The connections in this room

Learning intention By the end of this lesson, students can name small actions that support belonging and identify everyday points of connection across a group.

Time: 40 minutes
How the room works: Whole class
You need: A simple 3 by 3 grid and pens
Opens with: Make it rain

Before you start

Keep prompts about interests and everyday preferences, never family circumstances, health, identity disclosure or painful experiences. Watch for isolation and provide alternatives to mingling.

Read the full safeguarding note Adapting it for your class A note home for this lesson

Four hands painting coloured swirls together on one sheet — Illustration by RecipesforWellbeing.org, CC BY-NC 4.0

Why this matters

Belonging is shaped by ordinary moments: who receives a reply, who is welcomed into a conversation and whether there is room for difference. These choices will not remove wider barriers, and no one is responsible for their own inclusion. They still shape how a group feels and who gets to take part.

Skill in context Deepening the bonds between people who care about one another and feel that they belong together.

On the skill of community building Try the interactive practice

1

Open with “Make it rain”

5 min

Use Make it rain to create a shared sound. Students can use smaller movements, join without touching the desk or listen throughout.

Read aloud

We are going to make the sound of a rainstorm together. This one gets loud, so if that is hard today you can rub your palms only, or just watch. Begin by rubbing your palms as the wind starts to rise.

Add the first drops by clicking your fingers, move into steady rain by clapping, and then pat your legs for the downpour.

Follow me back through the sounds until the room is quiet again.

Take a moment to notice what the group created by paying attention to one another.

Listen for Keep the sound at a comfortable level and make quiet participation visible as a valid choice.

2

Teacher explanation

10 min

Community is not the same as sameness. People can belong together while bringing different needs, histories and opinions. Belonging becomes more possible when a group makes its expectations clear, notices barriers and treats care as something shared.

Small actions matter, but they sit inside larger conditions. Saving a seat can welcome someone; it cannot repair discrimination or replace the responsibility of adults and institutions to make a setting safe and accessible.

Questions for the room

What small actions help a group feel welcoming without asking everyone to be the same?
What can make joining a group difficult, even when individuals intend to be friendly?
How can a group respond when someone is repeatedly left out?

3

Finding points of connection

18 min

Fill each square with a low-disclosure prompt, such as enjoying a comfort programme, learning another language, preferring rain to sunshine or having a song to recommend.
Invite students to find a different classmate for each square. They may write a first name only with permission, leave squares blank or pass on any prompt.
Give the class seven minutes and encourage one follow-up question before moving on. Filling the grid is not a race or a requirement.
Make alternatives available for anyone who cannot or does not want to move around, such as partners coming to them, seated groups or a show of hands.
Bring the group back and ask what common ground appeared in unexpected places. Do not invite comments about individual students.
Close by naming the actions that made connection easier and any design changes that would make the activity more inclusive next time.

4

Private reflection

5 min

Think of a group you are part of without naming it. What is one small action you could offer, and what is one change the group itself could make, to support belonging?

How they reflect Private journal

5

Closing

2 min

Today's connections were ordinary, and that is where much of community is made. Belonging grows when people offer care and when groups remove the barriers that keep care from reaching everyone.

Safeguarding

Keep prompts about interests and everyday preferences, never family circumstances, health, identity disclosure or painful experiences. Watch for isolation and provide alternatives to mingling. Address repeated exclusion through the setting's pastoral and safeguarding routes rather than making a student solve it publicly.

If something a young person says gives you concern, follow your setting’s usual safeguarding route. This is not yours to carry alone.

Adapting it

Ages 13 to 15: Use playful, concrete prompts, model one conversation and reduce the grid to six squares if needed. Give students a seated option from the beginning.
Ages 16 to 18: Invite students to distinguish welcoming behaviour from structural inclusion, and consider how a group can hold disagreement without becoming hostile or closed.

In other settings

Form time: Use a six-square grid and four minutes, then name one action that made joining easier.
Assembly: Read low-disclosure prompts and use optional hands or quiet noticing to reveal shared interests without singling anyone out.
Small group: Replace the grid with a gentle conversation about everyday points of connection and what helps each person participate.

