Equality Objectives

Haydonleigh Primary School is committed to ensuring equality of education and opportunity for all pupils, staff, parents and carers receiving services from the school irrespective of race, gender, disability, faith or religion, or socio-economic background. We aim to develop a culture of inclusion and diversity in which all those connected to the school feel proud of their identity and are able to participate fully in school life. We believe that diversity is a strength, which should be respected and celebrated. We will tackle discrimination by the positive promotion of equality, challenging bullying and stereotypes and creating an environment which champions respect for all. 

At Haydonleigh, we will pay particular attention to admissions, attendance attainment exclusion and prejudice related incidents in terms of our due regard to the equality policy.

Click here for our Equality Plan Objectives.

Statutory Requirements: The Public Sector Equality Duty 

The Public Sector Equality Duty came into force on 6 April 2011 and replaced the separate duties relating to race, disability and gender equality. 

In order to comply with the Public Sector Equality duty, set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, and in line with its ethos of excellence and opportunity for all its students and staff, Haydonleigh will have due regard to the ‘general duty’ to: 

• Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct that is prohibited by the Act.
• 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. 

The Equality Act 2010 states that having due regard for advancing equality involves: 

• Removing or minimising disadvantages suffered by people due to their protected characteristics.
• Taking steps to meet the needs of people from protected groups where these are different from the needs of other people.
• Encouraging people from protected groups to participate in public life or in other activities where their participation is disproportionately low. 

Schools also have a ‘specific duty’ to: 

• Publish information to show compliance with the Equality Duty.
• Publish Equality objectives at least every 4 years which are specific and measurable.

Definitions of the 9 Protected Characteristics

Age Where this is referred to, it refers to a person belonging to a particular age (e.g. 32 year old) or range of ages (e.g. 18-30 year olds). 

Disability A person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment which has substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. 

Gender reassignment The process of transitioning from one gender to another. 

Marriage and civil partnership In England and Wales marriage is no longer restricted to a union between a man and a woman but now includes a marriage between a same-sex couple. Same-sex couples can also have their relationships legally recognised as 'civil partnerships'. Civil partners must not be treated less favourably than married couples (except where permitted by the Equality Act). 

Pregnancy and maternity Pregnancy is the condition of being pregnant or expecting a baby. Maternity refers to the period after the birth, and is linked to maternity leave in the employment context. In the non-work context, protection against maternity discrimination is for 26 weeks after giving birth, and this includes treating a woman unfavourably because she is breastfeeding. 

Race Refers to a group of people defined by their race, colour, nationality (including citizenship), ethnic or national origins. 

Religion and Belief Religion has the meaning usually given to it but belief includes religious and philosophical beliefs including lack of belief (e.g. Atheism). Generally, a belief should affect your life choices or the way you live for it to be included in the definition. 

Sex A man or a woman. 

Sexual Orientation Whether a person's sexual attraction is towards their own sex, the opposite sex or to both sexes.

Equality into Policy and Practice

We have high ambitions for all of our children and expect them to achieve in every aspect of school life. The school aims to identify and remove barriers to all pupils and make them feel welcome irrespective of race, colour, creed or impairment. 

As a school we will adhere to these underlying principles: 

• Respond to pupils diverse needs.
• Overcome potential barriers to learning for individual and groups of pupils.
• Take proportionate actions to help disabled and/or disadvantaged pupils.
• Tackle racial discrimination.
• Promote equality of opportunity.
• Promote good relations between people of different racial groups, faiths/beliefs and socio-economic backgrounds.
• Monitor the impact our plans and policies have on such pupils, staff and parents/carers towards raising the achievement of all groups. 

As well as the specific actions set out in our plan (Appendix 1), the school operates equality of opportunity in its day-to-day practice in the following ways: 

• Teaching and Learning:

Haydonleigh School aims to provide all our pupils with the opportunity to succeed, and to reach the highest level of personal achievement. 

