Teachers at Am Park primary school in Luxembourg promote inclusion by responding to each student's individual needs and placing emotional well-being at the heart of school life.

A daily emotional check-in helps teachers understand how pupils are feeling and adapt their support accordingly. At the start of each day, children select coloured clips representing different emotions, inspired by the Disney cartoon Inside Out, and place them near the classroom door. This simple routine allows students to express their emotional state in a non-verbal way.

The school also consistently applies the RAD principle — Respect, Attention, Discipline — to strengthen positive behaviour and mutual respect. A range of inclusive strategies supports students' self-regulation and autonomy, including headphones for concentration, movement breaks, sand timers, flexible seating, quiet areas, and access to tablets. Pupils are encouraged to choose the learning spaces and tools that best help them concentrate and participate.

Clear structures and routines further contribute to a supportive classroom environment. Daily practices such as removing shoes, organising materials, and bringing only necessary items into the learning space help reduce distractions and create order. Classroom doors are generally kept open, reinforcing a sense of openness, transparency, and community within the school. Additional routines include toilet signage, wind chimes to signal calm moments, and clearly displayed classroom rules.

Together, these practices create an inclusive atmosphere in which pupils feel secure, respected, and ready to learn.

Daily emotional check-ins can be integrated into primary school, especially in early years, bringing well-being into the classroom. Teachers can introduce this practice as part of the morning routine, allowing students to choose a character, colour, or picture to reflect on and answer the question “How are you feeling today?”. Before starting the practice, a few sessions should be dedicated to explaining why it is important, what each emotion means, and why students should respond honestly – there is no ‘right’ answer. It is also essential for the educator to clarify that this process is not connected to grades or academic performance. Allowing students collectively to choose the materials (character, colour, or picture) used for the emotional check-ins through a voting system can promote agency and engagement.

Promoting inclusion through fixed routines is a meaningful practice for schools to invest in. Following the daily emotional check in, a presentation of the daily programme can follow. This approach can be extended in breaking down the learning session into a sequence of tasks, instructions and activities.

The routines are closely connected to the school and classroom environment. Available equipment in the classroom, such as headphones, sand timers, sensory objects, and flexible seating, help students manage their attention, regulate emotions, and work in a way that best supports their learning needs. In practice, students may use headphones when working on independent tasks to improve concentration, while classroom furniture can be rearranged to better support project-based activities and collaborative learning. Clear classroom rules on how and when these materials should be used can be displayed on the walls using easy vocabulary and visuals.

Introducing each routine or practice in advance is essential. Students need to understand the approach and its purpose before it becomes part of daily classroom life. A pilot phase in the classroom is also important, as it allows the teacher to observe how the routine works in practice, identify any challenges, and decide what needs to be adjusted.

The José Cardoso Pires School Group in Portugal embraces the strategic use of digital platforms aiming to reduce students’ fear of failure and foster greater autonomy and confidence in learning, promoting inclusivity at the same time.

One of the most significant challenges teachers faces is helping students overcome the fear of making mistakes. This emotional barrier often prevents learners from taking risks, asking questions or engaging deeply with new content. The José Cardoso Pires School Group practices show how technology, thoughtful planning, and differentiated strategies can reduce this fear and create a safer learning environment.

Technology is used deliberately as an agent of inclusion. The digital environment can replace the pressure of a task, as students gain the confidence to try, fail, and retry without the fear of public failure, leading to a visible increase in autonomy. The use of digital tools enables students to overcome emotional and psychological barriers to learning by following the pattern that “teachers or my classmates do not see my mistakes only the computer can”. Digital platforms such as Kahoot, Khan Academy, Excel, and GeoGebra allow students to practice without the embarrassment of erasing a notebook or making an error in front of peers. Especially in mathematics, teachers use GeoGebra to motivate students to work on exercises to enhance their knowledge. This depersonalisation of error encourages deeper learning. Students become more autonomous, often reaching the moment where they confidently say, “I understand now.”

