A Whole‑School Approach to Culture, Curriculum & Wellbeing

A high‑impact whole‑staff INSET introducing your school’s Belong – Achieve – Thrive approach, helping staff build a culture of belonging, achievement and thriving aligned with Ofsted’s 2025/26 framework.

Schools today are working with pupils who are learning, growing and coping in a world that feels more complex than ever. Across the country, children and young people are experiencing higher levels of anxiety, fluctuating attendance, and a greater need for emotional safety and connection — trends that Ofsted has explicitly recognised in the renewed 2025 framework. The new model places wellbeing, inclusion and belonging at the heart of how school effectiveness is judged, with emotional safety identified as a foundation for learning.

At the same time, Ofsted has introduced a clearer definition of what it means for pupils to flourish, using the Belong – Achieve – Thrive lens to evaluate how well schools support pupils’ academic progress and their wider development. This approach emphasises that pupils learn best when they feel they belong to a safe, supportive community; when they are enabled to achieve through effective teaching; and when they develop the confidence, resilience, wellbeing and readiness needed to thrive beyond school.

This shift is not simply about meeting an inspection requirement — it reflects what we know from evidence and daily experience:

• Pupils who feel they belong at school show stronger engagement, better behaviour, and greater emotional confidence.
• Pupils who are supported to achieve through consistent routines, high expectations and adaptive teaching make more meaningful academic progress.
• Pupils who are taught the skills to thrive — resilience, self‑regulation, independence, and wellbeing — are more prepared for the demands of the modern world, including transitions, relationships and future learning.

The challenge for schools is that these outcomes cannot be delivered by pockets of good practice alone. They depend on every adult shaping daily experiences that create safety, connection, ambition and opportunity. This makes Belong – Achieve – Thrive a genuine whole‑school culture, not a programme or bolt‑on.

This INSET has been designed to help your entire staff team — teachers, support staff, pastoral colleagues, and leaders — build shared understanding, shared language and shared action. It brings together research‑informed strategies, practical classroom tools and whole‑school approaches that make belonging, achievement and thriving visible in every interaction and every learning space.

In a time when wellbeing, attendance and inclusion are high‑stakes priorities for schools, and when Ofsted expects a more holistic picture of pupil development, this training helps your team feel confident, aligned and ready. It supports staff to see that what they do every day contributes to something bigger — a school where every pupil truly belongs, achieves and thrives.

Belong – Achieve – Thrive Implementation Workshop is Perfect For a School Leader Who Wants to:

✔ bring the whole staff together
✔ create consistency across all adults
✔ embed personal development into everyday practice
✔ strengthen relationships, wellbeing and inclusion
✔ show clear strategic direction for Ofsted
✔ build a warm, positive, high‑expectations culture

Belong – Achieve – Thrive Implementation Workshop Outline

Why Belong – Achieve – Thrive Matters: A Shared Purpose for the Whole Staff Team

For all staff — teaching and support:

• What the new Ofsted framework prioritises: pupil wellbeing, inclusion, emotional safety and belonging. [nga.org.uk]
• Why every adult contributes to a culture where pupils feel they belong and are ready to learn.
• How the Belong–Achieve–Thrive model underpins inspectors’ evaluation of inclusion and school culture. [gov.uk]

Outcome: Staff feel aligned, energised, and clear about why this matters and where they fit.

BELONG: Creating a School Where Every Pupil Feels Safe, Connected & Included

Whole‑staff focus:

• What belonging looks like in corridors, classrooms, the playground and the lunch hall.
• How micro‑behaviours from adults shape pupil identity, confidence and safety.
• Strengthening relationships and routines that help pupils feel known and valued.
• Understanding belonging through representation and pupil voice — now part of inclusion expectations.

Practical activities:

• “Belonging audit” as a table activity
• 5 simple relational routines every adult can apply tomorrow
• Spot‑and‑fix: small things that unintentionally exclude pupils

Outcome: Staff leave with concrete ways to strengthen belonging in their everyday interactions.

ACHIEVE: Ensuring All Pupils Make Meaningful Academic & Personal Progress

Whole‑staff approach to achievement:

• How consistent routines, expectations and language across the school boost learning.
• Linking personal development behaviours (resilience, independence, confidence) to pupil progress.
• Reducing barriers for SEND and disadvantaged pupils so that achievement is equitable.

Hands‑on strategies:

• Shared language around effort, perseverance and learning behaviours
• “One‑minute strategies” to reinforce independence and challenge
• Modelling learning stamina and cognitive strategies in all subjects

Outcome: Staff see the link between their daily practice and improved learning outcomes.

THRIVE: Building Resilient, Confident, Well‑Prepared Learners

What thriving means for pupils:

• Emotional safety and wellbeing as foundations for sustained learning.
• Thriving behaviours: adaptability, self‑regulation, confidence and readiness for next steps — core to the renewed framework. [gov.uk]
• The fluid nature of vulnerability and why whole‑staff vigilance matters.

Practical strategies for all staff:

• How to respond when a child “can’t cope” with challenge
• Teaching pupils simple regulation and resilience techniques
• Reframing setbacks to help pupils develop confidence and agency

Outcome: Staff feel equipped to build emotional resilience consistently across the school.

What Belong – Achieve – Thrive Looks Like in Practice: Whole‑School Consistency

Core message: Every member of staff is a culture‑builder.

Workshop elements:

• A walk‑through of “The BAT School Day”: how Belong–Achieve–Thrive appears in routines
• Creating common language and shared expectations
• Mapping responsibilities: who leads what, and what every adult owns
• Staff discussion: “What can we do that makes the biggest difference?”

Outcome: Clear, shared behaviours from all adults that align with leadership priorities.

Belong – Achieve – Thrive Implementation Workshop: Turning Ideas into Action

Staff work in teams (departments / phases / support teams) to:

• Identify three immediate changes to embed BAT principles
• Agree a consistent approach to belonging, achievement and thriving in their area
• Set first‑30‑day goals
• Capture quick wins and longer‑term development needs

Outcome: Ownership. Staff leave with a practical, achievable plan they helped build.

Monitoring, Celebrating & Sustaining the Culture

• How leaders will support staff with this approach
• How success will be noticed, celebrated and reinforced
• Using pupil voice, learning walks and behaviour data to track progress
• Preparing for what inspectors will see, hear and ask
  (Belonging, inclusion, wellbeing and culture are now central areas of scrutiny.)

Outcome: Staff feel supported, not judged — and see this as a positive cultural shift.

enquiries@jmcinset.com