Inclusion at Mosspits Lane Primary School

Please find important information here:

Mosspits Lane Primary School is registered as a 'No Outsiders School' where everyone is welcome.  In our school, we are all unique and we are all welcome.  Mosspits Lane embraces difference and helps children to be proud to be exactly who they are.

As children grow up, they can sometimes learn that difference is a barrier to friendship.

Our aim is to remove that barrier; to quote the Ofsted hand-book (2023), we want children to see “difference is a positive, not a negative”. After all, we are all different; none of us is exactly the same; we are all unique. As they move through school, we want children to explore their differences so that they feel comfortable in their own skin.

Children should know who they are and feel proud to be who they are, and also know that they are accepted without judgement. No child should feel they have to change who they are in order to fit in.

So how do we do this? We have an ethos that is backed up by language and behaviour. All children are taught from their first year in school that we are all different and we like that. Wouldn’t the world be boring if we were all the same? In Reception and Year 1 we use picture books where characters are different, and we show that they are also friends and they play together. We make sure there are characters that look different and the hope is children will see themselves reflected in those books; “I am different too and that’s ok”

As children move up the school in to Years 3, 4, 5 and 6, we explore reasons why some people might feel left out. After all, it is a fact that prejudice and discrimination exist, and children are going to experience it at some point.

We need to prepare them, give them confidence to disagree when they hear prejudice and show them that they are not alone.

No Outsiders language gives children a way to challenge prejudice and show acceptance. Not only will they feel safe knowing they belong, they can show others they too are safe; “I will be your friend; you belong here. You don’t have to change, there are no outsiders.”

Promoting the Protected Characteristics at Mosspits Lane

We work to ensure that our children understand that:

We all belong to our Mosspits family

Everyone is different

We celebrate our differences

We are all equal in our differences

The Equality Act became law in 2010. It covers everyone in Britain and protects people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Everyone in Britain is protected. This is because the Equality Act protects people against discrimination because of the protected characteristics that we all have.

Under the Equality Act, there are nine Protected Characteristics:

1. Age
2. Disability
3. Gender reassignment
4. Race
5. Religion or belief
6. Marriage or civil partnership
7. Sex
8. Sexual orientation
9. Pregnancy and maternity

At Mosspits, we actively promote these in our curriculum and work to embed them into our ethos.

Under the Equality Act you are protected from discrimination:

• When you are in the workplace
• When you use public services like healthcare (for example, visiting your doctor or local hospital) or education (for example, at your school or college)
• When you use businesses and other organisations that provide services and goods (like shops, restaurants, and cinemas)
• When you use transport
• When you join a club or association (for example, your local rugby club)
• When you have contact with public bodies like your local council or government departments

Inclusion Quality Mark Inclusive School Award Success!  June 2024

We did it!  In June 2024, we had a 2-day evaluation by an IQM Assessor and were awarded the IQM Award again.  

A huge amount of work has been done since our Ofsted inspection in March 2023 on adaptive teaching and this work is ongoing.  

You can read the full report from the Quality Mark assessor by clicking on the link below.