Why Student Voice, Connection and Inclusion Matter for Engagement, Attendance and Long-Term Outcomes
Belonging is often treated as a soft concept in education.
Important, but secondary. Nice to have, but difficult to measure. Something that sits around the edges of school life rather than at the centre of student outcomes.
That thinking is part of the problem.
A student’s sense of belonging affects whether they engage in learning, whether they participate, whether they trust adults, whether they feel safe with peers, whether they attend consistently, and whether school feels like a place they can stay connected to over time.
When belonging is strong, students are more likely to engage, contribute, persist and seek support when they need it. When belonging is weak, the effects do not stay hidden for long. They can show up in behaviour, reduced participation, friendship difficulties, withdrawal, attendance decline, school refusal and a growing sense of disconnection from learning and from school itself.
This is why belonging needs to be taken more seriously in schools.
Not as a slogan.
Not as a poster on the wall.
Not as language that sits beside the “real work.”
But as one of the conditions that helps shape whether young people stay engaged, connected and able to learn.
Hosted by Nikki Bonus, and featuring Gavin McCormack, Karen Robertson, Richard Crawshaw, Dianne Giblin, Claudia Bou-melhem, Gayle Walters and Jo Rouse this webinar explores one of the most misunderstood areas in education: why belonging is not peripheral to outcomes, but closely tied to engagement, attendance, participation and longer-term student wellbeing.
This is not a webinar about blame.
It is a webinar about curiosity, insight and action: what helps students feel they belong, what makes that harder, and what schools can do that genuinely makes a difference.
A key part of that conversation is student voice.
If schools want to understand whether belonging is actually being experienced, they cannot rely on assumption. Students can be physically present without feeling connected. They can appear compliant without feeling safe. They can be achieving academically while still feeling isolated, invisible or socially uncertain. Without student voice, schools can miss the difference between attendance and connection, between participation and belonging, and between being present and feeling that they matter.
This session will look at what the evidence is telling us, what schools are seeing, and what can be done more intentionally to strengthen belonging in practical ways.
It will also challenge some of the common misconceptions that continue to limit progress:
The reality is that belonging is built through daily experience.
Through relationships.
Through inclusion.
Through emotional and social safety.
Through whether students feel known, respected and able to participate without fear of judgment or exclusion.
And through whether schools are willing to ask students directly what their experience actually feels like.
This session is for school leaders, educators, wellbeing teams and families who want to move beyond broad language about connection and ask more useful questions about what helps students stay engaged, connected and able to remain in learning over time.
Because if students do not feel that they belong, every other strategy becomes harder to land. But when schools listen more carefully, respond more intentionally, and treat belonging as something that can be strengthened through practice, student voice and shared understanding, they are in a far stronger position to support engagement, attendance and long-term wellbeing.
Dianne has worked in education in both paid and unpaid capacity for the past 32 years. Di has a passion for education, in particular public education, and the opportunities it affords young people. She has led the ACSSO secretariat since 2011 but has been a significant player in parent activism since 1984 when her eldest child commenced school. She is proud of her four children’s achievements – all successes of public education. She has held various volunteer roles in the parent movement finishing her P&C career as President of the Federation of Parents and Citizens Associations of NSW. Di was a founding Director of Public Education Foundation whose board position she held for six years; a founding Director of Primary Ethics Board and also a founding Director of The Parenthood board. She worked in a paid capacity for the NSW education department in a number of roles across a large area of Sydney. Her roles were all in the area of parent engagement and home-school partnerships including school based community officer, across district Community Development Officer and regional Partnership Officer – all through the Priority Schools Program. Recognition of her work saw her commended for Meritorious Service to Public Education and Training in 2010. In 2012 Dianne was admitted as a Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia for her service to public education and the community.
Nikki Bonus is an Australian founder, educator, keynote speaker and education technology innovator who has spent more than two decades working inside Australian schools to ensure every child is seen, safe, heard, connected and capable — regardless of background, identity, postcode or circumstance.
She is the Founder and CEO of Life Skills GO, an Australian-built, AI-powered early identification, engagement, learning and school improvement platform. Life Skills GO gives schools and the support networks around them real-time visibility of what may be preventing students from attending, participating, belonging and learning — automatically surfacing the right evidence to the right person at the right time, without adding to educator workload.
The platform's purpose is clear: to connect information, reduce unnecessary burden on schools, and equip educators and decision-makers with the evidence they need to act earlier. Because earlier action changes outcomes. Belonging drives engagement. Engagement drives attendance. Attendance drives attainment.
