Whole-school level strategies
At the whole school level, a sense of belonging can be cultivated through inclusive practices, policies facilitating school unity and shared values that contribute to a cohesive learning environment for students and staff.
Celebrating the cultural diversity of students and families at the whole-school level enhances students’ feelings of inclusion. Intentional strategies to embrace diversity can lead to students feeling accepted and valued as integral members of the school community.
Embracing diverse languages: Various signs around the school (e.g., the welcome sign, signages for different school buildings) can be displayed in the main languages spoken by the student cohort. Schools can encourage multilingual greetings between teachers, students and their peers.
Parental cultural groups: Schools can be a site for hosting informal, regular meetings between families from the same cultural backgrounds to facilitate networking and friendship.
Knowing students deeply: Deep knowledge of students’ cultural backgrounds means schools are better able to recognise diversity specific to the school’s population. This includes celebrating cultural days as part of the school calendar (e.g., Diwali for schools with high enrolment of Indian students) and integrating cultural elements during classroom activities (e.g., weaving and learning about traditional medicines to incorporate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives; co-creating murals with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students).
We want all students to feel a sense of belonging in our school, therefore we embrace different cultures in our school... We want to make the parents feel welcome, and for students to see that they’re being represented in lots of different ways.
Epping Public School
There was a connection that we didn’t have previously that was formed through sitting with some of these kids and completing the art projects... Through that [process] there was a real sense of story and ownership.
The Meadows Public School
Schools can promote a strong sense of belonging by fostering a culture of unity. To achieve this, the school can create an environment for the school community to come together as a collective whole, connected by a set of key values.
Shared explicitly stated values: Having a shared set of values that are regularly referred to by students and staff can contribute to a sense of unity in the school community. Schools can establish a core set of expectations that is known and understood by the entire school community, which is reinforced in the language used during assemblies, lessons and around the school.
Creating a school identity: A sense of belonging to a school can be created through designing school uniforms or sports jerseys in collaboration with students; collaboratively painting a mural in the playground representing the school; and investing in the physical upkeep of the school so that students feel pride in belonging to the school community.
[PRIDE] is the language we speak at our school. So if I have to discuss any challenges with students or things like that, I will say, what do you think I’m concerned about? Nine times out of ten the girls will go to one of these values and actually define what they’ve been working on.
Macarthur Girls High School
We have all four jerseys co-designed [by students]. They have their own numbers, and the staff wear them as well, and they’ve got our school colours. You get off the bus and the other schools are just wearing their sports uniform. The other kids see that, they notice it, and they do make comments about how good our jerseys look. There is the sense of pride because other schools comment on it.
The Meadows Public School