Equality Objectives

Level of approval: Teaching, Learning and Assessment committee

Date of approval: January 2022

Date of review: January 2023

Introduction

This equalities policy is an attempt to amalgamate all the equalities legislation into one single equalities policy for Tudor Primary School.

Legal Requirements

Everyone has the right to be treated with dignity and respect.

The Equality Act 2010 prohibits direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation of people on the grounds of protected characteristics – disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation and age.

The Equality Act 2010 also requires public bodies such as schools to have due regard to the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination
• Advance equality of opportunity

• Foster good relations between people from different equality groups
• This is called the public sector Equality Duty and its purpose is to promote equality for all.

The Government has issued guidance which sets out that having due regard means consciously thinking about the three aims of the public sector Equality Duty as part of the process of decision-making. This means that considering equality issues must influence the decisions reached by schools– such as in how we act as employers; how we develop, evaluate and review our policies; how we design, deliver and evaluate what we offer and how we commission and procure services from others.

Schools also have a responsibility to:

• Publish equality objectives by 6 April 2012 and every four years thereafter;
• Publish information annually from 6 April 2012 to demonstrate their compliance with the general Equality Duty

• Publish information relating to their employees and others affected by their policies and practices

• Public bodies with fewer than 150 employees are not required to publish information on the effect of their policies and practices on their workforce.

A school’s published information should include:

• Information on the effect that their policies and practices have had on employees, service users and others from the protected groups;

• Evidence of the analysis undertaken to establish whether their policies and practices will (or have) furthered the three equality aims in the general equality duty;

• Details of the information used in that analysis, and
• Details of engagement with people with an interest in the aims of the duty. This information must be published in a way that is accessible to the public

• Statement/Principles

Our Vision and Aims for Equality and Diversity

‘Tudor Primary School is a learning community that nurtures in every learner the core values of equality, fairness and self-belief in a safe and secure environment’.

At Tudor Primary we are committed to promoting an understanding of equality amongst all groups. We do not tolerate incidents of racism or discrimination of any sort. We teach a diverse curriculum, celebrate other cultures and support all pupils to access the curriculum regardless of their backgrounds or origins. We support families to engage with the school and individualise the support where necessary to ensure accessibility and support our commitment to equality.

The policy outlines the commitment of the staff and governors to promote equality. This involves tackling the barriers which could lead to unequal outcomes so that there is equality of access and the diversity within the school community is celebrated and valued.

We believe that equality at our school should permeate all aspects of school life and is the responsibility of every member of the school and wider community. Every member of the school should feel safe, secure, valued and of equal worth. At Tudor Primary School, equality is a key principle for treating all people the same irrespective of their gender, ethnicity, disability, religious belief/faith traditions, sexual orientation, age or any other of the protected characteristics (Singles Equalities Act 2010).

We will ensure that every pupil irrespective of race, disability, gender, religion and belief or sexual orientation is able to achieve high standards and that strategies are in place to tackle under–achievement. We will ensure that every pupil has access to the necessary teaching and support required to enable them to achieve their highest potential. We will ensure that the school’s procedures for disciplining pupils and managing behaviour are fair, effective and equitable.

Our intention is to ensure that the adults working or volunteering in the school are from diverse groups. We believe that this provides good role models for our pupils.

We aim to involve pupils, staff, parents, carers, governors and communities in the development of our objectives. They will be involved from the very start and their involvement will inform the preparation, development, publication, review and reporting of our objectives. The aim is to ensure that we meet the needs of people: from all ethnic backgrounds and of all religions or beliefs; of all ages; of all genders and sexual orientations and of all abilities.

Roles and responsibilities, commitment and accountability

We will mainstream equality issues by:

• Paying due regard to equality issues within all our key policies, planning, decision making
• processes and performance management;
• Ensuring that our planning contributes towards our equality objectives;
• Ensuring that arrangements are in place to monitor and report on our progress against our objectives; and

• Ensuring that we engage effectively with our learners, staff, parents and local communities in planning, delivering and monitoring the objective

This policy has been drawn up as a result of discussion within a working party made up of representatives of teaching and support staff, pupils, parents and governors and has been shared with the whole school community.