Curriculum connections

Australia, Personal and Social Capability: Social awareness: community awareness; relational awareness; Social management: communicationChecked by AI review against Australian Curriculum Version 9.0, General capabilities: Personal and Social capability, its elements and sub-elements on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Brazil, BNCC: Empathy and cooperation (GC 9) — welcoming and valuing diversity; Responsibility and citizenship (GC 10) — inclusive, solidary actionNot yet checked against its source.
Canada, BC Core Competencies: Social Awareness and Responsibility — building relationships; valuing diversity (inclusive language and actions)Not yet checked against its source.
Canada, Ontario HPE: Interpersonal skills — appreciating differences in people, showing respect (1.4) · Gr 7–8: A1.4, A1.5 (belonging)Not yet checked against its source.
Chile, Orientación: Belonging and participation — shared interests and needs within one's groups (OA 7); Interpersonal relationships — inclusion (OA 5)Not yet checked against its source.
England, PSHE: Relationships: forming and maintaining respectful relationships (KS3 R14, R41)Checked by AI review against the PSHE Association's Programme of Study for PSHE education, Key stages 1 to 5, 2020 wording (read from a school-hosted copy, 2023/24) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
England, RSHE: Respectful relationships: treating others with kindness and respect (statement 2)Checked by AI review against the DfE's Relationships education, relationships and sex education (RSE) and health education guidance in force from 1 September 2026 on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Finland, Transversal competences: L7 Participation, involvement and building a sustainable future — class and school community; L2 — diversity as a resourceNot yet checked against its source.
Ghana, Core competencies: Core value — diversity: respecting the views of all persons, social cohesionNot yet checked against its source.
Hong Kong, Values Education: Unity (團結); Respect for Others (尊重他人) — including people of different backgrounds, rejecting prejudice (S1–S3)Not yet checked against its source.
India, NEP: Collaboration and teamwork (NEP 4.23); Spirit of service (NEP Principles)Checked by AI review against the National Education Policy 2020, final English text (July 2020, the PIB-hosted copy) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Indonesia, Graduate profile: Collaboration (kolaborasi) — caring and working with diverse people; Citizenship (kewargaan) — valuing diversityNot yet checked against its source.
Ireland, Junior Cycle Wellbeing: Connected — to my school, friends and community; Respected — showing care and respect for othersNot yet checked against its source.
Japan, Courses of Study: Special activities — respecting individuality, building better relationships; Moral education C — fairness and impartiality (公正，公平)Not yet checked against its source.
Kenya, Competency-based curriculum: Citizenship — a sense of belonging and respect for others; Core value — unityNot yet checked against its source.
Mexico, Nueva Escuela Mexicana: Field: The human and the community — a sense of community and belonging; Axis: InclusionNot yet checked against its source.
New Zealand, Health and PE: Hauora: taha whānau (feelings of belonging); Relationships with other people — identity, sensitivity, and respectNot yet checked against its source.
Scotland, Health and wellbeing: Social wellbeing — making the school a welcoming place for all (HWB 3-10a); making friends and being part of a group (HWB 3-14a)Checked by AI review against Education Scotland's Curriculum for Excellence, Health and wellbeing: experiences and outcomes on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Singapore, CCE: SEC: social awareness and relationship managementChecked by AI review against MOE's 2021 Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) Syllabus, Secondary on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
South Africa, Life Orientation: Constitutional rights and responsibilities — unity in diversity: respect difference, celebrate similarity (Gr 8)Not yet checked against its source.
United States, CASEL: social awareness; relationship skillsChecked by AI review against the CASEL Framework (2020), as published on casel.org on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
European Union, LifeComp: S3 Collaboration — the common good, respecting different backgrounds (S3.1); S1 Empathy — how group belonging shapes attitudes (S1.3)Not yet checked against its source.
Middle East and North Africa, UNICEF life skills: Respect for diversity — valuing individual differences in a group; Participation — shaping group life togetherNot yet checked against its source.
IB, ATL: Social: collaboration skills (practising empathy)Checked by AI review against the IB's MYP: From principles into practice, Approaches to learning (for use from September 2014/January 2015, a school-hosted copy) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
OECD Learning Compass: Skills: social and emotional skills (empathy, collaboration); Student agency: co-agencyChecked by AI review against the OECD Learning Compass 2030 concept notes Skills for 2030 and Core Foundations for 2030 (2019) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
UNESCO SEL: EmpathyChecked by AI review against MGIEP's page naming the four competencies, with their definitions from summaries of Rethinking Learning (MGIEP, 2020), which could not be opened on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
WHO life skills: Interpersonal relationship skills — making and keeping friendly relationships; Empathy — accepting others who are differentNot yet checked against its source.
Inner Development Goals: Relating: Connectedness; Collaborating: Relationship-Building SkillsChecked by AI review against the Inner Development Guide's 25 skills across 5 dimensions (idg.guide, 2025) on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.
Sessions for advocates, capacities: Establish connectionChecked by AI review against the three capacities of Ten sessions for advocates, as the sessions on /advocates/ name them on 10 October 2026, not yet by a human adviser.