The Ofsted Framework highlights the importance of diversity education in schools.

"The personal development judgement makes clear the importance of a provider’s curriculum extending beyond the academic to include its work in preparing learners for life in modern Britain. This includes the role  a school plays in developing children who are respectful citizens, developing their understanding of and appreciation for diversity, celebrating what we have in common and promoting respect for the different protected characteristics as defined in law."

At Middlezoy and Othery,  we acknowledge the role we have in preparing our children for a life in modern Britain. As two, small village schools we have worked hard to ensure that our curriculum meets the needs of our children. We believe that all children should be given equal opportunities and included in our school. Here are just some of the ways we teach our children about diversity, whether that be linked to ethnicity, background, ability or gender.  

• We promote the importance of good mental health through participation in events such as #helloyellow day.
• We partake in Black History Month and have also developed this further to look at influential people throughout our curriculum including in Science, English, history and the arts.
• Within English lessons, we look at stories and poems from a range of countries and cultures.
• Our Art lessons include a focus on a range of artists from different countries. 
• This year, we have introduced a whole-school look at Christmas Around The World. The children will learn about traditions in a range of other countries.
• We learn about music from different cultures in our weekly music lesson, including singing and playing songs of different music genres including Samba, Hawaiian and Motown and African call and response songs. 
• In assemblies, we acknowledge differences and look at these alongside the British values of democracy, respect,  tolerance, rule of law and individual liberty. We also invite visitors in to share their experiences. 
• We learn about a range of different cultural celebrations including Chinese New Year and our younger children look at festivals both close to home and in Spain.
• Our older children will be visiting London and the Imperial War Museum as part of their bi-annual learning about the British Empire. 
• In our RE lessons, the children learn about Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism.
• Our weekly PSHE lessons look at celebrating difference as well as focussing on who we are. Pete the Poet has also visited us bringing his Diversity and Equality workshops to all our children.

"Start small, dream big"

Recently, our schools have signed up to the "Start small, dream big" programme. This programme, from the Careers and Enterprise Company, seeks to, " increase aspirations of primary aged-children helping them to keep an open-mind towards their chosen career pathway."  Through this programme, we hope to give our children an insight into a range of careers that are open to them regardless of their ethnicity, background, ability or gender.