Targeted racial inclusion and wellbeing support for Black-identifying students in a predominantly White school

In a London school where approximately 40% of students are from a UK minority ethnic background, senior leaders identified the under-representation of students with African and/or Caribbean heritage. In response, they took deliberate steps to address this disparity through consulting with parents and specialist organisations such as the African Caribbean Education Network and Millennial Psychology. While increasing the number of students with African and Caribbean heritage remains an aspiration, the immediate priority is to create safe, reflective spaces to support the wellbeing of Black students in majority white spaces. This focus is informed by consultation feedback and the wider literature, which highlights the challenges Black students may experience in relation to belonging, racial injustice, cultural responsiveness, and support, all of which can negatively affect wellbeing and mental health (Ajewole, 2023; Cave et al., 2020; Priest et al., 2021; Kinouani, 2021). Consequently, the school collaborated with an Educational and Child Psychologist (ECP) to implement monthly wellbeing sessions for Black-identifying students. This article describes the development and delivery of the intervention, examines student and school-level outcomes, and reflects on the barriers and contextual factors that influenced its implementation.