Research School Network: Building belonging in small schools As a small school Head Teacher, Mari Palmer talks about the sense of ​‘belonging’ in her school

“Small schools often serve an important function in the local community, where their staff can enjoy close relationships with pupils, colleagues, and local community members.” (Kim et al 2023)

In their Improving Attendance resources, the EEF recommend that we ​‘build a culture of community and belonging for pupils.’ We do this by:
– Being inclusive by design, promoting positive relationships and attitudes
- Promoting positive relationships and active engagement for all pupils
- Adopting a positive and proactive approach to behaviour for learning

A sense of belonging is something that small schools foster well. Every member of staff has a positive relationship with every pupil and their families. We often live on the same streets!

It can be easy to feel that you are part of the community and have good relationships with parents that you see regularly, but this isn’t something that we should leave to chance. So how can we be strategic in ensuring that this is capitalised upon to maximize the positive impact of this?

It is important for us to heed the advice in the EEF Attendance Guide that:
​“An inclusive environment does not come by accident, it is achieved through design. Furthermore, it is imperative that leaders embed this culture proactively.”

In addition, as a Church of England School, we would like to feel that we are welcoming and inclusive, but how do we make sure that we live up to this and enact it on a day to day basis?

The Attendance Support Guide makes the following suggestion for an audit of provision in this area:

As a small school we should also consider the following:
- Do all families feel included in the school community, including those new to the area or who don’t live in the local community? (Fargas-Malet and Bagley, 2021)
- Is community cohesion in a small school setting enabling or limiting? As much as a close community can enhance a sense of belonging for pupils, as they can feel ​“a sense of ownership”, sometimes even though ​“security and social cohesion are built on confidence” there is the concern that ​“if it is misused may lead to distrust and control giving rise to extended vulnerability” (Karlberg-Granlund, 2019)

Our current strategies within our school are numerous, and probably very normal including:
- A minimum of two staff members on the gate every morning so there is someone to talk to (so each class teacher is outside at least one day a week)
- Regular events to which parents are invited (church services, coffee morning and learning together in school)
- Making a conscious effort to know everybody’s name, including the wider community
- Looking on the School Management System before going out on morning duty to see if it is anyone’s birthday that day

However, above these regular events in school, we also try to enhance a pupil’s sense of belonging in other ways including:
- Having whole school pupil progress meetings so all staff are aware of pupils who need support within the school including social emotional needs.
- Holding parents’ evenings at alternative times to reach parents who can’t make the regular evening
- Inviting in members of the local community and delivering invites to events around the village

We must challenge ourselves as a school as to whether our strategies are enhancing or limiting and question if the closeness of a small community makes students feel they belong or that they are being constantly scrutinised?

However, as a passionate supporter of small schools I would like to leave this on a positive note:
​“The fact that the same teacher is responsible for the pupils for a long time period and that there are only a few teachers in the village school produces a situation of vulnerability. It is a paradox that this vulnerability can turn into the strength of the village school. The teachers care for and follow the pupils’ learning and development for a long time.” (Karlberg-Granlund, 2019)

Karlberg-Granlund, 2019, Exploring the challenge of working in a small school and community: Uncovering hidden tensions, Volume 72, December 2019, Pages 293 – 305
Kim et al, 2024, The potential solutions to the challenges faced by leaders of small school in the UK: A systematic review, International Journal of Educational Research, 124, Article 102301
Fargas-Malet and Bagley, 2021, Is small beautiful? A scoping review of 21^st-century research on small rural schools in Europe, European Educational Research Journal, Volume 21, Issue 5 June 6, 2021 Pages705-868