To do this, we will:

• deliver a structured PSHE curriculum offer;
• promote equality through our assemblies, workshops and visits;
• explicitly discuss and teach equality to our pupils;
• exemplify British Values and Haydonleigh’s school values of Unity, Respect, Responsibility, Enthusiasm and Creativity
• use contextual data to improve the ways in which we provide support to individuals and groups of pupils;
• monitor achievement data by ethnicity, gender and disability and action any gaps;
• take account of the achievement of all pupils when planning for future learning and setting challenging targets;
• ensure equality of access for all pupils and prepare them for life in a diverse society;
• use materials that reflect the diversity of the school, population and local community in terms of race, gender or disability, without stereotyping;
• promote attitudes and values that will challenge racist and other discriminatory behaviour or prejudice;
• provide opportunities for pupils to appreciate their own culture and celebrate the diversity of other cultures;
• seek to involve all parents in supporting their child’s education;
• encourage classroom and staffroom discussion of equality issues which reflect on social stereotypes, expectations and the impact on learning;
• include teaching and classroom-based approaches appropriate for the whole school population, which are inclusive and reflective of our pupils. 
   
• Admissions and Exclusions

• Our admissions arrangements are fair and transparent and do not discriminate on race, gender, disability or socio-economic factors.
• Exclusions will always be based on the school’s Behaviour Policy. Should any child be excluded, we would closely monitor the effect to avoid any potential adverse impact and ensure any discrepancies are identified and dealt with. 

• Recruitment and Career Development

• The Governing Body actively promotes equality for all and ensures recruitment and retention are monitored.
• The school adheres to recruitment and selection procedures which are fair, equal and align with statutory duties and local authority guidance.
• Governors and staff involved in recruitment will be mindful of the benefits of pupils’ ethnic backgrounds being reflected in the ethnicities of staff, so that, if possible, pupils have diverse positive role models in school.
• The Headteacher and governors of the school will ensure that job advertisements and information about the school do not discourage applications from ethnic minority people because of the way in which posts at the school are described.
• The Governing Body will ensure all staff appointments and promotions are made on the basis of merit and ability and ensure decisions are free of discrimination.
• Staff with responsibility for training and professional development will monitor that all staff have equal access and involvement in training and development opportunities. 

Consultation and Involvement

It is a requirement that the development of this plan and the actions within it have been informed by the input of staff, pupils and parents/carers. 

We have achieved this by using the following to shape the plan:

• feedback from parent-teacher consultations;
• input from staff surveys and through staff meetings/INSET;
• feedback from the School Council, PSHE lessons, whole school surveys on pupils’ attitudes to self and school;
• issues raised in annual reviews or reviews of progress on Individual Education Plans;
• feedback at Governing Body meetings. 

Roles and Responsibilities 

The Governing Body is responsible for:

• Ensure the school complies with equality legislation and its commitment to equal opportunities; and will endeavour to ensure that the school is fully inclusive to pupils and staff, and responsive to their needs based on race, gender and disability.
• Ensuring that people are not discriminated against when applying for jobs at the school on grounds of race, gender or disability.
• Taking all reasonable steps to ensure that the school environment gives access to people with disabilities, and also strives to make school communications as inclusive as possible for parents/carers and pupils.
• Welcoming all applications to join the school, whatever a child’s socio-economic background, race, gender or disability.
• Ensuring that no child is discriminated against whilst in the school on account of their race, sex or disability.

The Headteacher is responsible for:

• Implementing the school’s Equality Plan supported by the Governing Body.
• Ensuring that all staff are aware of the Equality Plan and that teachers apply these guidelines fairly in all situations.
• Ensuring that all appointments panels give due regard to this plan, so that no-one is discriminated against when it comes to employment or training opportunities.
• Promoting the principle of equal opportunity when developing the curriculum, and promoting respect for other people and equal opportunities to participate in all aspects of school life.
• Treating all incidents of unfair treatment and any incidents of harassment, bullying or discrimination, including racist incidents, with due seriousness. 

