Community, relationships, and communication skills, delivered weekly by the learner’s named practitioner. The elective is the curriculum-level answer to what NEO learners often most need: practice at being in relationship safely, after experiences (school, family, friendships, online) that may have made being-in-relationship feel unsafe.
For many EBSNA learners, the Connection Elective is the most important hour in their week. It is also the elective most likely to be opt-in for some weeks and opt-out for others, depending on capacity. Both are honoured.
What this includes
- One-to-one relational practice with the practitioner — the foundational relationship of NEO, made explicit and tended deliberately
- Small-group session work — pair- and small-group activities with peers, low-stakes, structured around shared interest rather than performative socialising
- Communication skills — listening, naming feelings, asking clarifying questions, repairing after misunderstanding, holding boundaries kindly
- Family and home relationships — talking about what’s hard at home (within safeguarding protocol); navigating relational complexity without blame or pathologising
- Online community — finding healthy online spaces; practising digital communication; recognising community vs cult, support vs grooming
- The relational dimension of work — colleagues, supervisors, customers; the workplace as a community
- Loneliness, belonging, and isolation — the universal human experiences, not as personal failings but as conditions worth naming
Cornerstone fits
Connection (●●●) — the explicit Cornerstone anchor. Reflection (●●●) — relational learning is reflective work. Creativity (●●) — creative collaboration is a form of connection practice.
Cross-curriculum links
- Relating Intelligently — Module 3 (coherence-with-self is the precondition of Connection-with-others)
- Relating Intelligently — Module 5 (ethics of relating across boundaries)
- RSHE — Relationships Education (the statutory home for relational content; the Connection Elective is its embodied complement)
- Employability — Workplace skills and conduct (workplace relating)
- Citizenship — Civic engagement (relational and communal action)
Care note for delivery
Connection work with the EBSNA cohort needs particular care because the elective itself is the relational practice, not just a discussion of relating:
- The practitioner’s regulation matters — connection happens between two nervous systems; if the practitioner is dysregulated, the learner is unsafe
- Pace from the learner — depth follows trust, and trust follows pace; never push faster than the learner is ready for
- Boundaries held with kindness — “no” to depth this session does not mean “no” to the relationship; the learner gets to set the depth
- Disclosure protocol — when relational content surfaces safeguarding concerns, escalation follows KCSIE 2025 / NEO Safeguarding Policy
Suggested evidence types (if kept)
- Relational journal — the learner’s own observations on relationships; private to the learner unless they choose to share
- Communication-skill practice log — moments when the learner used a skill in real life and what happened
- Reflection on a relationship that has changed during the year — how, and what part the elective played
Not assessed
No mastery scale, no formal feedback. The relationship itself is the curriculum here, and you cannot meaningfully grade a relationship.