Leading School Belonging and Wellbeing: A Strategic Framework for Schools

Belonging and wellbeing are no longer extras for schools. Ofsted now grades every school on inclusion and on personal development and well-being, and the 2026 Schools White Paper expects every school to monitor pupils' sense of belonging and engagement by 2029. Pupils who feel they belong attend more, achieve more and are better protected against mental health difficulties.

For school leaders, the question is no longer whether to act, but how to lead this well without adding to an already heavy load. Worth-it's School Belonging and Wellbeing Framework gives you a clear, practical, whole-school way to do that.

What is strategic leadership of school belonging and wellbeing?

Strategic leadership of belonging and wellbeing means the whole school community working together, through shared processes and strategies, so that every pupil and member of staff feels they belong and can thrive. It involves senior leaders, teachers, support staff, governors, parents and carers, pupils and the wider community.

When it is done well, belonging, inclusion, personal development and wellbeing stop being separate initiatives. They become part of the school's culture and ethos, and they show up in how the school feels every day.

It is also one of the most effective ways to prevent mental health difficulties and support pupils to succeed. It is sustainable, and it has a positive impact on behaviour, relationships, attendance and achievement.

Why belonging and wellbeing matter for schools now

The need is greater than ever

One in five 8 to 16-year-olds in England had a probable mental disorder in 2023, according to NHS England. At the same time, only 63% of 15-year-olds in England say they feel they belong at school.

These two facts are connected. A strong sense of belonging protects mental health, while pupils who feel they don't belong are more likely to struggle, disengage and stay away from school.

Belonging drives attendance and achievement

Belonging is not a soft outcome. DfE research published in 2026 found pupils who strongly felt they did not belong at school scored around 8 Attainment 8 points lower than those who strongly felt they did, close to a grade per GCSE, after accounting for prior attainment and background. Schools with high belonging, attendance and attainment describe the three as a virtuous cycle: pupils who belong want to come to school, and pupils who are in school can learn.

Inspection and policy now expect it

• Ofsted's renewed framework. Since 10 November 2025, schools receive a report card graded across evaluation areas that include inclusion and personal development and well-being, as well as attendance and behaviour and leadership and governance. Inclusion is both a standalone area and a theme running through the others.
• The 2026 Schools White Paper. Every Child Achieving and Thriving sets out a new Pupil Engagement Framework, an expectation that schools monitor belonging and engagement by 2029, and SEND reforms including inclusion bases and a published inclusion strategy for every school.
• Senior Mental Health Leads. Under the previous gorvernent the DfE encouraged every school to have a Senior Mental Health Lead to develop a whole-school approach to mental health, this is an important role in leading scholl wellbeing and belonging.

Together, these make belonging and wellbeing part of how a school is judged and part of its core business.

Why a strategic approach, not more initiatives

Improving belonging, inclusion and wellbeing can feel overwhelming and expensive. Many schools respond by adding initiatives: a wellbeing week here, a one-off training session there. These rarely last.

Recent DfE case-study research into schools with high belonging found the opposite pattern. These schools treated belonging as everyone's responsibility, focused on a small number of clear principles, and built structures that outlast any one champion. Belonging was not a programme they ran; it was the way the school worked.

That is what a strategic framework helps you do.

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Worth-it's School Belonging and Wellbeing Framework

Our framework combines positive and organisational psychology with mental health in schools guidance, and reflects the dynamic way belonging and wellbeing develop in schools and colleges. It gives leaders a structure to audit, plan, act and talk governors and inspectors through their approach.

It answers the question every leader is really asking: how do I lead this, and across which parts of school life? Its 10 areas are not wellbeing activities. They are the domains a leader has to own and sequence.

The 10 areas of the framework

1. Leadership and management

• Leaders champion belonging, inclusion and wellbeing across the school.
• Belonging and wellbeing are built into school strategy and the school improvement plan.
• Leaders monitor pupils' and staff's sense of belonging and act on what they find.

2. Culture and ethos: policy, process and place

• The school's values are lived daily, not just displayed, with a shared language everyone uses.
• Policies, including behaviour, attendance and uniform, support inclusion and belonging for all.
• The physical environment is welcoming and includes calm spaces any pupil can use.

3. Staff development and training

• Staff learn how to look after their own wellbeing and build wellbeing as a team.
• Staff are trained to build strong relationships with pupils and to support pupils with wellbeing and inclusion needs.
• Staff understand how to promote belonging and wellbeing through everyday teaching.

4. Staff wellbeing and belonging

• Positive relationships underpin staff wellbeing.
• Staff feel valued, heard and part of the school community. Staff belonging is a precondition for pupil belonging.
• Staff lead initiatives they identify as important for their own wellbeing.

