What is No Outsiders?
(extract taken from the official ‘No Outsiders’ Parent Handbook)
What is an outsider? Someone who feels left-out, who feels like they don’t belong and are not welcome.
Our school teaches that there are no outsiders because we are all welcome. Our aim is to create classroom environments where every child feels that they belong.
As children grow up, they can sometimes learn that difference is a barrier to friendship. Our aim is to remove that barrier and, in Ofsted’s words, we want children to see ‘difference as 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 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 that they have to change in order to fit in.
To help us achieve this, we have an ethos which is backed up by langauge and behaviour. All chidlren 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 friends and play togther. We hope that children see themselves reflected in these books.
As children move into Key Stage 2, we explore reasons why some children might feel left out. It is a fact that prejudice and discrimination exists 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. We use appropriate picture books and assembly content to help us achieve this aim. This is the core purpose of ‘No Outsiders’ and at Great Rollright, we believe this is vital in today’s world.
To read more about the ‘No Outsiders’ programme, please click on the link to the full parent handbook below –
Please click on the link below for our No Outsiders long-term plan:
The ‘No Outsiders’ website is full of useful information. It explain more about the assemblies we use and the picture books we use to support our teaching. Please do take a look.