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.

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.

EYFS and KS1

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”

KS2

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.”