We welcome our duties under the Equality Act 2010 as both a provider of education and as an employer.

We believe that all pupils and members of staff should have the opportunity to fulfil their potential whatever their background, identity and circumstances. We are committed to creating a community that recognises and celebrates difference within a culture of respect and co-operation. We appreciate that a culture which promotes equality will create a positive environment and a shared sense of belonging for all who work, learn and use the services of our school.   We recognise that equality will only be achieved by the whole school community working together – our pupils, staff, governors and parents/carers.

Our policy outlines the principles which will guide our approach to working with our school community and enabling an open culture.

For staff and prospective staff, this policy should be read in conjunction with the school’s Recruitment Policy.

Equality Objectives                                                                          

We recognise that the public sector equality duty has three aims, to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct under the Act
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not

We have considered how well we currently achieve these aims with regard to the protected groups under the Equality Act (race, disability, gender, gender re-assignment, age, pregnancy and maternity, marital status, sexual orientation, religion and belief and sexual orientation).

We have also involved staff, pupils, parents and others in the following ways:

• student groups including RRR, Global Friends, Green Team
• parent questionnaires
• pupil questionnaires
• involvement of the school council
• involvement of the parent council
• staff survey
• contact with the local community and disability organisations

Having referred to and analysed our equality information, we have set ourselves the following objective(s):

Objective 1: To achieve progress for all groups and narrow the gap between key groups of children for progress made.

Date of publication:                                         September 2016

Date for review and re-publication:              Review annually with republication by September 2020