• The staff (teaching and non-teaching) are responsible for:

• Ensuring that all pupils are treated fairly, equally and with respect, and will maintain awareness of the school’s Equality Plan.
• Knowing how to support the full range of diverse needs according to a pupil’s individual circumstances.
• Striving to provide material that gives positive images based on race, gender and disability, and challenges stereotypical images.
• Challenging any incidents of prejudice, racism or homophobia, and record any serious incidents, drawing them to the attention of the Headteacher.
• Intervening in a positive way against any discriminatory incidents. 

Responding to prejudice-based incidents

The school is opposed to all forms of prejudice. We recognise space that children who experience any form of prejudice related discrimination may fare less well in the education system. We provide both our pupils and staff with awareness of the impact of prejudice in order to prevent any incidents if instance still occur we address them immediately. 

We recognise that hate incidents are prejudiced space bullying behaviour is driven by negative assumptions, stereotypes or misinformation. These are then directed against an individual or group based on difference (real or perceived) and linked to, for example, racism homophobia, negative use of disabled people or sexism. We will take action to prevent, challenge and eliminate such behaviour. 

Types of discriminatory incidents that can occur are:

• physical assault against a person or group because of their colour, ethnicity, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or gender;
• use of derogatory names, insults and jokes;
• exclusion from groups and games;
• unwanted looks or comments;
• racist, sexist, homophobic or discriminatory graffiti;
• provocative behaviour such as wearing racist, sexist, homophobic or discriminatory badges or insignia;
• bringing discriminatory material into school;
• verbal abuse and threats;
• incitement of others to discriminate or bully due to victim’s race, disability, gender or sexual orientation;
• discriminatory comments in the course of discussion;
• attempts to recruit others to discriminatory organisations and groups;
• ridicule of an individual for difference e.g. food, music, religion, dress;
• refusal to co-operate with other people on grounds of race, gender, disability or sexual orientation. 

We will record all hate incidents and prejudice-based bullying. We will use this information to identify trends and patterns so that we have approaches in place to provide appropriate responses in terms of support and sanctions.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Review

The effectiveness of our equality policy and plan is evaluated in:

• The school’s self-evaluation
• Pupil behaviour reports to the governing body
• Analysis of data from incidents of bullying, harassment and behaviour
• Analysis of feedback from pupil voice, staff and parents
• Reviewing progress towards meeting the equality objectives
• The Full Governing Body’s annual review of the equality duty and objectives at least every 4 years
• Updating the equality policy, at least annually
• This document will be approved by Governing Board 

The effectiveness of our equality policy and plan is reflected in:

• The school’s response to issues related to the protected characteristics
• Appropriate resolution of any issues raised
• Resolution of any issues to the satisfaction of the person raising them
• Open and active commitment to the principles of equality in the curriculum and all procedures and activities for staff, pupils and others involved with the school
• The reputation of the school
• The number of parents/carers placing the school as first choice in the local authority’s schools’ admissions procedure.

Publication

In order to meet the statutory requirements to publish a Disability Equality Scheme and Gender Equality Scheme, we will:

• publish our Equality Policy annually on the school website;
• publish our Equality objectives every 4 years
• raise awareness of the plan through the school newsletter, assemblies, staff meetings and other communications;
• ensure hard copies are available on request. 

This policy should be read in conjunction with the following:

• Safeguarding Policy
• SEND policy
• Anti-Bullying Policy
• Behaviour Policy
• Health & Safety Policy
• Safer Recruitment and Selection guidelines (within the Safeguarding Policy)
• Relationship and Sex Education Policy
• Whistleblowing Policy
• Complaints Procedure

Haydonleigh Pupil Demographics June 2022

Haydonleigh Pupil Attainment Data July 22

Percentage of group attaining age related expectations.

Equality Plan and Objectives 2021-25

Equality Policy