Inclusive Practice: Creating a sense of belonging and mattering
Our first On-Demand CPD course is designed to help education professionals deepen their understanding of belonging and mattering in educational settings.
Through four expert-led recordings, reflective activities and practical resources, you'll explore these concepts in greater depth and develop strategies that can be applied within your own setting.
Duration
Approx. 2 hr
Format
On demand
30 days' access
Price
£80 + VAT
Designed for
Thrive Practitioners
Inclusive Practice: Creating a Sense of Belonging and Mattering
Overview
When children feel they belong and that they matter, they are more likely to engage, learn and develop positive relationships. This course explores why feeling valued, connected and significant is fundamental to positive outcomes for children and young people.
Drawing on current research and practical approaches, you'll examine how belonging and mattering can be influenced by everyday interactions, relationships and the wider culture of a setting.
You'll be encouraged to reflect on the experiences of children and young people in your setting and consider how inclusive practices can help create environments where every child feels seen, heard, valued and connected.
The course contributes towards maintaining your Thrive Licensed Practitioner status.
Inclusive Practice: Creating a Sense of Belonging and Mattering
What you’ll gain from this CPD
Develop your understanding of early childhood regulation and take away practical ideas you can use in everyday practice.
- Deepen your understanding of belonging and mattering in education.
- Explore practical approaches to strengthening inclusive practice.
- Reflect on your own environment, relationships and culture.
- Build confidence in helping children feel valued, connected and included.
- Access resources and strategies to support everyday practice.
- What belonging and mattering mean for children and young people.
- How belonging influences wellbeing, behaviour, learning and engagement.
- Factors that help children feel valued, connected and included.
- Practical strategies for strengthening inclusion across your setting.
- The role of relationships and school culture in fostering belonging.
- Ways to translate learning into meaningful action in your setting.
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Programme details
What you'll learn
Explore how environments, relationships and play can support regulation and development in the early years.
You’ll explore:
- How the stress-regulation system develops in early childhood, and why feeling safe is shaped by both relationships and environment.
- How sensory factors such as sound, light, movement and space can affect young children.
- The role of supportive relationships and co-regulation in building self-regulation.
- How executive functions begin to develop and why these skills can vary from moment to moment.
- How child-initiated play supports thinking, flexibility and emotional development.
- Practical ways to design environments that reduce overwhelm and support exploration.
How the course works
This one-hour on-demand course is delivered across two linked sessions, each building on the last.
Session 1 focuses on the physiological and relational environments, exploring how sensory experiences, routines, relationships and co-regulation shape children’s sense of safety.
Session 2 builds on this by exploring the cognitive environment, including executive functions and the critical role of play in early development. You’ll also reflect on the role of the adult and how your own regulation shapes the emotional climate.
The course is practical, reflective and grounded in real early years practice.
Safe Spaces, Supported Minds: Supporting emotional wellbeing in the early years
Who this course is for
This course is for professionals working with young children in early years settings, including nurseries, preschools and reception classes.
- Early years practitioners
- Nursery and preschool staff
- Reception teachers and teaching assistants
- SENCOs and inclusion staff
- Childminders
- Early years leaders
“Creativity and play can give children the means to express their emotions far more articulately than through words.”
Viv Trask-Hall | Head of Theory and Practice at Thrive
on-demand learning
Start your course
Course fee: £80 + VATLearn at your own pace, with 30 days’ access from purchase.
- Approx. 2 hours
- Start straight away