5. Universal wellbeing curriculum

• Wellbeing and social-emotional skills are explicitly taught to all pupils.
• The curriculum reflects pupils' identities and communities, so every pupil sees themselves in it.
• Pupils lead belonging and wellbeing approaches among their peers.

6. Day-to-day experience of belonging and wellbeing

• Every pupil is known by name and as a person by adults in school.
• Belonging and wellbeing are experienced through daily interactions, greetings, routines and rituals.
• Pupils have a genuine voice in school life and see their ideas lead to change.

7. Targeted support and prevention

• A range of targeted support and prevention programmes meets different pupil needs, including for disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Staff know how to spot early signs of difficulty and help pupils access support early.
• Programmes are reviewed and used to plan interventions, including those that prevent persistent absence and emotionally based school avoidance (EBSA), using a coaching approach that builds character, resilience and independence.

8. Pathways to specialist support

• There is a clear pathway to specialist support for pupils whose SEND, inclusion or mental health needs go beyond targeted support and the school's inclusion base.
• Staff, pupils and families know the referral pathway and how to use it.

9. Parents and carers

• Parents and carers feel welcome and part of the school community.
• They understand and contribute to the school's approach to belonging, inclusion and wellbeing.
• The school shares practical ways to support their child's wellbeing at home.

10. Agencies and key stakeholders

• Work with external agencies is an integral part of support for pupil and staff wellbeing and inclusion.
• The school works with specialist providers such as school nurses, Mental Health Support Teams, CAMHS, local inclusion providers and specialist bases.
• Agencies are reviewed to make sure they offer good-quality universal, targeted and specialist support.

Building your inclusion, belonging and wellbeing plan

Planning your strategy doesn't mean reinventing the wheel. It means reflecting honestly on what you already do well, doing more of it, and taking clear steps to close the gaps.

Working through the 10 areas one at a time makes that manageable. You can prioritise, track progress and show governors and inspectors how you are moving the school forward. The framework also links directly to what schools now need to show: your inclusion strategy, your approach to personal development and wellbeing, and your monitoring of belonging and engagement.

Our Leading School Wellbeing course takes you through this step by step, with a review tool, planning templates and half-termly drop-in calls, so you can build a plan that fits your school and feel confident it will make a real difference.

Building your inclusion, belonging and wellbeing plan

Planning your strategy doesn't mean reinventing the wheel. It means reflecting honestly on what you already do well, doing more of it, and taking clear steps to close the gaps.

Working through the 10 areas one at a time makes that manageable. You can prioritise, track progress and show governors and inspectors how you are moving the school forward. The framework also links directly to what schools now need to show: your inclusion strategy, your approach to personal development and wellbeing, and your monitoring of belonging and engagement.

Our Leading School Wellbeing course takes you through this step by step, with a review tool, planning templates and half-termly drop-in calls, so you can build a plan that fits your school and feel confident it will make a real difference.

Leading belonging as a whole-school system

Every element of belonging and wellbeing in a school is connected. Change in one area ripples through the others. Improving staff wellbeing strengthens pupil wellbeing. Building pupil belonging and resilience improves attendance and behaviour, which in turn reduces staff stress.

That is why we describe our framework as a system. Once the right conditions are in place, belonging and wellbeing become self-sustaining, efficient and low-cost to maintain.

There is no single starting point. Every school is already on its own journey, and we work with leaders to build on existing practice, strengthen key areas and address gaps.

Strategic versus piecemeal: what's the difference?

A strategic, belonging-led approach:

• Belonging and wellbeing underpin every part of school life and are core business.
• There is a shared language of belonging, personal development and wellbeing.
• Belonging and wellbeing are visible in policies, processes and the school environment.
• Everyone knows their role, and every pupil is known by adults in school.
• Wellbeing is taught to all pupils and experienced every day.
• Support is proactive, and inclusive of disadvantaged pupils and pupils with SEND.
• Pupils have a real voice and see it make a difference.
• Belonging is measured, reviewed and improved over time.
• Staff wellbeing and belonging are treated as fundamental.

A piecemeal approach:

• Wellbeing is a one-off workshop, assembly or training session.
• It is seen as a bolt-on, a fad or a tick-box exercise.
• Policies and processes work against belonging, or even make things worse.
• Activity is tokenistic: done to be seen, not to make a difference.
• It is left to one or two people, such as the mental health lead or SENCO.
• Support is reactive, reaching pupils only once problems have escalated.
• Mental health is stigmatised or misunderstood.
• Pupils are present but not genuinely included.
• Staff are stretched and stressed, and the culture becomes resistant.

