Earlier this month the School of Education hosted a roundtable event funded by the university's Institute of Policy and Engagement. It involved nearly 40 participants including multi-academy trust CEOs, school headteachers and principles, representatives from refugee education including those with lived experiences, Nottingham City Council, pupils from Welbeck Primary School, Nottingham’s cultural education partnership ChalleNGE and university academics.
Summary of discussions
Introduction: The importance of belonging in education
The event opened with reflections from Professor Jo McIntyre, drawing on her long-standing research into refugee education and the concept of belonging. Belonging was presented as a fundamental human need—one that is especially pronounced for children and young people who have been forcibly displaced. In this context, education can act as a powerful anchor, offering stability, familiarity, and the opportunity to reimagine a hopeful future.
Understanding the complexity of belonging
Professor McIntyre offered a nuanced framework for thinking about belonging. Drawing from her research, she presented belonging as:
- temporal – rooted in memory, shaped in the present, and projecting into imagined futures
- place-based – constructed through relationships that make places meaningful
- relational and co-constructed – we move from “I” and “you” to “we”
- power-aware – involving access, justice, and privilege
- painful – entangled with loss and dislocation
- not the same as integration – requiring value, recognition, and agency
This perspective challenges superficial or tokenistic approaches. Belonging, she argues, is something we must learn together.
Expert contributions and thematic exploration
The roundtable featured a blend of research, practice, and lived experience:
- Professor Jo McIntyre (University of Nottingham) opened the session by framing belonging as a central concern of moral and inclusive educational practice.
- Youth advocates from Refugee Education UK (REUK) shared their personal experiences, highlighting education as a lifeline and urging more consistent, equitable support
- Catherine Gladwell (CEO, REUK) spoke on the double disadvantage faced by refugee children who are also identified as SEND, advocating for early intervention, appropriate screening and assessment, and approaches that integrate the needs of refugee learners with wider inclusive strategies.
Access REUK and the University of Nottingham's free online specialist teacher education programme and REUK’s other support and resources for teachers and schools
- Professor David Murphy (University of Nottingham) introduced a human flourishing model, encouraging schools to centre well-being and emotional safety for new arrivals, and to embed empathic intelligence. He shared details of the Global Flourishing Study
- Professor Lizzie Rushton (University of Stirling) explored climate-related displacement and its implications for curriculum, justice, and future preparedness.
- Drs Jen Martin and Jo Lockwood (University of Nottingham) examined technology and belonging for new arrivals, highlighting how we can support young people to navigate both the positive and negative impacts of technology - view summary report
- Cathy Mahmood shared the work of ChalleNGe, Nottingham’s cultural educational network, and how the cultural sector collaborated to create an Art of Belonging pledge building on Proferssor McIntyre's research project, The Art of Belonging.
- Professor Toby Greany provided concluding remarks drawing on his recent work on Belonging Schools.
Summary
Table-based discussions and reflective exercises captured a wide range of ideas including:
- making children feel genuinely wanted from their first day by setting a tone of care and respect
- embedding in actions, the values of kindness, equity, justice, listening, being heard, hope, optimism and commitment from the whole school
- a commitment by leadership to staff well-being and inclusion
- sharing what works across schools and trusts
- co-creating a Schools of Belonging pledge grounded in local values
Pupils from Welbeck Primary School shared reflections on what belonging means to them and their testimonies illustrated that belonging is created through relationships, respect, and recognition—and that schools play a central role in fostering it.
The roundtable affirmed that belonging is an emotional experience, an ongoing process and is something we build together through ongoing conversations and mutual understanding. It must be cultivated intentionally across schools, systems, and communities. For refugee and asylum-seeking children, whose lives have been marked by loss, displacement, and uncertainty, education can be a site of recovery, dignity, and hope.
The regional collaboration taking place in Nottingham offers a promising foundation to co-create a Schools of Belonging agenda rooted in local knowledge and national advocacy and a set of key recommendations was produced to take this forward.
Final Word
The voices of pupils, especially those from Welbeck Primary School, reminded us that belonging is felt through small actions with big meaning. Smiles, relationships, recognition, and kindness matter. A system that gets it right for refugee children gets it right for all children.
This roundtable marks not an end but a moment of momentum—a chance to move from conversation to collective action. Together, we can build schools where every child knows they are seen, safe, and significant.
Posted on Friday 25th July 2025