The Belonging Framework and Whole School Auditing Tool
A graduated approach to supporting attendance by increasing a sense of belonging
Why belonging matters
Evidence shows that a strong sense of belonging is central to pupil attendance and engagement. ImpactEd’s 2024 Understanding Attendance report, drawing on the voices of 30,000 young people and attendance data from over 200,000 pupils, found that pupils who attend school more regularly report significantly stronger feelings of belonging and school membership. This relationship holds true across different contexts and settings.
What pupils are telling us
National findings reinforce this picture. In the Department for Education’s May 2025 pupil survey, only 69% of pupils said they feel they belong in school on most or every day. While this marks a 12‑percentage‑point improvement on the previous year, it still leaves a substantial minority feeling disconnected. Just 57% of pupils reported that there is an adult in school who “really cares about me”, and 61% felt that an adult “listens to me”, highlighting the importance of trusted, supportive relationships.
The importance of belonging is echoed in lived experience. In 2025, the Pull Up a Chair project captured the voices of young people in Northumberland who were not attending school, exploring how their experiences of belonging—or lack of it—shaped their engagement with education. Their perspectives bring the evidence to life and underline why intentional work on belonging matters. You can watch their film here.
How to use the framework and auditing tool
The Framework is organised by the key drivers for belonging. These can be navigated to via the links in the contents page. At the top of each driver you will find a link to the corresponding Padlet of resources as well as the resources linked throughout.
You can also use the navigation links at the bottom of each page to move throughout the document.
The auditing tool reflects the 'universal' element of the framework and follows the same organisation. It looks at how a whole school approaches that can be used to enhance belonging.
The tool can be used interactively once downloaded. The RAG rating boxes will fill with colour when selected and the notes sections can be typed into. Schools can use this to evidence what they already have in place or think about what they might do next.
The Framework is organised by the key drivers for belonging. These can be navigated to via the links in the contents page. At the top of each driver you will find a link to the corresponding Padlet of resources as well as the resources linked throughout.
You can also use the navigation links at the bottom of each page to move throughout the document.
The auditing tool reflects the 'universal' element of the framework and follows the same organisation. It looks at how a whole school approaches that can be used to enhance belonging.
The tool can be used interactively once downloaded. The RAG rating boxes will fill with colour when selected and the notes sections can be typed into. Schools can use this to evidence what they already have in place or think about what they might do next.
Feedback
We are asking for feedback from schools and all teams involved. If you would like to share your experience using the framework or suggest further resources / links to support that should be included it would be great to hear from you.
Please send any questions or feedback to: psychservices@northumberland.gov.uk