Monitoring and review

The staff member responsible for co-ordinating the monitoring and evaluation is the headteacher. She will be responsible for:

• Providing updates on equalities legislation and the school’s responsibilities in this regard;
• Working closely with the governors.
• Supporting positively the evaluation activities that monitor the impact and success of the policy on pupils from different groups, e.g. SEN, Children in Care, Minority Ethnic including Traveller and EAL pupils and Free School Meals, in the following recommended areas:

• Pupils’ progress and attainment

• Learning and teaching

• Behaviour discipline and exclusions ^o Attendance

^o  Admissions

• Incidents of prejudice related bullying and all forms of bullying ^o Parental involvement

• Participation in extra-curricular and extended school activities

• Staff recruitment and retention

• Visits and visitors

Race

We recognise that Black and ethnic minority people experience discrimination on the basis of colour, race, nationality and ethnic origin. This discrimination manifests itself in all areas of life. Racial harassment and violence is one of the most serious consequences of racism, damaging people emotionally and physically and limiting life choices and opportunities.

We will take all necessary measures to prevent and tackle racial harassment and assist our learners to live in freedom from harassment and to feel safe as they enjoy and achieve throughout their time at our school.

At Tudor Primary, our policy is to report all racist incidents termly to the Governing Body. We keep a log book in school.

90% children have English as an additional Language in our cohort (EAL).

Our objective is to raise awareness of the variety of languages and ethnic groups in the British Isles and celebrate those differences. We can do this by visiting new areas outside of our local community and make contact with children in contrasting locations (as per our school development plan).

We are committed to working for the equality of all ethnic groups. The Governing Body understands its accountability. Under the duties of the Equality Act we will:

Tackle unlawful discrimination by:

• Keeping accurate records of all ethnic groups, their backgrounds and needs and how we respond to them;

• Dealing with complaints of discrimination and harassment speedily according to local authority guidance Challenging and Dealing with Racist Incidents in Schools and notify complainants of the outcomes and action taken; and

• Encouraging dialogue between different racial groups Advance equality by:

• Expanding access and achievement across all communities and in all areas of school activity;
• Promoting the active participation of minority communities in shaping the future of our school;
• Consulting with ethnic minority learners, their families and staff on issues affecting them rather than with people acting on their behalf.

• Ensuring the school staff, learners and their families as well as the wider community fully understand the principles of race equality and good race relations.

Foster good relations and cohesion by:

• Promoting activities that celebrate our common experience as well as those that recognise diversity

• Encouraging learners and their families of all ethnic groups to participate fully in all aspects of school life;

• Fostering understanding and respect for the cultures and faiths of all our learners and their families;

• Countering myths and misinformation that may undermine good community relations;

We will publish our progress annually as part of our review of the School’s Equality Objectives.

Disability

We recognise that people with disabilities experience discrimination across all areas of life. We welcome the requirements of the Equality Act and set out our commitment to meeting the duties in relation to disability. Our aim is to advance disability equality across all areas of the school, to disabled pupils, staff, parents, carers and other school users.

We are committed to working for the equality of people with and without disabilities. The Governing Body understands its accountability. Under the duties of the Equality Act we will:

Tackle unlawful discrimination against people with disabilities by:

• Challenging patronising or discriminating attitudes;
• Making the environment as safe as possible and challenging antisocial or bullying behaviour against, or harassment of, disabled learners, staff and families.

• Monitoring and eliminating discrimination and disability related harassment

Improving the environment of the school to increase the extent to which disabled learners can take advantage of education and associated services

Advance equality for people with disabilities by:

• Removing barriers to accessibility, particularly in relation to education, employment and access to services, information and buildings;

• Increasing the extent to which disabled learners can participate in the school curriculum
• Providing where possible, support, assistance and care to disabled learners to enable them to lead independent lives;
• Supporting disabled learners, staff and carers according to their individual need · Taking steps to meet people’s needs related to their disability, even if this requires more favourable treatment

• Involving disabled learners, their families and disabled staff in the changes and improvements we make and consulting them on issues affecting them, rather than with people acting on their behalf.

