School is for Everyone

Improving participation and wellbeing for every student

The SIFE (School is for Everyone) project seeks to understand and improve the participation and felt sense of belonging for students at risk of disengaging from school.

To find out more about this project, you may like to read the Project Overview, the Evidence Review Summary and our Executive Summary, which summarises the main findings.

What does this research involve?

This is a collaborative mixed methods study involving high schools across NSW. The project has four phases.

We conducted 30 focus groups with students in Years 8-11 (n=183); interviews with Principals (n=10); and school staff in teaching and support roles (n=30), to identify practices at their school that help and hinder participation and felt sense of belonging for students who are most at risk of disengaging.

Phase 1

What did we find out from Phase 1?

Phase 1 identified a range of practices that help and hinder participation and belonging at school.

Four areas of participation were affirmed by students and staff as important for improving their experience of school. These were:

1. 1. Having a say
   2. Having choices
   3. Working together
   4. Having influence over decisions

Five areas of belonging were identified by both students and staff as important for improving experiences of school. These were:

1. 1. Connecting with peers
   2. Fostering safety & wellbeing
   3. Being respected and included
   4. [Students] connecting with staff
   5. Fostering a sense of place

Both students and staff identified current practices that were both helpful and unhelpful to participation and belonging practices occurring. You can read about the student perspectives and staff perspectives.

What needs to change?

Ten areas for change were identified by both students and staff to improve their participation and felt sense of belonging at school. These included:

Rules and regulations, resourcing, teaching practices, belonging practices, curriculum and learning, participation practices, wellbeing, safety, culture, and leadership.

You can read about the student perspectives and staff perspectives.

You can find the full Phase 1 report here:

Canosa, A., Graham, A., Boyle, T. & Simmons, C. (2024). SIFE Phase 1 Report: Student Focus Groups and Staff Interviews. Centre for Children and Young People, Southern Cross University: Gold Coast. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25918/report.377

Phase 2: Quantitative Survey

A student and staff survey that tests the participation and belonging practices most positively associated with students’ engagement, wellbeing and safety, and the role recognition plays in mediating this.

What did we find out from Phase 2?

Phase 2 has identified a range of participation and belonging practices that are linked with students' engagement, recognition, wellbeing and safety.  A key finding was that greater delivery of participation and belonging practices in schools is significantly associated with greater student wellbeing, safety, recognition and engagement (see diagram on page 10 in the summary linked below).

Another interesting finding was that students who said they were receiving learning support rated participation and belonging practices significantly higher than those students not receiving learning support. Similarly, students on part-day attendance plans rated participation and belonging practices higher than students not on a part-day attendance plan.

You can find more information on the main Phase 2 findings here.

You can find the full Phase 2 report here:

Anderson, D., Boyle, T., & Graham, A. (2024). SIFE Phase 2 Report: Survey Analysis & Findings. Centre for Children and Young People, Southern Cross University: Gold Coast. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25918/report.378

Phase 3: Co-designing Professional Learning

A series of co-designed online professional learning modules based on the Phase 1 and 2 findings are being developed to guide schools wishing to change or improve belonging and participation practices in their own school contexts. These resources will be available once completed.

Phase 4: Professional Learning Resources

Phase 4 will make the professional learning resources available to schools across NSW.