It has been a real privilege to complement the innovative and deliberate pastoral interventions taking place across our varied partner schools this 2022-23 academic year.

Supporting the personal development of thousands of students this year has given us an illuminating insight into the perspectives, feelings and priorities of key pupil groups across regions, sectors and age phases.

What is clear is that fostering a sense of confidence, through intentional character-focused interventions, can have a powerful role to play in young people’s happiness and skills development. Ensuring pupils feel connected and supported with their school community is more vital than ever as school leaders seek to improve attendance, and ensure successful transitions both into and out of school.

Empowering pupils’ oracy is top of the agenda in many of our partner schools’ development plans and speaking skills are directly linked to developing self-confidence. We are excited that student-reported data this year has shown how a carefully trained peer or adult mentor can foster pupil oracy over time, through an explicit speaking and listening lens.

We are most grateful for the expertise, trust and collaborative community of practice amongst our partner schools and look forward to exploring together the exciting emerging research this new academic year.