• Monitoring staff and learners by disability.
• Having a Disability Equality Objective Foster good relations and cohesion by:

• Promoting equality of opportunity between people with disabilities and other people.
• Promoting positive attitudes towards people with disabilities
• Increasing the inclusion of positive images of people with disabilities across the curriculum
• Encouraging participation of people with disabilities in school life

We regularly track groups of children through gender, race, disability and SEN (Special Educational Need).

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

We are committed to combating discrimination faced by lesbians, gay men and bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people. We want to ensure equality of opportunity for LGBT people across services and employment.

We recognise that the Equality Act 2010 requires us to assess the impacts of our policies, functions and procedures have on advancing equality for people based on their sexual orientation. We will take all necessary measures to prevent and tackle discrimination and assist our learners to live in freedom from harassment and to feel safe as they enjoy and achieve throughout their time at our school.

Within our behaviour programme we do not tolerate abusive and derogatory language being used. We manage incidents sensitively and according to our procedures set out in the programme and the policy.

Our PSHE education covers anti bullying and racism. All our after school clubs are open to both genders and mixed matches are sought.

We respect the rights of individuals to be open about their sexual orientation. We tackle homophobia, challenge stereotyping and aim to improve knowledge about LGBT communities, both internally and within the community as a whole. The Governing Body understands its accountability under the Equality Act and we will give due regard to the need to:

Tackle unlawful discrimination by:

• Taking a pro-active approach to preventing all forms of homophobia within the school
• Challenging patronising or discriminating attitudes and homophobic language;
• Making the environment as safe as possible and challenging antisocial or bullying behaviour against, or harassment on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity

• · Dealing with complaints of discrimination and harassment speedily and according to Local Authority Guidance and notify complainants of the outcome and actions taken.

Advance equality for of LGBT people in all our functions by:

• Assessing the impacts of our policies, functions and procedures on promoting sexual orientation equality

Foster good relations and cohesion by:

• Promoting equality of opportunity between men and women
• Increasing the inclusion of positive, non-stereotypical images of LGBT people and the contributions they have made to different aspects of the curriculum

Gender

We are committed to combating sex discrimination and sexism and promoting the equality of women and men. We recognise that society has stereotypes for both women and men, and both women and men can lose opportunities because of these stereotypes. We are aware that staff with caring and domestic responsibilities may need to work part-time or flexible working hours.

We will work in partnership with other agencies to eliminate sexual harassment, domestic violence and other hate crimes.

We are committed to working for the equality of women and men. The Governing Body understands its accountability under the Equality Act and we will give due regard to the need to:

Tackle unlawful discrimination by:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment on the grounds of sex, including domestic violence, sexual violence, bullying and exploitation

• Challenging patronising or discriminating attitudes;

• Making the environment as safe as possible and challenging antisocial or bullying behaviour against, or harassment of girls, boys, women and men

Advance equality for girls, boys, women and men, in all our functions by:

• Monitoring learner outcomes and achievement by gender
• Monitoring staffing and pay by gender
• Having a Gender Equality Objective Foster good relations and cohesion by:

• Promoting equality of opportunity between men and women
• Increasing the inclusion of positive, non-stereotypical images of women and men, girls and boys across the curriculum

• Encouraging the equal participation of boys and girls, women and men in all aspects of school life. We will publish our progress annually as part of our review of the School’s Equality Objectives.

The Headteacher tracks groups of children termly. These groups include gender, ethnic minority and SEN.

Details can be found on our school action plan.

Religion and Belief

We recognise that the Equality Act 2010 requires us to assess the impacts of our policies, functions and procedures have on promoting equality for people based on their religion, belief and non-belief. We will take all necessary measures to prevent and tackle discrimination and assist our learners to live in freedom from harassment and to feel safe as they enjoy and achieve throughout their time at our school.

We are committed to working for the equality for people based on their religion, belief and non-belief. The Governing Body understands its accountability under the Equality Act and we will give due regard to the need to:

Tackle unlawful discrimination by:

• Monitoring and eliminating unlawful discrimination and harassment on the grounds of religion or belief

• Making the environment as safe as possible and challenging antisocial or bullying behaviour on the grounds of religion, belief or non-belief

Advance equality in all our functions by:

• Removing any barriers which prevent children and adults of all religions, beliefs or non-belief taking a full part in our school life

• Assessing the impacts of our policies and procedures on promoting equality based on religion, belief and non-belief

Foster good relations and cohesion by:

• Encouraging the equal participation of people of all religions, beliefs and non-belief in all aspects

of school life

Age

We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity for younger and older people. We recognise that society has negative attitudes, stereotypes and myths about youth, ageing, younger and older people. These attitudes and beliefs can lead to both younger and older people being socially and economically disadvantaged, excluded and marginalised. We believe that younger and older people have the right to equality of opportunity and that they make a significant and valuable contribution to the community at large.

