive enquiries from parents who are unfamiliar with certain forms of religious dress.
Having clear, values-based messaging prepared in advance can help staff respond confidently and consistently. Responses should focus on professional standards, equality, respect and the school’s commitment to creating an inclusive environment for both staff and pupils.
Importantly, the burden of responding to concerns should never fall on the trainee herself.
Cultivating a Culture of Belonging
Ultimately, supporting religiously diverse staff is not about creating special treatment. It is about ensuring that everyone has equal opportunity to thrive.
For teacher training providers, this means moving beyond compliance and towards genuine inclusion. It means recognising that diversity within the teaching workforce enriches schools, broadens perspectives and provides valuable role models for young people.
When organisations focus on listening, representation, religious literacy and everyday respect, they create environments where all trainees can flourish—not despite their identity, but with it fully recognised and valued.
The question is not simply how we support one trainee teacher. The question is how we build school communities where every member of staff feels they belong from the moment they walk through the door.
Final Thoughts
Creating inclusive workplaces requires more than good intentions. It requires curiosity, listening, and a willingness to examine the systems, cultures and assumptions that shape people’s experiences. By taking proactive steps to support religiously diverse staff, schools and training providers can help ensure every educator feels valued, respected and able to thrive.
Call to Action
Please do get in touch if you have worked on an inclusive dress policy and would like to share best practice or if you have lived experience of wearing the niqab at work and would be willing to share your experiences.
Belonging in Schools: From Staff Culture to Pupil Experience
Written by Belonging Effect
Belonging Effect is committed to shaping intention into impact and supporting people with their Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Belonging strategy and training needs.
Creating a school where every individual feels they truly belong is one of the most transformative goals a leadership team can pursue. But what does “belonging” actually mean in practice, and how do we move past buzzwords to build genuine, inclusive communities?
In a recent webinar hosted by Iona Kelliher, the Managing Director of Edurio and The Belonging Effect, experts Hannah Wilson and Zahara Chowdhury dug deep into these exact questions. Drawing from their extensive work with schools, they shared practical, actionable insights on how to transform school culture from the staffroom to the classroom.
- Navigating the Biggest Challenges in School Belonging
When it comes to cultivating belonging, school leaders often face roadblocks on two fronts: workforce demographics and communication barriers.
- Workforce Diversification & Retention: Hannah says, recruiting, developing, and retaining a diverse cohort of staff, leaders, and governors remains a major challenge. To overcome this, schools must move toward active listening. Hannah Wilson emphasizes the need for regular feedback loops, structured listening activities, and thorough exit interviews.
- Courageous Conversations: Zahara points out that many educators struggle with having uncomfortable conversations and knowing exactly what to say (and when to say it) in both classrooms and staffrooms.
The Solution: Overcoming these hurdles requires deep consistency. Schools must build a shared language, routine, and approach to belonging so that all students and staff feel secure within the school’s overarching identity – and their own individual identities within it.
- Extending Belonging Beyond the School Gates
Schools do not exist in a vacuum; creating a sense of belonging for children means engaging with families and the wider local community.
- Meet Communities on Their Terms: Zahara advises school leaders to physically step into the community. Go to community strongholds, local environments, or even the supermarket to engage with families where they feel safe and on their terms.
- Co-Create Solutions: True collaboration means enabling what the community actually needs, rather than what school leaders think they need.
- Celebrate Diverse Identities: Highlighting local initiatives that champion diversity can bridge the gap between home and school. For instance, looking at local community projects – like Bristol’s Black Joy Trail – can provide beautiful blueprints for celebrating diverse identities and fostering joy.
- First Steps to Take Right Now
If you want to immediately shift your school’s culture toward greater belonging, the experts recommend starting with these two tangible steps:
- Implement a Shared DEIB Calendar: Build a shared Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) calendar for all staff. Review your current assemblies and celebrations against it to see what might be missing, ensuring a healthy balance of focus across various awareness days, weeks, months, and religions.
- Just Ask (and Listen): Be explicit with your school community. Send a clear message stating that you want to ensure everyone feels included, and humbly acknowledge that you might not always get it right. Establish clear, transparent communication lines detailing how you will gather feedback, what you will do with it, and the timelines for action. Whenever possible, look for opportunities to co-create policy with your community, or experiment with frameworks like reverse mentoring.
