Eastlands Primary School - Equality & Diversity

Equality & Diversity

EPS School Statement on Equality & Diversity

At Eastlands Primary School we welcome our duties under the Equality Act 2010. The General Equality Duty sets out the equality matters that the school needs to consider when making decisions that affect pupils or staff with protected characteristics.

This duty has three elements. In carrying out their functions public bodies are required to have ‘due regard’, when making decisions and developing policies, to the need to: eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation or 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 between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

Having ‘due regard’ to the need to advance equality of opportunity is further defined in the Equality Act 2010 as ‘having due regard to the need to:

Remove or minimise disadvantages
Take steps to meet different needs
Encourage participation where it is disproportionately low.’

The school must meet the two specific duties which are to:

publish information to demonstrate compliance with the general duties, at least annually. This may include school performance data, anti-bullying policies, curriculum materials, parent and pupil surveys and the School Improvement Plan. It can also refer to national and other surveys and benchmarking. The school will, generally, have sufficient information in the form of routine data or individual/group records. Where there are gaps or concerns, then the school may decide to collect more information in order to provide a complete picture of the school, shape objectives, address inequality and inform decision making.
publish at least one, although not usually more than four, specific and measurable equality objectives, at least every four years.

The duty to have due regard to equality consideration is a continuing one which applies to all policies and procedures. It also applies to what may not be written down i.e. practices, and the school will always try to use information about pupils with protected characteristics to promote positive outcomes and mitigate adverse effects.

Meeting these duties forms an integral part of the work of the school and must be integrated into the carrying out of the school’s functions. In order to ensure that the school makes explicit its compliance and remains focused on improving outcomes an Action Plan has been drawn up which will be addressed through the mechanism of the School Development Plan. This will secure consistency, enable effective self-evaluation and support robust and rigorous school improvement. We recognise that there are significant overlaps between fulfilling the Equality Duty and meeting the requirements of the school inspection framework.

In fulfilling our legal obligations we aim to:

foster positive attitudes and relationships, and a shared sense of belonging
advance equality of opportunity by ensuring that teaching, learning and the curriculum promotes equality and celebrates diversity
ensure that all learners have equal access to a rich, broad, balanced and relevant curriculum
observe good equalities practice, including staff recruitment, retention and development
remove or minimise existing inequalities and barriers
ensure that pupils, parents and other stakeholders are consulted and involved widely in advancing the provision made by the school
promote community cohesion by fostering good relations
ensure that within the school budget, adequate funding is provided to underpin this policy and that intervention, positive and preventative action is funded appropriately.

We believe that promoting equality is the responsibility of everyone in the school community.

At the present time, all children with disabilities and special needs join in everyday activities with other pupils as part of our commitment to inclusion. Currently the school has the following facilities:

Accessible toilets facilities
Accessible doors
Curriculum and equipment aids
Priorities for 2022.23 include -
- Premises - add marking for disabled parking space
- Learning environment - refurbishing disabled toilet
- Curriculum - Increase programme of visits to places of worship, increase visitors to school to explore faiths through dance, assemblies and other events

At Eastlands we follow the Warwickshire guidance Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for schools.

This guidance is designed to support education providers to meet their legal duties under current equality legislation. It contains a straightforward explanation of what is required by law and some suggestions as to how to put this into practice in education settings.

The duties for schools under the legislation should not represent an extra burden; instead they can serve to support and enhance good practice.

Legislative Framework

The Equality Act 2010 combined nine separate pieces of legislation into one single Act simplifying the law and strengthening it in important ways to help tackle discrimination and inequality. The Act introduced 9 protected characteristics;

Age
Disability
Gender reassignment
Marriage and civil partnership
Race
Religion and belief
Sex
Sexual orientation
Pregnancy and maternity

The Act also specifies particular areas of protection e.g. in employment and within education and set out general and specific duties which schools must meet. The public sector Equality Duty consists of a general duty and some specific duties that are designed to help organisations meet their general duty.

EPS Equality Policy & Objectives

Also see

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools

By raising awareness of all strands of diversity, how to eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity, we are preparing our young people to become good global citizens and to appreciate the diverse society in which they live.

Additionally, this important agenda will ensure we have a workforce which reflects the differences of our customers which in turn will help to shape a responsive and tailored service. We appreciate that talents reside in people of all backgrounds and a diverse workforce can harness this. This will help the local authorities to become an employer of choice and enhance partnership working.'

Legislation

The Equality Act 2010 came into force on 1 October 2010. This piece of legislation brings together over 100 pieces of existing legislation on equality. It streamlines equality requirements and provides a firm platform for tackling dual discrimination in society and the workplace. The three aims of the legislation are to: