Leading Wellbeing and Belonging in Schools | BSME GESS Panel 2025
At GESS Dubai, BSME hosted the Leading Belonging and Wellbeing panel, offering an exclusive preview of our upcoming BSME Thriving & Belonging: Creating Safer School Communities Conference in April 2026. This was a powerful discussion on creating authentic school cultures where students and staff truly feel they belong.
The session opened with a deeply personal account from Rhys, a secondary school student at a BSME school, whose reflections on vulnerability and purpose set a compelling tone. His story illustrated how a genuine sense of belonging can transform the educational experience, both for students and for staff.
Drawing on contemporary research, the panel explored the strong correlation between belonging and engagement, noting that students with a secure social identity and emotional connection to their school display higher motivation, improved academic performance, and stronger participation in extracurricular activities.
The discussion highlighted both the physiological and psychological implications of isolation, with Aarti Odhrani, School Counsellor at NLCS Dubai, citing that social isolation activates the same area of the brain as physical pain. In this context, the role of educators becomes critical. Teachers and leaders must consciously cultivate positive, safe relationships to build an environment of psychological safety and trust.
The panellists acknowledged the complexity of achieving belonging in large schools, where students can easily feel lost. The emphasised the importance of “pockets” of belonging - smaller communities, enrichment programmes and activities that enable individuals to explore their passions and form meaningful connections. Sheridan Teasel, Deputy Head of Secondary at Dubai British School, noted that cultivating a culture of wellbeing “must be deliberate, putting a constant, relentless focus on what builds that culture.”
The panel also explored the evolving role of student agency in wellbeing initiatives. Empowering students to contribute authentically to wellbeing programmes not only strengthens their confidence and self-esteem but also ensures that interventions are grounded in lived experience. The conversation extended to the growing expectation that wellbeing be a central part of a school's offering, the balance between academic outcomes and emotional health, and the critical need to teach emotional literacy and resilience.
The panel was unanimous in stating that wellbeing is not synonymous with happiness but rather, emotional regulation and shared humanity. Schools that prioritise authenticity, intentional leadership, and student voice are best positioned to foster sustainable cultures of belonging and wellbeing.
Thank you to our fantastic panel for leading such an insightful and important conversation and sharing their thoughts so generously with our wider community.
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