The SecEd Podcast: Building connection and strong relationships with your students

This episode discusses how we can build strong connections and relationships with our students – especially those who are vulnerable – in order that they have the best chance of overcoming barriers and making progress in our classrooms.

Two experienced colleagues discuss why this is important and some key principles to building these relationships.

We ask how we can begin building connections with a new class of students and how we can foster strong relationships even when we might see hundreds of students every week.

We talk about building a culture of trust and respect in our classrooms and the common traits that teachers might display in order to build these connections. We also consider quick wins, including shaking hands, seating plans, corridor conversations, positive calls home, how to remember key details about students, role-modelling, and apologising when necessary.

We discuss strategies for building connections with individual vulnerable students – perhaps those who face the greatest barriers to learning and who are at the greatest risk of disengaging.

And we look at engaging with families and some whole-school strategies that might help teachers to build connections with their students.