As part of your child’s experience at West Buckland Primary School, we aim to promote personal well-being and development as part of a taught programme of Personal, Social, & Health Education (PSHE) and our Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) policy. The programme aims to give your child a knowledge and understanding of the world they live in and help them to lead happy, safe and fulfilling lives now and in the future.
To support us in the delivery of this area, we are proud to use the No Outsiders programme (https://no-outsiders.com/about-us). The No Outsiders programme is a set of story books to be used across the school to explore topics such as race, gender equality, age, disability, civil partnership, religious beliefs and sexual orientation.
To do this we would read stories where the characters are from one of these cultures, backgrounds or beliefs and talk about similarities and differences. These discussions would be child led and factual, no opinions will be offered from our staff. The aim here would be to raise awareness, tolerance and understanding whilst celebrating diversity. As per our Visions and Values, we want to equip children for life in the wider world and to expose them to real life topics to allow them to be curious, respectful and kind.
No Outsiders supports primary schools to deliver a Curriculum that is fully aligned to the Equality Act 2010. This work is also supported by Ofsted who judge schools based on their ‘curriculum character’ and ability to develop children’s ‘understanding and appreciation of diversity’. The fundamental outcome is the message that every individual is equal regardless of their age, gender, race, religion, belief, marital status, gender identity or sexual orientation, and that each individual should be met with respect and tolerance without discrimination or hatred.
This work may cause your child to ask challenging questions. Staff will not offer their opinions to your child but we do encourage you to talk openly about the issues raised to them. This scheme is not teaching your child to be anything they are not nor is it teaching them that everyone must fit. It is widening their understanding and promoting that everyone is equal and everyone is welcome at our school and within our community. We appreciate that children may seem too young to be taught about these areas, but children are growing up in a fast-paced and modern world and are already interacting with people from different backgrounds. We want children to feel comfortable and behave in a respectful manner within our community.
We already share the daily news with the children and they actively engage in discussion and debate around the issues they see and hear. We want to continue this path to ensure West Buckland children are prepared for life in modern Britain, and belief that the No Outsiders programme offers us a great resource to be able to achieve this.
For more information, a parental guide booklet can be found here: No Outsiders parent booklet