Age equality means securing the equal participation in society of people of every age, securing a balance between equal citizenship, equality of opportunity, equality of outcome and respect for difference

Tackle unlawful discrimination by:

• Challenging patronising or discriminating attitudes and language;
• Dealing with complaints of discrimination and harassment speedily and according to Local Authority Guidance and notify complainants of the outcome and actions taken.

Advance equality by:

• Assessing the impacts of our policies, functions and procedures on promoting age equality

Foster good relations and cohesion by:

• Increasing the inclusion of positive, non-stereotypical images of people of all ages and the contributions they have made to different aspects of the curriculum

Anti- bullying

We deal with all cases of bullying according to our Anti Bullying Policy and consult with the families involved. Behaviour is analysed on an on-going basis and persistent offenders are identified and supported to improve. Repeated incidents between two or more pupils are addressed according to our Policy.

Our School states clearly that all forms of bullying and discrimination are unacceptable and will not be tolerated. We recognise that a strong and well observed anti bullying policy will have a positive impact on the lives of children from all equality groups. We have therefore set out the measures that our school will take to address bullying and discriminatory incidents in our Anti - Bullying Policy. We monitor and submit data regarding bullying and discriminatory incidents to the Local Authority as required.

Employment Practices

In our School we ensure that we observe the principles of equal opportunities in how we employ, develop and treat our staff.

At least one member of staff involved in all staff recruitment is ‘Safer Recruitment’ trained. All short listing is completed using set criteria sent out to all candidates to ensure equal opportunities for all applicants. Performance Management runs on an annual cycle and performance related pay is addressed through this process.

Job promotions are advertised according to procedure and HR are consulted for pay references.

Any incidents of disciplinary, grievance, harassment or discrimination are followed according to the procedures set out by the LA and followed by the school.

Due Regard

Under the legislation we are required to pay due regard to equalities when planning and implementing policies, functions or procedures. We need to understand whether our policies and services are meeting everyone’s needs and that anyone who needs to can get access to them.

Analysis will take place on;

• Behaviour
• Exclusions by gender/ ethnicity/ SEN

Equality Objectives Summary

This section summarises the objectives we have identified in order to eliminate discrimination and harassment and advance equality in relation to gender, race, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity.

1. Raising awareness and celebrating languages through the ethnic groups in our school.
2. Narrowing the gap on achievement for boys compared to girls.
3. Narrowing the gap in achievement for our SEN pupils.

Roles and responsibilities

The Governing body accepts their responsibility to promote equality and eliminate discrimination and harassment, as outlined in the objectives.

A member of the Governing Body will be identified as the representative to oversee equality matters in the school. This will be the SEND link governor.

Through completion of the SEF and work with the LA, standards will be monitored and targets reviewed.

Training for subject leaders will ensure that all curriculum areas support the Equality Act 2010 and that the school’s objectives are reflected throughout the foundation subjects.

Actions

1. Narrowing the gap on achievement for boys compared to girls.

Interventions to promote the interests of boys as well as girls. Addressing the resource in school- particularly for reading and writing. Involving male members of the family in particular to promote positive learning for boys.

1. Narrowing the gap in achievement for our SEN pupils.

Close monitoring of intervention groups, IEPs and involvement of the LA to monitor our provision for SEN. Through regular reporting to the governing body and through the monitoring made by the Inclusion Governor, the GB ensures that equal opportunities are given to all pupils whatever their needs. Introduction and regular reviewing of individualised targets by the class teachers, monitored by the Senco.

Through monitoring, the SLT ensure that equality is addressed through policies, teaching and learning, and extracurricular activities and report the same to the Governing Body via the Head’s report.

