Belonging

As we huddled in the office, the British sun beating down outside, our SLT looked over the draft school development plan one more time. 'A sense of belonging' was a theme, in different guises, evident throughout. 

Although it now feels like an unacceptable reason to give in some quarters - the post-impact of coronovirus can still be felt in our school in inner-city Derby. There are pre 2020 ways of working that have just not made it back into school - one being the community aspect of school. This next year there will be a whole host of opportunities for parents to come into classrooms and see learning happening firsthand. If you want to be the centre of your community - opening your doors up has got to be a consideration. Our curriculum has had changes to closely reflect our children too - since our curriculum was developed four years ago, we now have an increase of around 90 children who have joined us directly from Nigeria. How does our curriculum speak to those children and families? 

On a recent visit to the Ron Clark School in Atlanta, the thing that struck me was how they had created a sense of belonging for everyone in the building and their extended community. A1 sized staff portrait posters donned the hallways, classrooms were personalised to reflect the teachers personality with huge graffiti walls. No reduced cognitive load in these classrooms and it was actually quite refreshing to not see hessian displays taking over every inch of wall. Who did the graffiti walls? The local youths who had spent the previous years defacing shop fronts and homes were offered the opportunity to be paid to do the INSIDE of the school, on the understanding that they never sprayed the outside of the school. Guess what? The exterior walls stood pristine. What a way to bring a sense of belonging to those with no prior affiliation to a school. When the students move on from the Ron Clark Academy, the academy does not move on from them: the student's house colours and crests are there to welcome them in their first day at college or university in the form of bedsheets, posters and video recordings. 'You are an important part of our present and our history and we are not going to forget you.'

 On our first day in Meghalaya this year, we asked Wanlang what could be done to improve the project. His response? "We need badges - after all this time, some teachers still do not understand who we work for and what our role is". I felt mildly embarrassed to have had this oversight. Would I go to work everyday with nobody knowing my role or my purpose? No. 

Another element we are introducing to the project is official LBQ school user accreditation for the India schools. On announcing this on the staff training day, there were nods of approvals and affirmations for the project. I am starting to realise much more acutely that we really must feel like we belong before we can fully invest. 

That parent who never turns up to their parent evening slot, the child with 82% attendance, the family who have recently moved to area, the new ECT teacher who is living away from home for the first time - are we doing enough to ensure a sense of belonging is not left to chance? Can we be better at planning for this? As we huddled in the office, the British sun beating down outside, that's exactly what we did.