- Designing a Neuro-inclusive Environment
Many neurodivergent pupils find themselves “tolerating” or masking at school rather than genuinely thriving. Because the traditional school model is highly systemic, reasonable adaptations alone are often not enough.
To address this, schools must look at neuro-inclusivity through a wider lens:
- Consistency in Adjustments: Staff and pupil training on neurodiversity is essential. Any reasonable adjustments made for pupils must be clearly communicated and clarified across the board so that application is consistent.
- Shift from the Individual to the System: Instead of focusing purely on modifying the minoritised student, look at the environment, the people, and the student experience around them. Investigate what everyone needs to learn and do to adapt, with the goal of creating a classroom and community that is universal by design.
- Investigate the “Toleration”: Don’t be afraid to ask students and parents exactly what they are tolerating. Examine the nuances – from transition periods and email communications to clubs and curriculum materials.
- The Danger of “Inclusion Bases”
Many schools utilise inclusion bases or separate spaces for specific pupils, but how does this impact a child’s sense of belonging?
Hannah warns that we must critically examine whether our inclusion efforts are actually forms of hidden segregation or exclusion – such as placing students in a different building, room, or table. Leaders need to act as their own “critical friends” and ask hard, reflective questions: Why are these pupils in that base? Have they been excluded? Do they actually feel more included there? Addressing these systemic questions is incredibly powerful when embedded directly into a school’s strategic development plan.
- Aligning Belonging with Inspection Frameworks (Ofsted)
Belonging is not just a pastoral nice-to-have; it sits squarely within modern inspection expectations. Under current inspection frameworks, Ofsted assesses belonging through the lenses of inclusion and personal development. Inspectors look past simply providing a “seat in the classroom” to evaluate several core areas:
- Curriculum Representation: Does what you teach reflect the diversity of your school’s community? Minority groups, pupils with SEND, and disadvantaged children should feel visible and respected in the curriculum.
- Relational Inclusion: Moving away from a strict reliance on rigid reward and sanction charts, inspectors look at how staff actively build trusting, emotionally safe relationships with pupils -particularly those struggling with behaviour or attendance.
- Pupil and Parent Voice: Evidence is gathered through surveys and discussions to check if learners truly feel they matter, have a voice, and are treated fairly.
- Safe Spaces for Dialogue: School leadership must demonstrate how they handle difficult conversations regarding discrimination and equality to foster peer-to-peer respect.
- Measuring Progress and Overcoming Pushback
How can school leaders ensure that their belonging and anti-harm work is genuinely shifting staff behaviour and building pupil trust?
- Track the Data: Utilising weekly pulse surveys provides a quick, regular check-in on school climate. Interestingly, after robust training, schools often see a temporary spike in reported incidents. Do not panic – this is usually a positive sign of increased consciousness and staff confidence in noticing and naming harm.
- Gather Qualitative Insight: Set up dedicated email inboxes and compile staff case studies to capture the nuances of the student experience. Remember, a wealth of research confirms that belonging and inclusion directly correlate with improved student outcomes and academic progress.
Navigating Community and Staff Pushback
When introducing topics like Pride or LGBT identities, leaders occasionally encounter friction from staff or students. While student voice is vital, areas that impact student safety and prevent harm cannot be ignored.
To move past “complicit compliance” or a snail’s pace, look at pushback with genuine curiosity. Ask yourself: Why is there pushback? Is it due to a lack of inclusion literacy, media influence, high workloads, or a feeling that other areas are being ignored? Often, friction is projected when staff or students feel a lack of belonging and wellbeing themselves. Introducing intersectional role models (such as showcasing that someone can co-exist within multiple identities, like being both LGBT and Muslim) can humanise these conversations and bridge cultural divides.
Looking to Deepen Your Practice?
Cultivating true belonging requires a continuous commitment to training, reflection, and structural change. For school leaders, governors, and trustees looking to further their development, The Belonging Effect offers a wealth of tailored toolkits, books, job boards, and specialised training frameworks – spanning inclusive recruitment, neurodiversity awareness, and governor DEIB oversight.
If you missed Part 1 of the series you can catch up here: Edurio – Belonging in Schools: From Staff Culture to Pupil Experience
Ready to take the next step in measuring culture across your school network? Stay tuned for Part 2 of the series: How to Measure Belonging in Your Trust on 6th July.
Sexuality, privacy, and professional safety
Written by Emma Swift
Emma Swift is a Vice Principal and former trust-wide subject lead for a multi academy trust, specialising in science and initial teacher training. She is the subject lead for Physics for the National Institute of Teaching and Education.
On being visible, being private, and deciding what to carry at work
For some teachers, sexuality is something that barely enters their working life.
For others, it is something they think about constantly not because they want to, but because it shapes how visible, safe, or exposed they feel at work.
This difference matters.
Heteronormativity and the illusion of “not sharing”
Many heterosexual teachers will say they don’t talk about their sexuality at work and genuinely believe it.
But mentioning a spouse, a partner, a weekend plan, or a family photo on a desk is already a form of disclosure. It’s simply one that aligns with what students and colleagues expect, so it passes unnoticed.
For LGBTQ+ teachers, the same casual references can feel loaded. A simple pronoun choice can suddenly feel like a decision with consequences.
This isn’t about oversensitivity. It’s about risk awareness.
Being “out” is not a single decision
There is a persistent narrative that being out is an all-or-nothing state: either you are open, or you are hiding.
The reality is far more nuanced.
You may be:
- Out to colleagues but not students
- Out in one school but not another
- Open in some contexts and private in others
- Comfortable one year and cautious the next
None of these positions are dishonest.
They are strategic.
Teaching is not a neutral workplace. It is shaped by:
- Community attitudes
- School culture
- Leadership support
- Student maturity
- Media narratives
Your safety and wellbeing sit within all of that.
You do not owe visibility to anyone
There can be subtle and sometimes explicit – pressure on LGBTQ+ teachers to be visible “for the students”.
Representation matters.
But representation should never come at the cost of personal safety.
No individual teacher is responsible for fixing systemic inequality.
You are allowed to prioritise:
- Emotional safety
- Job security
- Mental health
- Professional focus
Choosing privacy is not a failure of courage.
It is an assessment of context.
The classroom is not a neutral space
Students talk. Families talk. Communities talk. What is said in a classroom rarely stays there. This is not paranoia – it is experience. Before sharing anything personal, it’s worth asking:
- How might this be repeated?
- How might it be reframed?
- How might it be misunderstood?
Once information enters the student sphere, control over it is lost. That doesn’t mean you should never share; no it means you should share deliberately.
Managing questions about relationships
Students may ask:
“Do you have a husband/wife?”
“Are you married?”
“Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?”
You are not required to correct assumptions. You are not required to disclose.
Neutral responses can include:
“I keep my personal life private.”
“That’s not something I discuss with students.”
“I’m here as your teacher.”
Some teachers choose gender-neutral language.
Some choose redirection.
Some choose openness.
The key is that you decide, not the moment.
Professional safety is not the same as secrecy
There is an important distinction between secrecy and privacy.
- Secrecy is driven by fear.
- Privacy is driven by choice.
You can be open with trusted colleagues and private with students. You can advocate for inclusion without narrating your life. You can support LGBTQ+ students without positioning yourself as evidence.
Your professionalism is not diminished by boundaries.
Who gets asked to do the work
In many schools, inclusion work doesn’t get distributed evenly. It often lands on the people most affected by it. I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been asked to deliver the “LGBT assembly” or lead something for LGBT History Month. As a senior leader, I’m always willing to do an assembly that’s part of the role. But there’s an extra layer here that often goes unacknowledged.
When you are the one standing in front of a room talking about LGBTQ+ lives, you are also the one absorbing the reaction. The looks. The comments. The atmosphere. And when students express strong views which are sometimes openly homophobic, it is often the person most directly affected who is expected to manage that moment.
That carries a cost.
I still remember, around sixteen years ago, sitting in an assembly where a heterosexual male teacher spoke about Alan Turing his work, and what was done to him. It stirred something in me I wasn’t used to feeling in school. At the time, hearing LGBTQ+ lives acknowledged at all felt rare.