The Governors will ensure that this information is received and question its accuracy by assessing impact in results and achievement on the monitoring groups of children. This can be done through the data that is fed back to the GB via the Head’s report. Subject coordinators will ensure that their subjects reflect the diverse cohort in the school and that the learning is relevant and accessible to all groups of children.

Reporting and reviewing the objectives

In line with the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty we will produce a report on our progress every year and review and revise the Schools Equality Objectives every four years.

The outcomes of our objectives will be reported annually to the Governing Body within the Head Teachers report. The SLT will have responsibility for monitoring the School’s Equality Objectives. This will be done through our school analysis, questionnaires where appropriate and pupils progress meetings.

The objectives will be updated within the school development plan.

The Equality Act objectives will be collated by SLT on receipt of all subject action plans and published as a separate Equality Objectives Action Plan for prioritising and monitoring. If any adverse impacts are identified during the monitoring process, the action plan will need to be revised.

Complaints

If a member of the public feels that they have suffered harassment or been treated unfairly by the school because of their sex, colour, race, nationality, ethnic group, regional or national origin, age, marital status, disability, political or religious belief, sexual orientation or class, they should report this without fail through the School’s complaints procedure.

Complaints by staff will be dealt with under our Grievance at Work Policies, as appropriate. We take all external and internal complaints seriously and will not tolerate any form of discriminatory behaviour. Complaints about staff will be investigated using the appropriate Local Authority procedures.

Monitoring complaints is also another way of gathering information to see whether we are meeting our equality duties. We will report on complaints annually and on action taken.

Promoting Equality: Curriculum

We aim to provide all our pupils with the opportunity to succeed. To achieve this we will ensure:

• Curriculum planning reflects a commitment to equality;
• The curriculum prepares pupils for life in a diverse society and uses opportunities to reflect the background and experience of pupils and families in the school;

• There will be opportunities in the curriculum to explore concepts and issues related to identity and equality;

• The promotion of attitudes and values that celebrate and respect diversity and challenge discriminatory behaviour and language wherever it occurs;

• The use of images and materials which positively reflect a range of cultures, identities and lifestyles.

Promoting equality: Achievement

There is a consistently high expectation of all pupils regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, ability, social background and sexual orientation. To secure the best possible outcomes we recognise that:

• Adults in the school will be expected to provide good, positive role models in their approach to all issues relating to equality of opportunity;

• It is an improvement to identify the particular needs of individual s and groups within the school and to use targeted interventions to narrow gaps in achievement;

• A range of teaching methods is used throughout the school to ensure that effective learning takes place at all stages for all pupils.

• All pupils are actively encouraged to engage fully pupils in their own learning.

Promoting Equality; The ethos and culture of the school

• At Tudor Primary School, we are aware that those involved in the leadership of the school community are instrumental inn demonstrating mutual respect between all members of the school community;

• We strive to achieve a feeling of openness and tolerance which welcomes everyone to the school;

• The children are encouraged to greet visitors to the school with friendliness and respect;
• The displays around school reflect diversity across all aspects of equality and are frequently monitored;

• Reasonable adjustments will be made to ensure access for pupils, staff, visitors (including parents) with disabilities (this not only includes physical access, but takes account wider access to the school information and activities):

• Provision is made to cater for the cultural, moral and spiritual needs of all children through planning of assemblies, classroom based and off-site activities;

• Pupils’ views are actively encouraged and respected. Pupils are given an effective voice for example, through advocacy, the school Council, pupil perception surveys and there are regular opportunities to engage with pupils about their learning and the life of the school;

• Positive role models are used throughout the school to ensure that different groups of pupils feel welcomed and include.

Promoting Equality: Staff Recruitment and professional Development

• All posts are advertised formally and open to the widest pool of applicants;
• All those involved in recruitment and selection are trained and aware of what they should do avoid discrimination to ensure equality of opportunity.

• Steps are taken to encourage people from under-represented groups to apply for positions at all levels of the school;

• Access to opportunities for professional development is monitored on equality grounds;
• Equalities policy and practise is covered in all staff inductions;
• All supply staff and contractors are made aware of the policy and practice;

• Employment policy and procedures are reviewed regularly to check conformity with legislation and the impact of policies are kept under regular review.

