The Purbeck School Equality Policy Statement

Background

The Purbeck School is a non-selective 11-18 mixed comprehensive school, situated in Wareham, Dorset. The School draws from a wide, geographically -dispersed, rural catchment area. The overwhelming majority of students who attend the school are White British.

Aims and values

The Purbeck School seeks to provide a happy and outward -looking environment, within which all our pupils work hard to realise their full potential academically, personally and socially. We aim to prepare our pupils for their adult lives by helping them develop the skills and attitudes needed for them to become confident, articulate, thoughtful and contributing members of society.

Each individual is valued and respected for who they are irrespective of age, race , sex, ability, status or social background. The School is wholly committed to eliminating unlawful discrimination, promoting equal opportunities and fostering good relations in all areas of school life. We are mindful of our legal responsibilities under the Equality Act (2010), but our commitment is based not only upon legal obligation but on a conviction that valuing the individual, celebrating diversity and unlocking the potential of all learners are the very purpose of education. It is for this reason t hat we embrace the elimination of social difference within this policy.

Legal framework

We welcome our duties under the Equality Act 2010 to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations in relation to age (as appropriate), disability, ethnicity, gender, religion and sexual identity.

We 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.

Guiding principles

In fulfilling the legal obligations cited above, we are guided by the following principles:

• All members of the school are of equal value
• We recognise and respect difference
• We foster positive attitudes and relationships, and a shared sense of cohesion and belonging
• We observe good equalities practice in staff recruitment, retention and development
• We aim to reduce and remove inequalities and barriers that already exist
• We consult and involve widely
• We base our practices on sound evidence
• We formulate and publish specific and measurable objectives, based on consultation and the evidence we have collected.

Equality Objectives

Every four years, we draw up an action plan within the framework of the overall school improvement plan and processes of self -evaluation, setting out the specific equality objectives we shall pursue. The objectives which we identify take into account national and local priorities and issues, as appropriate. Our current plan runs from 2014 to 2017.

We keep our equality objectives under review and report annually on progress towards achieving them. Our equality objectives are attached to this Policy.

The Curriculum

We keep each curriculum subject or area under review in order to ensure that teaching and learning reflect the guiding principles set out above.

Ethos and organisation

We ensure our guiding principles apply to the full range of our policies and practices, including those that are concerned with:

• pupils’ progress, attainment and achievement
• pupils’ personal development, welfare and well-being
• teaching styles and strategies
• admissions and attendance
• staff recruitment, retention and professional development
• care, guidance and support
• behaviour, discipline and exclusions
• working in partnership with parents, carers and guardians
• working with the wider community.

Addressing prejudice and prejudice -related bullying

The School is opposed to all forms of prejudice which stand in the way of fulfilling our legal duties, including:

• prejudices around disability and special educational needs
• prejudices around racism and xenophobia, including those that are directed towards religious groups and communities, for example antisemitism and Islamophobia, and those that are directed against Travellers, migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum
• prejudices reflecting sexism and homophobia.

We will take action to prevent, challenge and eliminate any such behaviour (see: Anti -Bullying Policy)

Roles and responsibilities

The Governing Body is responsible for ensuring that The School complies with leg islation, and that this policy and its related objectives and action plans are implemented.

A committee of our Board of Governors has a watching brief regarding the implementation of this policy (Student Development Committee). There is a named governor wi th particular responsibility for Equality.

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:

• promote an inclusive and collaborative ethos in their classroom
• deal with any prejudice -related incidents that may occur
• plan and deliver curricula and lessons that reflect the guiding principles set out above
• support pupils in their class for whom English is an additional language
• keep up-to-date with equalities legislation relevant to their work.

Our pupils/students will:

• be expected to act in accordance with the Policy
• be encouraged to actively support the Policy

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.

Monitoring and evaluation

The Equality Impact of all school policies will be considered when they are reviewed. In all polices reviews from June 2014 the following statement will be made after careful consideration has been given to each policy and its impact:

“We have carefully considered and analysed the impact of this policy on equality and the possible implications for pupils with protected characteristics, as part of our commitment to meet the Public Sector Equality Duty requirement to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations.”

