Building Belonging Over Breakfast: InsideOUT-Kōaro, and the Power of Inclusive Spaces

At KickStart Breakfast, we believe that a good start to the day is about more than food-it’s about connection, care, and creating spaces where every tamariki or rangatahi feels welcome. Breakfast clubs across Aotearoa are doing incredible work to foster belonging and community, creating space for much more than a place for a bowl of Weet-Bix and milk.

One organisation helping schools make these spaces truly inclusive is InsideOUT – Kōaro, a national charity dedicated to supporting rainbow (LGBTQIA+) young people. Their mahi shows how breakfast clubs can play a vital role in building safe, affirming environments for students who might otherwise feel isolated.

Relationship Manager, Lorren Hawkins recently caught up with Cami a School coordinator from InsideOUT-Kōaro, to find out more.

Tell us more about InsideOUT and the mahi your team is involved in.

InsideOUT - Kōaro is a national charity working to make Aotearoa safer for all rainbow and takatāpui people. We provide resources, workshops, consulting, advocacy, and support on anything relating to rainbow (LGBTQIA+) communities. A key focus of our mahi is helping schools to be safe, inclusive, and accessible for rainbow young people.We offer a wide range of digital and printed educational resources to support rainbow inclusion in classrooms and across schools.

Our regional Schools Coordinators can deliver professional development and workshops for teachers and staff anywhere in Aotearoa.They can also provide guidance on supporting and affirming rainbow students, engaging with whānau, and developing inclusive policies and practices. All schools and kura across the country are able to access support from InsideOUT.

What has led to InsideOUT working with some schools at their breakfast club?

Our Schools Coordinators respond to requests from schools. These requests can come from staff or Boards of Trustees seeking help with policies, processes, or practice, or from schools wanting to support students more directly. Sometimes this involves working with a school’s rainbow student group, and other times staff reach out because a student has shared that they have a rainbow identity and would like support.

When a school contacts us about supporting students, the student(s), staff, and InsideOUT work together to create a meeting space that feels safe and welcoming. Rainbow students often gravitate to places they already feel secure, such as the school library, a trusted teacher’s classroom, or sometimes the breakfast club. If the breakfast club is the space where students feel most comfortable, that’s where we will meet, because students’ sense of safety and wellbeing is always the priority

Breakfast clubs provide a unique opportunity for students to connect in a relaxed, informal environment while still being within the safety and structure of school. Because it is outside of ‘official class time,’ students often feel more at ease. They can also meet peers from different classes and year groups whom they might not usually interact with.

Within minority and/or marginalised communities, news spreads quickly about spaces that feel safe and welcoming, which is why breakfast clubs can sometimes develop into a gathering space for students with a shared experience or identity. They can become a space where students can feel connection and belonging, where they are able to be themselves, make friends, and experience a sense of community that might not exist elsewhere in the school.