Please, design for belonging before designing for learning

Years ago, I watched a video about a school in Doncaster called XP. It followed their students during their very first week at secondary school. Instead of jumping straight into timetables and subjects, they spent days outdoors, hiking together, climbing a mountain, facing challenges and discovering what the school describes as Crew.

But the moment that has stayed with me most comes quite early in the video. About six minutes in, one boy, visibly emotional, shares that he had been excluded at his previous school, and that after only a few days at XP, he already feels that he belongs.

I remember sitting there with goosebumps, trying not to cry.

And that feeling never really left. Even now, years later, just thinking about that moment gives me goosebumps all over again.

If you have six minutes, watch the beginning of this video until you’ve heard him speak. The full film is 38 minutes long — and absolutely worth watching — but those first six minutes already show something that has stayed with me for years.

Looking back, that video did more than just move me. It confirmed something I had already started to believe: before we can really think about learning, we need to think about the culture in which that learning takes place.

I wasn’t just watching a nice orientation week. I was seeing a school that had intentionally designed its culture, yes, but more importantly, was living it out in visible ways, creating moments that carry that culture to students, and returning to them again and again.

Not a statement on paper, but a shared experience that everyone can point back to.

And that raises a question I think we should ask more often:

Do we design for belonging before we design for learning?

We design so much. Curricula, timetables, lessons, assessments, learning environments.

But beneath all that, what does it actually mean to be part of this community? What can we expect of each other? How do we hold one another when things get tough? And how do we celebrate when things go well? How do we acknowledge each other’s wins?

That opening week isn’t just a nice extra camp. It’s a shared point of reference. Something you can return to when things get tough: Remember how we kept going together.

And it’s also something to celebrate together. A reminder of shared joy, being proud of one another and saying: We did this.

It’s about holding each other in challenge, yes, but also in success. Both become part of the fabric that holds the community together.

This week, I’ll be spending a couple of days working alongside XP. I’m genuinely proud to have been invited in and to become part of that experience, even if only briefly.

And maybe that leaves me with a question for you:

At your school or in your classroom, have you intentionally designed for belonging? What are the rituals that help you sustain it, and return to again and again?

Keep building belonging,

Rob