I raised the idea of the importance of belonging recently in my remarks, and I would just like to revisit it briefly. The article by Allen that I quoted from, included this thought, “When kids feel like they belong at school, they enjoy greater overall wellbeing, improved academic achievements, better physical and mental health, and increased self-esteem. They behave better, are kinder, and participate more in classroom and extracurricular activities when they feel connected to their schools.” (Allen, 2023)

Truly belonging is very important to the health and wellbeing of our students, as well as us. In fact, research has shown that the craving for belonging comes from the same part of our brain as our craving for food when we are hungry. (Timova et. al., 2020) That would suggest that our need to belong is at the very core of our requirements. We should not underestimate how important it is for our children to have a sense of belonging at home and school.

I have had a couple of reminders in the last little while of the value of connection and belonging. I recently received a picture via text from the mum of a Year 12 student I taught many years ago. It was a picture of a Year 12 Jumper with the names of the students in the graduating class that year. Her message was one that shared joy over each of those young people and reminded me that they belonged with me and I with them. The second thing that reminded me of the value of belonging happened during drop-off duty. A car pulled in front of me, and I noticed it was an Uber. The passengers were a mum and one of our new students. As I helped them out, I recognised the driver, and the mum said to me, “Our driver is one of our parents here too.” After thinking about what the chances of that are, I moved to reflect on how beautiful it is to belong to a school family where we can enjoy connections with one another even in the incidentals of life such as school drop offs.

If you get a chance, go back to last week’s article and re-read the practical tips on helping our kids develop a sense of belonging to your family and our school. It is a basic need for us all, and we need to fill it wisely.

Have a great week with our kids,

Mark B