School Blog

Last week, the Equalities, Representation and Inclusion team (Miss Brooker and Karen Herron) introduced a new, weekly, 'No Outsiders' assembly. This name is taken from the No Outsiders approach - which was pioneered by Andrew Moffat (a primary school teacher and author from Birmingham) - and is all about enabling children to recognise and embrace the diversity around them in preparation for global citizenship.

The No Outsiders ethos aims to teach that ‘there are no outsiders here because everyone is welcome’; using the Equality Act (2010) as a foundation to ensure no protected characteristic is left out. If you would like to find out a bit more about No Outsiders, here is the link to their website: https://no-outsiders.com/

During our first assembly, we spoke about Riley Regan; a 9 year old Aston Villa fan (pictured) who was chosen to be a mascot for a football game. Riley is autistic and has ADHD; as a result, he can struggle with loud noises. His ear defenders help him to keep calm but he was worried that, if he wore them to walk onto the pitch, the footballers would laugh at him. Villa Forward Danny Ings wore ear defenders and walked with Riley. Danny Ings said there was a lot of ignorance around autism and he wanted to help raise awareness. Riley's Mum said following Danny's gesture, other parents have contacted her to say their children no longer feel embarrassed to wear ear defenders in public.

• What can we learn from Riley?
• What can we learn from Danny Ings?
• Why is this about No Outsiders?