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In December, young people from Anna Freud, #BeeWell and the Fair Education Alliance stood up for the wellbeing of children and young people across England. They delivered powerful letters to the Rt Hon Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education, calling on the government to take urgent action to better understand and address the low wellbeing of children and young people across England.
Young people delivering their letters
Acting under the umbrella of Our Wellbeing, Our Voice, their letters called for the implementation of a national wellbeing measurement programme, to address the needs of children and young people across England.
The wellbeing of children and young people in the UK is currently at a concerning low. The latest data from PISA shows that 1 in 4 children report low wellbeing. These statistics represent not just numbers, but real individuals and lived experiences. In their initial letters, the young people shared their personal stories and urged the government to ensure the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill includes a commitment to a national wellbeing measurement programme.
The impact of these letters was so significant that they prompted a meeting with officials from the Department for Education to discuss the Pupil Experience Framework.
On February 12th, 11 young people from across #BeeWell, Anna Freud and the Fair Education Alliance met officials from the Department for Education to share their experiences of school. They discussed factors that supported their engagement, barriers that hindered it, and the aspects of school beyond academics that enabled them to achieve.
“We really value your contributions,” a Department for Education official stated at the start of the session, setting the tone for an open and respectful discussion.
In response, young people highlighted the importance of fostering a strong sense of belonging within school, emphasising inclusive practices, trusted relationships with adults, the physical environment, and other key factors that shape their day-to-day experiences.
In highlighting the importance of having a voice both within and outside the school environment, they talked about the different ways schools can create a sense of belonging. This included taking on in-class responsibilities to holding positions such as prefects. They shared how these roles helped them develop confidence. One young person described learning about advocacy and taking the lead on their own school project, reflecting on how these opportunities allowed them to make a real impact.
As Eva, a participant from the Fair Education Alliance Youth steering group, remarked, “getting youth voice heard is crucial, especially from a younger point” is a key step in assisting young people to find belonging at school. This comes from knowing that their feedback is taken seriously and used to inform change. They spoke about the value of co-designing learning experiences and encouraged schools to create regular opportunities, such as focus groups and surveys, for students to share their views and shape their school environment.
When discussing mental health, the group emphasised the need for greater recognition of the challenges young people face and the wellbeing issues affecting them. They felt that school support systems could be more attentive and responsive to student wellbeing. As Ayisha from #BeeWell’s Greater Manchester steering group explained, teachers “should understand that being a teenager isn’t easy. It’s a time when we’re trying to figure ourselves out, understand the world, and deal with family, friendships, and the pressures of social media all at once.” One suggestion was to rethink how mental health sessions are delivered in schools, moving away from traditional lesson formats and instead creating safe spaces where students feel comfortable expressing their views and learning from one another.
Trusted adults and the impact they can have on belonging for a young person was discussed across the breakout groups. A trusted adult is a safe, supportive, and non-judgmental person, such as a teacher, relative, or mentor, who is chosen by a young person to provide help, advice, and reassurance without agenda or expectation. Young people spoke about a lack of consistency among staff, which makes it harder to identify someone they feel able to talk to. They emphasised the importance of feeling genuinely seen by staff as individuals, and of having a trusted person they can turn to when they need support.
Linked closely to the importance of trusted adults was the role of the school’s physical environment. Young people described how aspects of the school environment can make them feel unsafe at times, particularly due to the transient nature of moving between classrooms, large school populations, and extracurricular activities that take place off-site. They emphasised the need for calm, predictable environments where they feel secure and supported.
Young people also spoke about having limited control over their movement within the school environment. They explained that rules such as one-way systems and restrictions on where they are allowed to go during break times can contribute to feelings of disconnection and a reduced sense of belonging. The group discussed how, when these rules are combined with sanctions such as detentions, they can feel like a pointless exercise if the root causes of behaviour are not identified and addressed.#BeeWell’s Ayisha suggested that “by reducing these behaviour issues in schools, we can nurture a safer and more welcoming environment.”
Lastly, the group emphasised the importance of accessibility and inclusion in school. They highlighted a missed opportunity for staff and external visitors to reflect diverse backgrounds and experiences, including disability, to help all students feel represented. Eva noted that “adjustments should be standard inclusion, not special treatment,” stressing that support should be normalised rather than exceptional. The group agreed that this approach would ensure young people do not feel singled out or reluctant to access the support available to them. Freya from the Fair Education Alliance steering group added that “accessibility benefits everyone” sharing the example of captions on whiteboards help not only students with specific needs but also their peers, reinforcing the value of inclusive practices for the whole school community.
Department for Education officials described the discussion as highly impactful, noting that the young people brought solution-focused insights to the session. The young people, in turn, reported feeling genuinely heard by the Department on an issue that matters deeply to them.
Next steps
The discussion underscored the importance of listening to youth voices when designing school initiatives. By sharing their experiences, the young people helped identify practical ways to create more inclusive and supportive environments to foster school belonging.
Their insights will help to inform the Department for Education’s guidance, with Pete Latham head of pupil mental wellbeing & engagement at Department for Education, stating the young people “helped us to shape the different parts of the framework, and how we shape the themes and emphasise the practice that schools can change.”
