From our Equality Policy

Aims

Our school aims to meet its obligation under the public sector equality duty by having due regards to the need to:

• Eliminate discrimination and other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it
• Foster good relations across all characteristics – between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

Legal Duties

As a school we welcome our duties under the Equality Act 2010.  The general duties are to:

• eliminate discrimination,
• advance equality of opportunity
• foster good relations

We understand the principal of the act and the work needed to ensure that those with protected characteristics are not discriminated against and are given equality of opportunity. 

A protected characteristic under the act covers the groups listed below:

• age (for employees only),
• disability
• race (includes ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality)
• gender (including issues of transgender)
• gender reassignment
• maternity and pregnancy
• religion and belief (includes lack of belief)
• sexual identity
• Marriage and Civil Partnership (for employees)

In order to meet our general duties, listed above, the law requires us to do some specific duties to demonstrate how we meet the general duties.  These are to:

• Publish equality Information – to demonstrate compliance with the general duty across its functions

We will not publish any information that can specifically identify any child or employee of the school

• Prepare and publish equality objectives

To do this we will collect data related to the protected characteristics above and analyse this data to determine our focus for our equality objectives.  The data will be assessed across our core provisions as a school. This will include the following functions:

• Admissions
• Attendance
• Attainment
• Exclusions
• Prejudice related incidents

Our objectives will detail how we will ensure equality is applied to the services listed above however where we find evidence that other functions have a significant impact on any particular group we will include work in this area.

We also welcome our duty under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 to promote community cohesion.

We recognise that these duties reflect international human rights standards as expressed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, and the Human Rights Act 1998.

Through rigorous tracking and monitoring, alongside outside multi-agency involvement, we strive to ensure equality of delivery of services.

In fulfilling our legal obligations we will:

• Recognise and respect diversity
• Foster positive attitudes and relationships, and a shared sense of belonging
• Observe good equalities practice, including staff recruitment, retention and development.
• Aim to reduce and remove existing inequalities and barriers.
• Consult and involve widely
• Strive to ensure that society will benefit

This document meets the requirements under the following legislation:

The Equality Act 2010, The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011, The Equality Act 2010 and Schools.

Our Ethos/Vision

Our school will continue to motivate young children in their development leading to a positive participation in society.

We are committed to raising educational achievements and standards in a welcoming, caring and safe environment.

Aims and Vision Statement

St Mary's Fields Aims:

• To provide a welcoming and caring environment for everyone in our school.
• To develop a co-operative working partnership between all staff, children, parents/carers and governors.
• To foster children's self-esteem through enjoyment, praise and success.
• To provide opportunities for spiritual, moral, social and cultural education.
• To develop learning through structured play and language.
• To provide equal opportunities for all.
• To enable each child to reach their potential through a challenging, broad, balanced and creative curriculum.
• To enable each child to leave our school demonstrating all 35 character muscles (see route to resilience)

St Mary's Fields Vision:

At St-Mary's Fields Primary School we are committed to ensuring that each child reaches their potential and develops an enthusiasm for lifelong learning. Our vision is for the children to leave St Mary's as confident, independent, respectful and self-motivated young people equipped with the academic, social and emotional skills to take on their next challenge. During the children’s school they will take part in our ‘Route to Resilience’ work where children work on 35 character muscles.

At St Mary's Fields we aim for children to be:

• Reflective learners
• Team players
• Self-motivators
• Independent learners
• Creative thinkers
• Effective participators

Addressing Prejudice Related Incidents

This school is opposed to all forms of prejudice and we recognise that children and young people who experience any form of prejudice related discrimination may fair less well in the education system.  We provide both our pupils and staff with an awareness of the impact of prejudice in order to prevent any incidents.  If incidents still occur we address them immediately and report them to the Local Authority using their guidance material.  The Local Authority may provide some support.

Responsibility

We believe that promoting Equality is a whole school responsibility:

We will ensure that the whole school community is aware of the   Equality Policy which is published on the School Website.

Eliminating discrimination

The school is aware of its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and complies with non-discrimination provisions. 

Where relevant, our policies include reference to the importance of avoiding discrimination and other prohibited conduct. 

Staff and governors are regularly reminded of their responsibilities under the Equality Act, for example during meetings. Where this has been discussed during a meeting it is recorded in the meeting minutes.

New members of staff are required to read the Equality Act alongside our policy during their induction period

Our designated member of staff for monitoring equality issues is the Assistant Head Teacher for SEND. As part of this role, they will regularly liaise with the Head Teacher regarding any issues and make senior leaders and governors aware as when appropriate. 

If any member of staff is concerned that discriminative behaviour or conduct has taken place they must report this to the designated member of staff for further investigation.  