That moment stayed with me. And part of why it mattered was that it didn’t come from someone who had to carry the personal weight of it. There’s a difference between choosing to share and being positioned as the one who should. Even smaller moments of coming out can carry that same weight. Not just the big, defining conversations – sometimes it’s the quieter ones that stay with you.
I remember telling one of my A Level classes while working in North London. I wasn’t sure how they would respond, particularly given the strength of religious belief in the room. I had prepared myself for discomfort. Instead, they were warm, protective, and thoughtful. It meant a great deal.
Sometime after I left, one of those students wrote to me. She said she wanted to go into teaching and wrote: “I thought I wanted to be the teacher I needed. Then I realised I wanted to be the person I had.”
That stayed with me.
It’s also important to say that these experiences aren’t the same for everyone. As a lesbian, I’m aware that I may be navigating less immediate risk than some of my gay male colleagues. Context matters too – subjects, age groups, school culture. A PE teacher, for example, may face a very different set of challenges to a science teacher.
All of this shapes who feels able to speak, and when. Which is why inclusion work shouldn’t quietly default to the same people, again and again.
When schools talk about inclusion
If a school claims to value inclusion, that should show up in:
- Clear policies
- Leadership behaviour
- Responses to incidents
- How staff are supported, not showcased
Be wary of environments where inclusion is performative, but protection is absent.
A genuinely inclusive school does not pressure staff into visibility. It ensures that if staff are visible, they are safe.
A final thought
Sexuality at work is not about honesty versus hiding. It’s about context, consent, and control. You are allowed to change your mind. You are allowed to reassess. You are allowed to protect yourself. Professional safety is not selfish.
It is what allows you to keep doing the work well and to keep yourself intact while you do it.
Everyday Sexism: A Powerful Call to Action from Laura Bates - What Schools Can No Longer Ignore
Written by Hannah Wilson
Founder and Director of the Belonging Effect (formerly Diverse Educators).
When Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project, addressed the room of boarding school headteachers and senior leaders, her message was not abstract, ideological, or optional. It was urgent, and it was evidence-based.
Drawing on what is now one of the largest datasets of its kind – over 250,000 testimonies, many from children – Bates laid out a reality that schools are already part of, whether they recognise it or not.
This Is Not a “Girls’ Issue”
One of the clearest points: sexism is not about being “anti-boys.” It is instead about the ecosystem young people are growing up in. Rigid gender stereotypes harm everyone – shaping body image pressures for both girls and boys, narrowing subject choices, and reinforcing harmful expectations about relationships, power, and identity.
The idea of a “gender war” or “battle of the sexes” is not only misleading, it actively prevents progress. Instead, Bates reframed the issue: this is about culture, not conflict.
The Scale and Subtlety of the Problem
Some statistics that she shared were stark and made me feel really uncomfortable, despite being familiar with most of them:
- 86% of women in the UK report experiencing sexual harassment
- 72% of women report sexism in the classroom
- 71% of 16-year-old girls report being called “slut” or “slag” on a weekly basis
But just as important is what Bates called “subtle sexism.”
This is the quiet shaping of expectations:
- which subjects feel “appropriate”
- how physical spaces exclude women and girls
- whose voices are taken seriously
- how authority – especially female authority – is undermined
These are not isolated incidents: they are cumulative; they are structured; they are reinforced through media, advertising, peer culture, and increasingly, algorithms.
Language Matters More Than We Admit
The distinction between “groping” and “sexual harassment” is not semantic – it is cultural. So too is the shift from focusing on victims to naming perpetrators, and from passive bystanders to active upstanders. Language shapes what young people think is normal, tolerable, or reportable. If we minimise behaviours in how we speak about them, we normalise them in practice.
As a former English teacher, and now DEIB trainer, the power of language and our language choices are something I think about a lot and explore with our clients regularly.
The Online World Is Not Separate From School
A major theme was the widening gap between adults and young people in digital spaces. Most educators and parents are not digital natives. Yet, their students and their children are.
This gap matters because the online environment is not neutral – it is actively shaping attitudes:
- Influencers like Andrew Tate have amassed billions of views
- Algorithmic pathways can lead users toward extreme misogynistic content in minutes
- Exposure to pornography is now commonly reported around age 13
Bates referenced the “manosphere” – a network of online communities where ideas such as “AWALT” (“all women are like this”) circulate and harden. This is not fringe content. It is mainstream, accessible, and often gamified.
