Many of the often complex debates central to the topics of belonging and social cohesion have their origins in contrasting interpretations of the ideal relationship between citizens. Governments across much of the western world continue to struggle to reconceptualise what it is to 'belong together' at a time of growing diversity and migration. This article considers three conceptual difficulties involved in the directive for schools to actively promote Fundamental British Values to address this issue. First, the directive fails to refer to any relevant theories around the concept of belonging, one of the major strands of research in social cohesion. The concept of 'perceived belonging' is thus introduced to further explore what the bond between citizens 'looks like'. Secondly, the lack of theory leads to a restriction of the values needed to support the bond. Thirdly, there is then a lack of sufficient clarity of action for how this might be translated into school practice. Finally, I suggest that the directive needs further theoretical engagement to be successful.

A microbeam probe capable of vaporizing many biological materials is formed by focusing a conventional laser through a microscope objective. The elemental gases which are excited by this demagnified spot are raised to emission levels when sparked between carbon electrodes. Elemental analysis is then performed on the excited material by conventional spectroscopy. The method is simple and rapid. Simultaneous analysis of multiple elements is practical.

It is generally accepted that all humans have a profound need to belong and that a sense of 'belonging together' is a prerequisite for creating political communities. Many of our existing models for this 'first person plural' fail to fully account for the increased global mobility of persons which can all too often result in serial attachments at a superficial level or the problems that can arise with a growing fragility of all belonging. This article looks at the other side of belonging: failure to belong-either through the loss of a sense of belonging (not-belonging) or the removal of membership belonging (unbelonging)-and the resulting damage that might occur. This can have profound implications for what happens in schools where one of the accepted major functions has always been to develop and nurture belonging in children: to each other, to the school and within the wider society. However, the general assumption that most children enter schools at a neutral stage on the belonging spectrum ready to be developed and nurtured towards citizenship belonging may no longer hold and we may need to explore new ways as to how this might be achieved.