To further reduce anxiety, teachers use differentiated “guiding scripts” that allow students to progress at their own pace. These scripts are designed so that advanced learners can move further without being held back, while students who struggle receive structured support. As one teacher explains, planning always begins with the learning objective, followed by selecting the digital tool that best supports that specific task, whether for revision, investigation, or introducing new content.

However, teachers are concerned about the challenge of limited time and technical unpredictability when relying on technology too much. For example, preparing inclusive and engaging activities, such as Escape Rooms or AI-supported tasks, requires extensive work for teachers even though they are beneficial for some students. These lessons cannot be improvised, and the planning time is substantial. Alongside this, the unpredictability of technology remains a constant stressor. Internet failures, unexpected updates, or malfunctioning tools can disrupt carefully designed activities and risk excluding students who rely on digital support.

Addressing the fear of failure in the classroom through safe and guided autonomous learning is key in today’s schools. Digital tools and platforms can help teachers design learning tasks that support students’ individual needs. The overall goal should be for students to progressively develop their skills in specific subject areas.

Adaptive learning platforms (Duolingo, Khan Academy) deliver personalised learning as they adjust the level of difficulty automatically. That means that students complete tasks that match their pace. These tasks gradually become more difficult based on students’ responses.

Furthermore, digital applications can support autonomous learning and promote improved academic outcomes. Teachers can establish formative assessment practices by using online quizzes after each lesson. Some tools offer teachers the opportunity to provide explanations for every answer, helping students better understand their mistakes and the lesson content. Depending on the length and descriptive scope of the quiz, it can also serve as a useful means for students to deepen their understanding of the lesson. Students can retake the quiz as many times as needed, which further supports learning. In addition, students can access the quiz at home for further practice.

The use of differentiated guiding scripts or lesson instructions can support learning in all forms. At the beginning of each course section, students can receive a guide explaining how the section will progress and what they will learn in each week. This file can include multimodal learning materials such as video explanations, related books, and extra resources so that every student can follow the lesson more effectively. In addition, the teacher can share a simplified version of the lessons with students who need it, as well as easy-to-read formats, translations, and any other materials suitable for the class.

Supporting pupils’ well-being and sense of belonging is a priority for the teacher at Griže Primary School in Slovenia. Using Microsoft Reflect to track students’ well-being, visual mood indicators called “Feelings Monsters” are used from the beginning of the school year.

However, some pupils had difficulties engaging with the activity, choosing a greyed-out monster to indicate that they did not want to share feelings. Several pupils consistently selected this option. The teacher discussed this with them and explained that even if the monster indicates that a student feels bad, it does not mean the pupil must tell everyone why. Pupils have the opportunity and a space where they can talk and share, but this does not automatically mean they must give a reason. The teacher does not force the class to share how they feel if they are negative. If a student does want to share how they feel for a long time or they do not feel well for a long time, the teacher is alerted and can look into the problem.

The Feelings Monsters are also displayed on classroom walls, reinforcing students’ sense of belonging and contributing to more positive classroom relationships. The teacher also uses anonymous animal cards. Pupils can indicate their wellbeing without having to speak publicly, which supports inclusion and reduces anxiety.

Finally, the class holds weekly class meetings to review the emotional climate. The teacher and pupils look at the Reflect results, discuss what influenced their wellbeing during the week, and set up to three goals for improvement.

Enhancing students’ well-being is a significant part of classroom activities in today’s schools. Structured weekly routines help students self-reflect on their emotional state of mind and discuss well-being openly.

Teachers in lower and secondary education might consider the following steps:

• At the start of the week, ask students to complete a digital emotional check-in using a simple online quiz. Each student can then share three goals for the week and reflect on how these relate to their emotions and how they might cause anxiety.
• Mid-week, a 10-minute journaling activity can be used to help students share their progress and emotional development.
• At the end of the week, pupils complete another emotional check-in with fewer questions focusing on reflecting how the week is ending. They can then discuss what influenced their well-being, whether the weekly goals were met, what strategies helped, and what should be carried forward into the next week.

This weekly cycle helps students reflect on their emotions and understand their progress, creating a positive classroom environment at the same time.