Benefits of leading belonging and wellbeing strategically

For learning

• Higher motivation, engagement and commitment to learning
• Better attendance and fewer pupils persistently absent
• Improved focus, attitudes to learning and social-emotional skills
• Stronger progress and attainment

For behaviour

• Less disruption, fewer incidents and less bullying
• Fewer suspensions and exclusions

For pupils

• A stronger sense of belonging and connection
• Better emotional wellbeing, resilience and life satisfaction
• Earlier identification and support for mental health difficulties
• Reduced stigma around mental health

For staff

• Less stress and sickness absence
• Better retention, morale and relationships
• More confident, effective teaching

For leaders

• A clear way to talk governors and inspectors through your approach to inclusion and personal development and well-being
• A head start on monitoring belonging and engagement ahead of 2029

Building the skills for belonging and wellbeing: the SEARCH framework

A strong culture creates the conditions for belonging, but pupils also need the skills to connect with others, manage difficult feelings and cope when things go wrong. That is why the universal curriculum is one of the 10 areas of our framework, and why our approach to teaching wellbeing draws on the SEARCH pathways to wellbeing, developed by Lea Waters and Daniel Loton through more than a decade of research. Waters is also one of the authors of the leading meta-analysis on school belonging (Allen et al., 2018).

SEARCH is made up of six pathways, and each one shapes how pupils feel about themselves, each other and school:

• Strengths: pupils who know and use their strengths feel valued for what they bring, not only for their grades.
• Emotional management: understanding and regulating emotions helps pupils feel safe and stay in learning on difficult days.
• Attention and awareness: noticing their own thoughts and feelings, and those of others, helps pupils focus and respond with empathy.
• Relationships: the skills to make friends, repair conflict and ask for help sit at the heart of belonging.
• Coping: pupils who can manage stress and setbacks are more resilient through transitions, exams and change.
• Habits and goals: healthy routines and personal goals give pupils a sense of purpose and progress.

Taught explicitly through PSHE and RSHE, and reinforced through everyday routines and relationships, SEARCH gives the whole school a shared language for wellbeing. When staff and pupils use the same language, wellbeing becomes part of the culture, and pupils who might otherwise feel on the edges have the skills to connect and take part. It also supports what Ofsted looks for in personal development and well-being: pupils building the confidence, resilience and knowledge to keep themselves mentally healthy.

Why we created the School Wellbeing and Belonging framework

Worth-it has worked with hundreds of schools over 15 years, helping them build belonging and wellbeing. We piloted our approach in 2016 with the NHS and 20 schools across Leicestershire, and have since used it with more than 110 schools nationally.

We found that many popular wellbeing frameworks didn't capture how change really happens in schools. So we combined our practical experience with the evidence base to create a dynamic leadership system that helps leaders see where to start, what to prioritise and how to sustain change. Originally we used this framework to support schools develop cultures of positive mental health, then we realised that positive relationships and belonging were threded through every layer of the framework so we updateded it in 2026 to align with resrach, applied practice and goverment reform.

How we support you: Leading School Wellbeing

Leading School Wellbeing is our new leadership training programme for headteachers, Senior Mental Health Leads, inclusion leads, SENCOs and pastoral leads in primary, secondary and post-16 settings. Built on our framework, it shows you what a whole-school culture of wellbeing and belonging looks like in practice, and how to lead it.

Launching 3rd December 2026.  Join our Introductory Live Training Cohort!

Six short modules

1. Lead: what whole-school wellbeing and belonging looks like, the leader's role, and staff wellbeing and workload.
2. Belong: relationships, trauma-informed practice and inclusion, including belonging for disadvantaged pupils, pupils with SEND and others who face barriers, and working with families.
3. Know: understanding your school's starting point, using the data you already have and pupil, staff and parent voice.
4. Support: early identification and targeted support, including peer support, coaching and when to refer.
5. Teach: a wellbeing curriculum built on the SEARCH framework, with wellbeing caught as well as taught.
6. Sustain: planning, policy and showing impact, including your wellbeing and belonging strategy and reporting to governors.

How it works

• 5 hours of self-paced learning, with short videos and practical tools planning, stratagy and audti for every module
• Start any time, with 12 months' access (Join our live introductory launch cohort!)
• Six 90-minute drop-in hotline calls across the year, one each half term, to ask questions and review your work
• Every module ends with one practical tool you complete for your own school

What your school leaves with

• A completed Wellbeing and Belonging Review
• A one-page wellbeing and belonging plan that slots into your school development plan
• The wellbeing section of your published inclusion strategy
• Support for your updates to school policies and a governor briefing templates
• A certificate, plus access to a library of templates and school examples

The course is aligned with Ofsted's school inspection toolkit, especially personal development and wellbeing and inclusion. Everything you produce is a normal school improvement document you can talk governors and inspectors through, not paperwork made for inspection.

Price

£395 + VAT per school for one leader with 12 months' access. Founding price: £345 + VAT until 31 January 2027. With trust and cluster pricing for five or more schools. Register your interest‍