People are driven to seek belonging through relationships, a need for love, and a sense of community. This is a drive as old as civilization itself. The devastating consequences of exclusion are deeply rooted in our DNA, a legacy from a time when membership in a tribe was a guarantee of survival. The human desire to belong is an enduring necessity, and the children in our classrooms are no exception to this drive for connection and acceptance. Over my 25 years of working in a DEIS community, I have witnessed the effects of marginalisation and exclusion, where school can become a place of unintentional 'othering', as middle-class values embedded in the curriculum fail to connect with the lived experiences of many marginalised students. Eighteen months before deciding to undertake my master's degree, two of my past pupils took their own lives, I learnt that another two had been placed in a juvenile detention centre. It was a turning point for me, leading me to consider if fostering a sense of belonging could improve the lives of my students. I chose action research as my methodology, allowing me to ask, "How dol improve what I'm doing?" It enabled me to examine my practice through my values of social justice, children's voice, care, and belonging. I decided to undertake this research to see if it was possible to create a 'third space' within my classroom in which both my world and the world of the children could exist together - a place where we all belonged. We created this space by placing our chairs in a circle, a formation that became a space for all voices to be heard. Two main themes emerged from the data: The Need for a Third Space and The Critical Role of Relationships. The circle was key to creating the space needed for both of these critical components of belonging to flourish. The r ituals that became embedded into the circle helped transform it into a space of authentic belonging: 'Mind the Gap' to draw everyone in close, 'Get Fred' represented uninterrupted speech, 'Now You See Me' for acknowledgement through eye contact, and 'Check-1/1 ' to indicate emotional readiness to participate. Everyone has a right to belong, and we as teachers need to foster every child's right to belong within our classroom. In a world where everyone is more connected than ever, we have never been so far apart. Belonging is key to lifelong wellbeing and fostering it should be at the heart of every class. Ethical consent was granted through Maynooth Univers ity, the School Principal, the Board of Management, the children, and their parents/guardians.