A New Frontier: AI and Exploitation
If that was not enough for us to deal with in our schools and in our homes, then the emerging technologies that are accelerating the problem are the next challenge we face:
- Deepfake and “nudify” tools enabling new forms of abuse
- AI “girlfriends” reshaping expectations of relationships
- Gamified, exploitative systems rewarding harmful behaviour
- Poorly regulated virtual spaces (including metaverses) lacking safeguarding measures
The direction of travel is clear and really concerning. I am conscious that I am not a parent, I am no longer a headteacher and I have recently stood down from being a trustee who led on safeguarding, but I care deeply about our sector, about our society and about our young people. So sitting in a room of school leaders I felt the palpable weight of responsibility on their shoulders as they began to process the enormity of what is rapidly attacking our schools and our homes.
The Youngest Are Most at Risk
Perhaps the most sobering insight: the youngest generation is not the most protected – it is the most exposed. Grooming, radicalisation, and exploitation are no longer rare nor exceptional risks. They are structural features of the environments young people inhabit – and schools sit at the intersection of all of this.
So What Can Schools Do?
Bates did not leave the room without direction but offered some practical advice and signposting.
Effective responses are not one-off assemblies or reactive policies. They are cultural and sustained:
- Start early: challenge gender stereotypes in early childhood
- Explore openly: normalise discussion of relationships, consent, and respect
- Intervene consistently: address language, behaviour, and culture in real time
- Encourage allyship: shift from bystanders to upstanders
- Support staff: particularly where female authority is undermined
- Involve parents: bridging the digital knowledge gap is essential
This is where she signposted organisations such as Tender, Lifting Limits, Beyond Equality, and Bold Voices are already doing critical work alongside schools.
A Cultural Shift, Not a Checklist
Perhaps the most important takeaway is this: sexism does not operate in a vacuum. It is built on foundations – early stereotypes, repeated messages, normalised behaviours.
Which means the solution is not a single intervention, but a process of deconstruction:
- recognising the patterns
- naming them
- and creating genuine alternatives for young people
This is not about removing choice – it is about creating it.
The Question That Remains
Bates left the audience with an implicit challenge to consider: not whether schools should respond – but whether they are prepared for what is already here, and what is coming next. She held up a mirror to remind us that the culture shaping young people today is moving faster than most institutions, so ignoring it is no longer a neutral act.
BSA – thanks for creating the space at the annual conference for this talk (and Gaelle thanks for the invitation to be in the room). Laura – thanks for the clarity and the data that you brought to the conversation.
Does your belonging culture include every Generation?
Written by Alex Atherton
Alex Atherton is an award-winning speaker, trainer and consultant who focuses on Gen Z recruitment & retention and leading multigenerational workplaces. He is the author of The Snowflake Myth: Explaining Gen Z in the Workplace and Beyond. He is also a former secondary school headteacher.
Age ranges are growing across UK workplaces.
This is largely because the proportion of workers aged 65 and over has more than doubled in the last two decades.
A four generation workplace with an age range of fifty, if not sixty, years has become increasingly common. At the younger end Generation Z now account for over a quarter of the workforce, with that figure set to exceed a third globally by 2030.
At no point in modern history have so many different generational experiences been present in the same building, on the same Teams call, or trying to agree on what a productive working culture looks like.
Concept of generations
The concept of generations is useful in terms of analysing outlooks and attitudes over time. Fifteen to twenty years is long enough for there to have been enough economic, social, political and technological change for that exercise to be worthwhile.
But we are all the same species, and there is no guillotine between them. Whilst the concept is useful it is also limited, and generational stereotypes serve no one. Differences within generations are far bigger than those between, and I strongly recommend you treat everyone as individuals first with no generational label.
Analysing the impact of change over time can offer clues when understanding your workforce, and therefore what needs to be done to ensure everyone feels they belong.
I want to differentiate between ‘age’ and ‘generations’. The former is, of course, a protected characteristic. The latter is cohort-based. Opinions and outlooks may change for individuals over time, but there is something about those created in the formative years which stick with people in different ways and to various extents.
