Focus Area: Developing Meaningful Student Reflections

Purpose

To help students move beyond surface-level comments (e.g. “good”, “fun”, “boring”) and develop more meaningful reflections that capture how activities make them feel, what they learn about themselves, and how participation supports their wellbeing.

Stronger reflections amplify student voice, deepen self-awareness, and provide schools with richer insight into engagement, inclusion, and personal development.

Who it’s for

• All students, across all year groups

• Particularly supportive for:

  • Students who struggle to articulate feelings or who are less confident communicators.

  •  

    Teachers & Tutors supporting personal development, enrichment, wellbeing.

  • School Leaders seeking stronger evidence for personal development, safeguarding and student wellbeing. 

Suggested duration

4-6 weeks

This allows time for:

• Introducing reflection prompts

• Normalising reflective language

• Seeing a noticeable shift in depth and quality of student responses

This focus area can be revisited across the year.

What success looks like

• Students write longer, more thoughtful reflections using feeling-based language.

• Reflections highlighting why an experience felt a certain way, not just what happened.

• Increased confidence in expressing both positive and challenging experiences.

• Greater consistency in reflection across different activities (sport, reading, arts, etc.).

• Students begin to reflect independently, without needing constant prompting.

How miMove supports it

miMove makes reflection simple, safe, and low-pressure:

• Student-first journalling
  Students reflect in their own words, at their own pace, without fear of it being 'marked.

• Light-touch prompts
  Sentence starters and reflection cues help students think more deeply without turning reflection into a writing task.

• Whole-school consistency
  Reflection is embedded across all enrichment activities - not just one subject or intervention.

• Real-time visibility
  Teachers can see patterns in engagement, confidence, and wellbeing as reflections develop.

• Positive reinforcement
  Reflections can be celebrated and recognised, reinforcing that students’ experiences matter.

Evidence you’ll have at the end

• Clear improvement in reflection depth and emotional vocabulary.

• Increased number of students regularly completing reflections.

• Rich qualitative data showing:

  • How activities impact confidence, motivation, and belonging

  • Differences between groups (year group, gender, activity type)

• Stronger evidence for:

  • Personal Development

  • Student Voice

  • Wellbeing and Safeguarding

• Real student language and examples that can be used (ethically and anonymously) in:

  • Ofsted preparation

  • Impact reports