Life Skills GO was not designed from the outside. It was built from the ground up over nine years, co-designed in direct partnership with more than 1,000 Australian schools — shaped by students, teachers, school leaders, wellbeing teams, psychologists, cognitive neuroscientists, child development experts, learning support staff, families and carers. This multidisciplinary foundation — spanning data analysis, education design, cognitive neuroscience, child development and research evaluation — ensures the platform is grounded in evidence, tested in practice and built to generate insights that are meaningful at the classroom, school and system level.
Nikki came to this work not as a technologist, but as a practitioner. For 15 years before founding Life Skills GO, she worked directly inside schools delivering social-emotional learning programs. The problem Life Skills GO was built to solve was not identified from a distance — it was surfaced from within. Students needed a structured, safe way to communicate what they were experiencing. Teachers needed real-time visibility of patterns forming beneath the surface. Wellbeing teams needed earlier signals before situations escalated to crisis. Leaders needed whole-school trend data to inform resourcing, planning and improvement. Families needed a clearer picture of their child — not just academic results or behaviour incidents.
At scale, Life Skills GO gives schools the infrastructure to see what is unfolding in a student's world before it becomes a crisis — to understand why it may be happening, and to know what to do next. It enables evidence to inform not only individual support, but whole-school improvement and the broader network of people working around every child.
The platform was built with more than 1,000 Australian schools across government, Catholic, independent, specialist and hospital settings. Its 15 million student check-in responses represent one of the largest real-time evidence bases on student wellbeing ever assembled in this country — with state-by-state data published openly by jurisdiction.
Nikki's conviction has not changed since the beginning: no child should fall through the cracks because of the circumstances they were born into. Every child can thrive when they are met with the right environment, the right skills, the right support and the right tools at the right time. Life Skills GO exists to make that possible — consistently, equitably and at scale.
Gayle Walters brings over twenty-five years’ experience in public policy, strategic leadership and corporate governance roles across from across state government and two decades of experience in the Not-for-Profit human services sector. Having worked in Ministerial Offices and in senior government roles across many agencies, Gayle brings a strong passion for education, child protection and supporting families and children to make our communities stronger and safer. Having been Chief of Staff to the Minister for Education and Minister for Youth Justice, Gayle brings experience and knowledge of the critical issues facing the youth justice and child protection system and the critical intersect with education in this space. Having also led P&Cs Qld for four years as President and eight years as a Board director, Gayle knows first-hand the importance education is for our community. Leading the Strategic Vision for P&Cs Qld to provide Every Child Every Chance was introduced under Gayle’s leadership. Having Chaired the K-10 Curriculum Committee for the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority as well for four years, Gayle knows how important the impact of access to early education is for every family. Gayle’s personal motto is “education is the pathway from poverty to prosperity”. As the Senior Policy Advisor to the Minister for Child Safety Youth and Women and the Minister for the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence in 2020, Gayle led the first ever national virtual summit on Domestic and Family Violence.
Jo Rouse is a Senior Occupational Therapist and one of the founding Directors of The Social Confidence Collective - an independent Occupational Therapy practice located in Melbourne. The Social Confidence Collective works with young people to support them with their social goals, including both group based and 1:1 intervention settings. Jo is an OT with over 20 years experience working in youth mental health. She has worked in both private and public mental health settings, previously working at Orygen Youth Health, a world leading youth mental health organisation. Jo has experience working with young people with a range of serious mental health issues, including depression, anxiety and psychosis. Jo also has an interest in supporting young people who are neurodivergent, previously coordinating the Autism team at Orygen.
I am an experienced leader with a background across curriculum, wellbeing and whole‑school improvement in multiple school settings. I am currently completing a Master of Educational Leadership, which continues to shape and strengthen my practice. Recently, I have led the development of a strategic Engagement Framework for students, staff, and parents, and co‑created a comprehensive Student Wellbeing Framework for our College. My work is centred on building consistent, relational systems that enhance belonging, emotional safety, and engagement across the whole school community.
Richard Crawshaw is the founder of Can’t Face School, an organisation dedicated to supporting young people who experience school avoidance and disengagement. With extensive experience as a leader in contemporary education, youth wellbeing, and disability inclusion, Richard works at the intersection of schools, families, and communities to create safe, supportive environments that prioritise connection, regulation, and belonging. He is committed to transforming how adults, schools, and systems understand and respond to children who struggle to engage, turning behaviour signals into opportunities for understanding and sustainable re-engagement.
Karen Robertson is CEO of Life Ed Australia and Vice President of the Australian Parents Council, with more than three decades of experience in education leadership, policy and program innovation. She is a recognised voice in children’s health, wellbeing and digital safety, contributing to national policy discussions, Senate inquiries and global education networks. Karen is passionate about translating evidence into action and building partnerships that create meaningful, lasting impact for children and young people.
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