Employment procedures 

As an employer we need to ensure that we eliminate discrimination and harassment in our employment practice and actively promote equality across all groups within our workforce. (Refer to Staff Code of Conduct). Equality aspects such as age, gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, gender re-assignment and faith or religion are considered when appointing staff to ensure decisions are free of discrimination – we want a balanced work force reflective of our community and the society in which we live. Actions to ensure this commitment is met include: 

• Monitoring recruitment and retention including bullying and harassment of staff

• Continued professional development opportunities for all staff

• Leadership Team support to ensure equality of opportunity for all

• Age information is not disclosed during short listing of application forms

Admissions, Attendance and Exclusions   

The school applies the LEA admissions criteria fairly and consistently to ensure we do not discriminate because of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and socio-economic factors. 

Information about pupils’ ethnicity, first language, religion, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND), diet etc, is included in all admission forms. 

School attendance is monitored by gender, ethnicity, special educational needs, free school meals and appropriate actions are taken to reduce any disparities between different groups of pupils. 

Exclusions will always be based on our Behaviour and Exclusions Policies. We will closely monitor exclusions to avoid any potential adverse impact or bias; and ensure any discrepancies are identified and dealt with. Exclusions are only used when all other channels to support a child’s needs have been exhausted.

Advancing equality of opportunity

As set out in the DfE guidance on the Equality Act, the school aims to advance equality of opportunity by:

• Removing or minimising disadvantages suffered by people which are connected to a particular characteristic they have

• Taking steps to meet the particular needs of people who are observant/practice a religion  

• Encouraging people, who have a particular characteristic, to participate fully in activities 

In fulfilling this aspect of the duty, the school will:

• Publish attainment data each academic year showing how pupils with different characteristics are performing

• Analyse the above data to determine strengths and areas for improvement, implement actions in response and publish this information

• Make evidence available identifying improvements for specific groups (e.g. declines in incidents of homophobic or transphobic bullying) 

• Publish further data about any issues associated with particular protected characteristics, identifying any issues which could affect our own pupils 

7. Fostering good relations

The school aims to foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not share it by:

• Promoting tolerance, friendship and understanding of a range of religions and cultures through different aspects of our curriculum. This includes teaching in RE, citizenship and personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, but also activities in other curriculum areas. For example, as part of the teaching of literacy pupils will be introduced to literature which explores themes surrounding varied cultures and beliefs 

• Pupils will be given the opportunity to discuss themes surrounding protected characteristics. As a result, the children will develop an understanding of equality and how to practice and role model equal opportunities 

• Assemblies will explore equality themes. Pupils will be encouraged to take a lead in such assemblies and external speakers will be invited in to contribute

• We will work with our local community. This includes inviting leaders of local faith groups to speak at assemblies, and organising school trips and activities based around the local community

• Staff will encourage and implement initiatives which deal with tensions between different groups of pupils within school. For example, our school council has representatives from different year groups and is formed of pupils from a range of backgrounds. All pupils are encouraged to participate in the school’s activities, such as sports clubs. We also work with parents to promote knowledge and understanding of different cultures

• We have developed links with people and groups who have specialist knowledge about particular characteristics, which helps inform and develop our approach.

Addressing Prejudice Related Incidents

This school is opposed to all forms of prejudice and we recognise that children, young people and the adults employed at our school who experience any form of prejudice related discrimination may fair less well in academic achievement or in their motivation/self-belief towards their work ethic.  We provide both our pupils and staff with an awareness of the impact of prejudice in order to prevent any incidents.  If incidents still occur we address them immediately and where it considered necessary will report them to the Local Authority using their guidance material.  The Local Authority may provide some support.

Equality considerations in decision-making

The following are suggestions only and will need to be adapted depending on your school’s circumstances.

The school ensures it has due regard to equality considerations whenever significant decisions are made. 

The school always considers the impact of significant decisions on particular groups. For example, when a school trip or activity is being planned, the school considers whether the trip: 

• Cuts across any religious holidays

• Is accessible to pupils with disabilities

• Has equivalent facilities for boys and girls

11. Links with other policies/documents

This links to the following policies:

• Admissions

• SEND policy

• SEND report

Complaints

Complaints with regard to this policy will be dealt with via the school’s complaints procedure, a copy of which is available from the school office.   

Further guidance for parents and carers and school governors on the Equality Act 2010 can be found on

Leicester City Council’s Website: http://www.leicester.gov.uk/equalityguidance/

Complaints

Complaints with regard to this policy will be dealt with via the schools complaints procedure, a copy of which is available from the school office.  

Further guidance for parents and carers and school governors on the Equality Act 2010 can be found on Leicester City Council’s Website: http://schools.leicester.gov.uk/equalityguidance/