Promoting Equality: Countering and Challenging Harassment and Bullying

• The school counters and challenges all types of discriminatory behaviour and this is made clear to staff, pupils, parents and governors;

• The school has a clear, agreed procedure for dealing with prejudice related bullying incidents and has nominated a member of staff responsible for recording and monitoring incidents;

• The school reports to governors, on an annual basis the number of prejudice related incidents recorded in the school.

Promoting Equality: Partnership with parents/Carers and the wider community

Tudor Primary School aims to work in partnership with partnership with parents/carers. We:

• Take action to ensure all parents/carers are encouraged to participate in the life of the school;
• Maintain good channels of communication, e.g. through parent forums, to ensure parents’ views are captured to inform practice;

• Encourage members of the local community to join in school activities and celebrations;
• Ensure that they parents/carers of newly arrived pupils e.g. EAL, Gypsy, Roma and Traveller or pupils with disabilities are made to feel welcome.

Responsibility for the policy

In our school, all members of the school community have a responsibility for promoting equalities.

The governing body has responsibility for ensuring that:

• The school complies with all equalities legislation relevant to the school community;
• The school’s equalities policy is maintained and updated regularly; and that equality schemes are easily identifiable (t

• The actions procedures and strategies related to the policy are implemented;
• The committes will have an overview, on behalf of the governing body, on all prejudice related incidents or incidents which are a breach of this policy and ensure that appropriate action is taken in relation to these incidents.

The headteacher and senior leadership team has responsibility for:

• In partnership with the governing body, providing leadership and vision in respect of equality;
• Overseeing the implementation of the equality policy and scheme;
• Co-ordinating the activities related to equality and evaluating impact;
• Ensuring that all who enter the school are aware of, and comply with, the equalities policy;

• Ensuring that staff are aware of their responsibilities and are given relevant training and support;

• Taking appropriate action in response to any prejudice-related incidents. All school staff have responsibility for:

• The implementation of the school’s equalities policy and schemes;

• Dealing with incidents of discrimination and knowing how to identify and challenge bias and stereotyping;

• Ensuring they do not discriminate on grounds of ethnicity and culture, disability, sexual orientation or other groups vulnerable to discrimination. Keeping up to date with equalities legislation.

Measuring the impact of this policy

The equalities policy and all other relevant policies will be evaluated and monitored for their equality impact on pupils, staff, parents and carer from the different groups that make up our school. This will be communicated with staff, parents, carers and governors by the headteacher.

Aims and values

Our commitment to promoting racial equality and cultural diversity is encapsulated in the aims of the school community, Achievement and growth. In addition we aim:

• To respect and value the differences between people
• To prepare students for participation in Britain’s multi-ethnic, diverse society
• To make the school a place where everyone, taking account of race, colour, language, religion, ethnic or national origin, feels welcomed and valued and feels a sense of collective and community identity
• To help students develop a sense of personal and cultural identity
• To promote good relations between different racial, cultural and religious groups within the school and within the wider community

• To acknowledge the existence of racism and takes steps to prevent it
• To oppose all forms of racism, xenophobia, racial prejudice and racial harassment
• To be proactive in tackling and eliminating unlawful discrimination

Our commitment to racial equality and cultural diversity involves all members of the school community – students, staff, parents/carers, governors and visitors and applies to all areas of the school life. These areas include:

• Staffing: recruitment, selection and professional development
• Curriculum
• Teaching and learning
• Assessment, achievement and progress
• Behaviour, discipline and exclusion

• Personal development and pastoral care
• Admissions and attendance
• Partnerships with parents/carers and the community

Commitments

We are committed to:

• Actively tackling racial discrimination and promoting equal opportunities
• Promoting positive approached to diversity
• Involving students, parents/carers, staff and governors in developing policies, procedures and practices which tackle racial discrimination and promote inclusion

• Monitoring teaching and curriculum development to ensure high expectations of all students
• Encouraging and supporting all students and staff to achieve their best

Linguistic diversity

We recognise and celebrate linguistic diversity in British society and, wherever possible, we offer bilingual support for students who are in the early stages of learning English.

Religious Observance

We respect that religious beliefs and practice of all students, staff, and parents/carers and comply with all reasonable requests relating to religious observance and practice.

Action Plan