ST ANN’S C.E. PRIMARY SCHOOL,

NURSERY & EARLY LEARNERS

Equality

Statement & Information

Policy prepared by Mrs. K. Keen

Date Approved / January 2018

Warrington St. Ann’s CE Primary School and Nursery Mission Statement

St. Ann’s Church of England Primary School is one of the family of church schools within the Liverpool Diocese. Our welcoming school is at the heart of the community and is distinguished by its nurturing ethos which is underpinned by Christian values.

Excellent teaching makes learning exciting and accessible for all and we challenge our children to develop a love of learning and to reach their full potential.

Throughout their school journey we encourage children to grow as resilient individuals who aspire to search out and grasp all of life’s opportunities, making wise choices in order to build a positive future for themselves and others. Our vision is that our children leave the school as compassionate citizens who respect the rights, beliefs and individuality of others.

Where everyone matters

Our school makes all members of our community feel welcome and valued. Our vision and values promote inclusion and equality and tackle discrimination. We have high expectations for all our pupils irrespective of their age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation. Our equalities statement is guided by some core principles:

  • Learners are all unique children who together are one;
  • We recognise and respect difference;
  • We show understanding, compassion and care to all
  • We foster positive attitudes and relationships and a shared sense of community and belonging;
  • We observe good practice in recruitment, retention and staff development;
  • We aim to reduce and challenge barriers to equality that already exist.

Statement/Principles

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 community should feel safe, secure, valued and of equal worth. At St. Ann’s CE Primary School, equality is a key principle for treating all people the same irrespective of their age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage & civil partnership, pregnancy & maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation (Equality Act 2010).

Legal framework

1. We welcome our duties under the Equality Act 2010 to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations.

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

3. 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.

Monitoring and Review

The headteacher is responsible for co-ordinating the monitoring and evaluation, including:

  • Providing updates on equalities legislation and the school’s responsibilities in this regard;
  • Working closely with the governing body.
    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 EAL pupils and Free School Meals, in the following recommended areas:
  • Pupils’ progress and attainment;
  • Learning and teaching;
  • Behaviour discipline and exclusions;
  • Attendance;
  • Admissions;
  • Incidents of prejudice related bullying and all forms of bullying;
  • Parental involvement
  • Participation in extra-curricular and extended school activities;
  • Staff recruitment and retention;
  • Visits and visitors.

Our Equality Objectives

To ensure we welcome all families.

To promote spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of our children through all appropriate curricular and extra-curricular opportunities and through our Collective Worship and Christian Values;

To ensure children have an understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law through direct teaching;

To nurture an acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour through school policies, Behaviour Management & Anti – Bullying Policy, Collective Worship, display, RE, PSHCE, etc;

To enforce an understanding of the importance of identifying and combatting discrimination through focus weeks eg Anti-bullying Week, Disability Awareness Week, etc…

To reduce prejudice and increase understanding of equality through direct teaching across the curriculum, fundraising, active School Parliament, etc;

To avoid deterministic notions of fixed ability and to model teaching and learning behaviours that develop a growth mindset and avoid labeling;

To promote cultural development and understanding through a rich range of experience, both in and beyond the school;

To eradicate prejudice related bullying in relation to the protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act 2010.

To close the gap between disadvantaged pupils and non-disadvantaged pupils achieving age related expectaions and above at KS2 in English and Maths.

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;

The actions, procedures and strategies related to the policy are implemented;

The Safeguarding Governor 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 schemes;

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 this policy;

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.

Information and resources

We ensure that the content of this policy is known to all staff and governors and, as appropriate, to all pupils and their parents and carers through publishing it on the school website.

All staff and governors have access to a selection of resources which discuss and explain concepts of equality, diversity and community cohesion in appropriate detail.

In line with the PSED (Public Sector Equality Duty) of the Equality Act 2010 we publish the following data:

Characteristic / Breakdown
Number of pupils / School - 207 52% male 48% female
Nursery – 37 49% male 51% female
Number of staff / 42 14% male 86% female
Number of governors / 13(10 +1 associate + 2 vacancies)
6 male 5 female
Religion / Church of England
Attainment on entry / Well Below average in Reading, Writing, Maths and PSED
Pupil Mobility / 4% (7/177) of the current NOR joined the school during the autumn term (excluding Reception)
3 children left the school during the autumn term (excluding Y6)
Free School Meals
Eligible for Pupil Premium / 23% (KS2)
46% of School
24% Nursery
Ethnicity / 80% White British
9% Other White
1% Black African
1% Pakistani
0.5% Chinese
6.5% Any other Asian Background
1% Any other mixed background
0.5% White & Black African
English as an additional language / 15%
24% in Nursery
13 additional first languages other than English
Special Educational Needs / 25% (School + Nursery)
8 EHC Plans 4% of school
Average attendance rate / 96%
Awards , accreditations, recognitions / School Games Bronze Award
Primary Quality Mark
1