High Standards & High Expectations
Date reviewed by Governors:July 2015
EQUALITIES DUTY
Bishop Fox’s School recognises its general duties under the 2010 Equality Act to:
- Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimization for any reasons including:- age, disability, gender (including re-assignment), religion and sexual orientation.
- Advance equality of opportunity, and
-Promote understanding between people from different groups in relation to the nine Protected Characteristics of the Equality Duty 2011.
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.
Our School Values and Mission Statement link to our Equalities Policy.
We aim to:
1.promote equality of opportunity through vision, strategy and practice.
2.involve people from different groups in the development and review of our equality work
3.eliminate all forms of unlawful discrimination
4.eliminate harassment and bullying
5.ensure equality of opportunity for disadvantaged groups
6.narrow the attainment gap in outcomes for children and young people
7.improve other outcomes where we identify inequality
8.take positive action to meet needs, even if this requires more favourable treatment.
9.increase participation of under-represented groups in the school community
10.promote positive attitudes and good relations between people from different groups and support community cohesion.
We are guided by nine principles:
1.all learners, parents/guardians, governors and staff are of equal value
2.we recognise and respect difference
3.we foster positive attitudes and relationships, and a shared sense of cohesion and belonging.
4.we are committed to good equalities practice in staff recruitment, retention and development
5.we seek to reduce and remove inequalities and barriers that already exist
6.we consult and involve widely
7.our school and local community and society as a whole should all benefit
8.we base our practices on sound evidence and openness about the issues that face us.
9.we formulate and publish specific and measurable objectives.
The curriculum:
We keep each curriculum area under review in order to ensure that teaching and learning reflect the nine principles set out above.
Ethos and Organisation:
We ensure the principles listed above apply to the full range of our policies and practices and link to our school values and mission statement.
Addressing prejudice and prejudice-related bullying:
The school is opposed to all forms of prejudice which stand in the way of fulfilling the legal duties referred to above.
There is guidance in the school policy framework about how prejudice-related incidents should be identified, assessed, recorded and dealt with.
We collect and report racial incidents on a regular basis to the local authority and Governors of the school.
Roles and responsibilities:
The Governing Body is responsible for ensuring that the school complies with legislation, and that this policy and its related procedures and action plans are implemented. (The Governing Body will review and evaluate the implications of policy through the programme of monitoring visits).
The Headteacher is responsible for implementing the policy, for ensuring that all staff are aware of their responsibilities and are given appropriate training and support, and for taking appropriate action in any cases of unlawful discrimination.
All staff are expected to:
1.promote an inclusive and collaborative ethos in their classroom
2.deal with any prejudice-related incidents that may occur
3.plan and deliver lessons that reflect the principles in detailed 4 above
4.support students in their class who have particular needs arising from disability, special education needs, or for whom English is an additional language or who are Travellers, keep up to date with equalities legislation relevant to their work.
Information and resources:
We ensure that the content of this policy is known to all staff and Governors and, as appropriate to all students and their parents and carers.
Religious observance:
We respect the religious beliefs ad practice of all staff, students and parents, and comply with reasonable requests relating to religious observance and practice.
Staff development and training:
We endeavour to ensure that all staff, including support and administrative staff, receives appropriate training and opportunities for professional development, both as individuals and as groups or teams, to ensure that we are able to meet our obligations under the Equality Act.
Monitoring and Evaluation:
We collect, study and use quantitative data and qualitative evidence relating to the implementation of this policy, and make adjustments as appropriate.
We collect, analyse and use data on achievement, broken down as appropriate according to disabilities and special education needs, ethnicity and gender.
Meeting our specific duties under the 2010 Equality Acti:
We publish information annually on our school website to show that we have complied with our general duties under the Act (By 6 April 2012 and then updated annually).
We prepare and publish equality objectives and review annually our progress towards them. For the period from April 2012 to March 2016 our equality objectives are:
-to narrow the achievement gap between vulnerable groups and non-vulnerable groups
-to address issues which arise from the equalities questionnaires available to students, parents and staff.
APPENDIX 1:
The relevant section of the school website to include:
-a copy of the Schools Equalities Duty
-plans to meet our objectives and progress in relation to these (attached)
-copy of the schools values and mission statement
-persons to contact in relation to requests for additional information
-copy of the Schools current accessibility plan.
APPENDIX 2:
EQUALITIES DUTY BRIEFING NOTE:
Briefing paper:
The Equalities duty for the school replaced previous statutory requirements relating to gender, disability and race.
Essentially the new duty requires the following:
1.No discrimination based on either sex, race, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment or pregnancy/maternity.
2.The absence of any discrimination relations to both direct and indirect discrimination (parents evening on a Friday for Jewish families).
3.A absence of any sense of harassment or indeed victimization as a result of “difference”
4.Positive discrimination for those with disabilities is permissible (in principle – not required)
5.“Reasonable adjustments” are made for those with disabilities (i.e. access to field trips – Snowdonia)
These responsibilities for a school must be evident in relation to the following:
1.Admissions
2.Access/opportunity
3.Behaviour/exclusions
4.Progress and achievement
5.Treatment i.e. bullying
APPENDIX 3 (attached)
-Action Plan – 2012-13
-Action Plan – 2013/14 (Vulnerable groups)
-Action Plan – 2013/14 (Accessibility)
-Action Plan – 2014/15
-Action Plan – 2015/16
Date approved by the Governing Body – Autumn Term 2015
This policy should be read alongside the following relevant policies of the school which have a direct bearing on our efforts to deliver on our Equalities Duty:
-The schools values and five year goals
-The schools Equal Opportunities Policy
-The schools Inclusion Policy
-The schools Accessibility Plan
-The schools SEN policy.