Equality & Diversity
Aims and Rationale
Our school aims to meet its obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) by having due regard 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
This is important because eliminating discrimination, advancing equality of opportunity, and fostering good relations are essential to achieving our wider aims of educational excellence and transformational personal development. These aims are in full alignment with our mission statement of growing character and our value of respect.
Our underlying principles
In fulfilling the legal obligations cited above, we are guided by 10 principles which will help us to achieve our aims (above):
All learners, staff and members of our communities are of equal value
We respect, value, and celebrate difference
We are committed to maintaining positive relationships and developing a shared sense of belonging with all stakeholders
We observe best-practice in relation to staff recruitment, retention, and professional development
We aim to actively reduce and remove inequalities and barriers that already exist
We engage with all stakeholders and make sure we consult on decision-making and significant changes to practices or policies
Our policies and activities should benefit wider society in the immediate and longer term.
Our approaches and practices are evidence-informed
We review and formulate curricula which develop and promote equality, diversity, and community cohesion.
As required by the equality duty, each year we publish updated information to demonstrate how we are complying with these obligations (i.e., outlining how we put our policy into practice.
We eliminate discrimination by:
Offering a broad and inclusive curriculum that meets the needs of all students.
Delivering a carefully designed and sequenced PSHE curriculum to students in years 7-13 which works responsively to address all forms of discrimination.
Delivering a varied assembly curriculum that celebrates diversity and equality in relation to religion, race, sexuality, and gender. This will often revolve around key dates in the year e.g. Pride Month, Black History Month, Neurodiversity Week etc
Providing a Character Curriculum, delivered weekly in the Morning Meeting programme by tutors that is designed around the school values and virtues. This is also informed by the fundamental British Value.
Creating displays around school that celebrate and promote people’s right to be themselves which are informed by the protected characteristics.
Taking all available opportunities to promote our school Vision & Values that actively endorse the qualities of respect and the virtues of neighbourliness, open-mindedness, compassion, friendliness etc
Systematically recording any incidents of hate, abuse, and discrimination
By running focus groups with students from different social groups and backgrounds as well as those with protected characteristics to ensure their voice is heard.
We advance equality of opportunity by:
Systematically monitoring indicators such as student progress, attendance at school and behaviour by learner group, in order to identify any gaps and required interventions.
Providing a broad, balanced curriculum which is open to all students and enabling students to decide their individual pathways through the options process in year 9
Ensuring that the PSHE curriculum is accessed by all students, with particular care taken regarding access of students in vulnerable groups who may be particularly vulnerable to equality issues and who may not access the curriculum in the same way at the same time as other students e.g, training provided for teaching SEND students
Ensure we provide the opportunities and resources to ensure that disadvantaged students through our Catch Up to Keep Up Strategy.
Providing an enhanced transition programme for Year 7 students with additional needs or vulnerabilities.
Develop student leaders to promote equality e.g. peer mentoring schemes
Providing additional support for students who experience barriers to learning, including those with protected characteristics via the Nurture Centre and Curriculum to the Endeavour Centre
Maximising the participation of all students in trips, visits, and extra-curricular activities through the targeted use of Pupil Premium funding. This includes strengthening systems to monitor rates of participation in extracurricular activity and actions to address any gaps.
Encouraging a diverse workforce including gathering data about the makeup of our workforce and recruitment and retention rates for different groups
We foster good relations by:
Delivering an inclusive and diverse curriculum which celebrates diversity and promotes equality (for example, reading lessons based on a diverse range of texts in KS3 English).
Engaging with award schemes, organisations and programmes which encourage an appreciation of diversity e.g. Rainbow Alliance Award
Inviting in external speakers for assemblies from a variety of communities
Providing a wide range of international visits for students
Inviting ‘role models’ from diverse backgrounds to work with our students to counter misconceptions, raise awareness and build empathy
Providing opportunities for students to engage with the wider community (for example, through community volunteering programmes e.g. sweeping the sheds in school, attend local day centres to read to residents etc.