We collect, study and use quantitative and qualitative data relating to this policy.

In particular we collect, analyse and use data in relation to achievement, broken down as appropriate according to disabi lities and special educational needs; ethnicity, culture, language, religious affiliation, socio-economic background, national origin and national status; and gender.

This policy should be read in conjunction with other relevant polices such as: anti -bullying, behaviour policy, sex and relationship education, teaching and learning, code of conduct, collective worship and freedom of information.

Appendix A-

Purbeck School Equality Objectives 2014-2017

OBJECTIVE ONE: To eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation

To prevent and respond to all hate incidents and prejudiced based bullying by students in school. Rationale- There has been a small growth in the number of bullying incidents that relate to protected characteristics (along with our push for students to report incidents) :

2010-11 = 5; 2011-12 = 3; 2012-13 = 3; 2013-14 =5 by June ’14.

These incidents relate to race and sexuality. There have been no recorded incidents in any year that relate to disability, SEN or gender.

Action:

• Students are taught to behave appropriately and lawfully – to enter a diverse world as productive, enriched, well-rounded citizens.
• Awareness of Anti -Bullying policy is to be raised for students via assembly/ posters/ welfare team/ football against racism initiatives;
• Awareness amongst parents to be raised via dedicated evenings/ use of newsletter & website;
• Awareness amongst teachers should be raised via INSET time and there is an Internationalism strand under new MFL leadership structure.

OBJECTIVE TWO: To advance equality of opportunity

a) To ensure that progress in Maths and English for FSM students matches those of similar students.

b) To close gap between male and female achievement

Rationale-

There is currently a performance gap between FSM & non FSM students. This is improving in all areas except 4 Levels Progress in English.

Action-

• FSM & male performance is tracked and discussed regularly through line management and Aim High meetings.
• Planned intervention is in place for individuals not on target.
• Success of mentoring scheme assessed and amended as necessary.
• Attendance is a key barrier- use of Mark Lawson to maximise FSM & male student attendance.
• Early engagement with FSM/PP families from Years 5/6 with targeted invites to sample lessons.
• PP spending is monitored and interventions are recorded for individual students.
• Review and amendment of positive behaviour strategies to increase the engagement of boys.
• English faculty to include strategies to improve performance of boys.

OBJECTIVE THREE: Fostering good relations

To promote cultural development and understanding for all through a rich range of experiences both in and beyond the school .

Rationale- Increasing knowledge and understanding of other cultures and people of a different religion is critical to our students in playing a full role in a culturally diverse B ritain as they come from a predominately white rural area (see objective 1). It is important to reduce any risk that our students will be vulnerable to extreme right wing nationalistic thoughts and beliefs.

Action:

• Use change in MFL structure to increase ‘internationalism’ through the school.
• Greater opportunities for educational visits
• To audit and review the curriculum to assess where opportunities for students to learn about different cultures, races and religi ons lie.
• Assembly topics & PSHE

OBJECTIVE FOUR: All aims of duty

To ensure that all Equalities legislation is adhered to within the school.

Action-

• To ensure that all Equalities legislation is adhered to within the school.
• To assess each school policy for equality impact when each policy is now reviewed. To include a statement in each reviewed policy to confirm any potential impact.

NB there have been no complaints that relate to Equalities legislation this year.

Appendix B:

Equality Act Objectives 2014-1017 – Action Plan to be reviewed annually (summer term) and adjusted if appropriate

Appendix C-

2013/4 Statistical Information

There are fewer than 150 staff at The Purbeck School.

Student population – equality breakdown:

*Disabilities in each Year Group amount to less than 10. Disabilities include: Asthma, Eczema, Epilepsy, Heart Conditions, Diabetes, Back Condition, Blood

Clotting issue, Cystic Fibrosis.

**Some students did not answer the religion question