It would be an interesting tribunal case that sought to separate the two fully. My argument is organisations who consider the full range of their age diversity to be a considerable asset are in a better position to thrive, and considering generational perspective is part of that exercise.
This is the set of names and dates that I use. You may find others elsewhere, which is fine as it reinforces the idea that these are not hard and fast:
- Silent Generation (1925-1945: 81-100 years old)
- Baby Boomers (1946-1964: 62-80 years old)
- Generation X (1965-1980: 46-61 years old)
- Millennials (1981-1996: 30-45 years old)
- Generation Z (1997-2012: 14-29 years old)
- Generation Alpha (2013-2028: max 13 years old)
The snowflake problem
I came into this topic area as a reaction to the youngest generation currently in the workplace, Gen Z, being labelled as ‘snowflakes’.
In my book The Snowflake Myth, I argue that the stereotypes routinely applied to Gen Z (lazy, unreliable, apathetic etc) tell us more about a failure to understand them than about who they actually are.
Gen Z’s academic record is off the scale compared to all who came before them. They are more likely than any previous generation to work nights and weekends for higher pay. They are the most diverse generation we have ever seen, and the most vocal advocates for equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging in the workplace.
Calling them snowflakes is not a neutral observation. It is an exclusion.
But you know this, otherwise you would not be on this website. So what to do?
Belonging Is not age-selective
Let me tell you something else you already know. When belonging is present, engagement rises, wellbeing is protected and performance improves. When it is absent, the damage is real.
Does your belonging culture extend to the oldest and youngest people in your organisation?
Gen Z in the workplace will tell you, should you ask them, that they are watching. They notice whether the DEIB commitments on your website show up in how decisions are made and who gets a seat at which table. They notice whether authenticity is genuinely embedded in your culture, or whether the sign behind reception is performative. They notice whether any effort has been made to understand their experience, or whether they are simply expected to adapt.
The Boomers (and Silents too) will also give you their feedback as to whether they belong or now feel marginalised, but you may need to work a little harder to capture their voice. It is too tempting to consider that your belonging culture is in the right place because a clear majority say they belong. It needs to work at both ends of your age range.
What multi-generational belonging looks like
The good news is that this is less complicated than it sounds. It requires curiosity more than strategy.
It means seeking genuine feedback from colleagues, and on an ongoing basis rather than just at onboarding.
It means recognising that a generation which grew up collaborating online, co-creating content and working simultaneously on shared documents brings real and underutilised strengths to any team.
It means deliberately noticing what is happening at the edges, and across every group. That includes noticing that the older colleagues who had their eyes wide open as the new recruits refused to stay late or take work home started wanting the same themselves. What used to be ‘Gen Z demands’ has now extended elsewhere.
It means understanding that cross-generational collaboration is not a nice idea for an away day. It is about driving better decisions and developing ownership amongst your workforce that creates the belonging culture you need.
Most importantly, it means accepting that belonging is not something organisations can get away with extending only to the groups they find easiest to champion.
To what extent does your belonging culture cover the full breadth of your age range?
The Sandwich Generation: Hidden Needs in the Workplace
Written by Zahara Chowdhury
Zahara leads on equality, diversity and inclusive education in higher education. She has over a decade of experience in middle and senior positions in secondary education. Zahara is author of Creating Belonging in the Classroom: a Practical Guide to Having Brave and Difficult Conversations. She is founder of the School Should Be blog and podcast, a platform that amplifies diverse and current topics that impact secondary school classrooms, students and teachers.
Ageism in the workplace is often an under-acknowledged and yet deeply felt influence on career progression, belonging, development and wellbeing. Early in my career, I was often met with phrases like “age before stage” when I applied for promotions, “have your babies first” when balancing career plans, and most recently the flattering-yet-deflating, “you just look so young.” These comments project assumptions about capability and life stage, often rooted in (un)conscious bias.
But recently I have found myself close to a very particular phase of life, I’ve recognised an aspect of ageism and workplace invisibility that doesn’t get enough attention: the experience of the sandwich generation.
Who Are the Sandwich Generation?
I only recently became familiar with this term. The sandwich generation refers to adults who are caring for ageing parents or relatives and dependent children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews. It is a role and phase that people find themselves in and to me, a role and phase that we are unprepared for and do not necessarily imagine ourselves in as we age. According to recent UK research, there were an estimated 1.4 million “sandwich carers” aged 16-64 between 2021 and 2023—people juggling dual caring responsibilities. Around half of these were aged between 45 and 64.
When we look at the workforce more broadly, about one in three workers in the UK is aged 50 or over, a figure that reflects changing demographics and longer working lives.
Caring for Ageing Parents: Nuances Often Missed
Caring for a parent with declining health, or simply through the aging process, is not just about practical tasks. It’s emotional and exhausting work. In my experience, unlike caring for a toddler (who grows and develops with you), looking after a parent often means mourning the loss of who they were, even as you help them with the fundamentals of daily life:
- Helping them eat, walk, or bathe.
- Navigating digital systems—especially healthcare—when “online” is an alien concept for them.
- Managing the emotional shift from being cared for, to being the carer.
- Coping with the mental, physical and emotional health decline that often accompanies ageing and illness.
These aren’t small tasks—they are intensely personal, triggering, time-consuming and emotionally draining responsibilities that are often invisible and unacknowledged at work.
What Sandwich Caregiving Looks Like Day-to-Day
Right now, I do not find myself in this generation, however from my observations and conversations, this caregiving reality doesn’t exist in isolation—it intertwines with modern work expectations:
- High-demand jobs that leave little room for care breaks.
- The tug-of-war between career aspirations and care commitments.
- The current confusion and blur between working from home, hybrid working, working in the office, emails in the evenings, ‘managing your own workload’, which doesn’t often take into account the ‘homeload’
- Guilt over saying “no” — whether to extra hours at work, social outings, or even rest.
- Juggling care for children, grandchildren, nephews or nieces and ageing relatives.
- Being interpreters of technology, healthcare systems and cultural norms for older relatives.
And unlike the standardised support often afforded to new parents (paid parental leave, flexible hours, visibility of care needs), care for older dependents tends to be less recognised, less supported, and much more assumed to be “just part of life.”*
*I am fully aware that support for new parents has a long way to go, however relative to the support for carers and the topic of this article, it is miles ahead.
Cultural Layers: A Personal Reflection
Being South Asian, I’ve been acutely aware of the cultural dynamics of caregiving:
- Bilingualism has been a strength—flipping between English and Punjabi while navigating health systems, care plans and cultural expectations.
- Convincing elders (and wider family) that healthcare systems aren’t to be feared—especially in the face of longstanding racial inequities—adds an extra cognitive and emotional burden.
- Explaining to friends from other backgrounds why care homes aren’t just “a solution”, but often conflict with deeply held values about family, faith and community.
For many in my community, caregiving is not simply a logistics challenge—it’s a moral and familial duty. Saying older adults “need family, not outsiders” is not just cultural pride—it’s a lived priority and a core feature of love, respect and duty.
Why This Matters in the Workplace
We talk about supporting new parents in the workplace, which is vital. But we rarely talk about supporting carers of older adults, even though their needs are equally pressing:
- Longer working hours are being expected while caregiving demands rise.
- Compassionate leave policies typically offer 3–5 days—but that barely scratches the surface of extended medical appointments, hospital stays, or full-time care needs.
- Older carers may not ask for help—they were raised to keep their heads down and get on with life.
- The toll—loneliness, stress, overwhelm—can become normalised, unspoken, and unseen.
These are professionals who are burning the candle at four ends: their careers, their children, their parents, and often their grandchildren too.
What Employers Can Do
As we reimagine talent strategies, cultures of belonging, and retention plans, we must:
- Expand caregiving support beyond newborn and ‘early years’ parental leave.
- Offer accessible flexible working, without stigma, for all lived experiences, particularly those of care givers.
- Recognise caregiving as a legitimate and diverse need—not a personal burden to be hidden.
- Support wellbeing programmes through a lens of multiculturalism, cultural intelligence and multi-generational stress.
The sandwich generation is a caring generation, too—often unseen and rarely discussed. I am guilty of the latter too, ironically, until it has impacted my own lived experiences. Creating cultures of belonging means seeing these employees, understanding their lives outside of work, and acting with policies that genuinely meet the full spectrum of caregiving realities.
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.