Aims
Our school aims to meet its obligations under the public sector equality duty by having due regard to the need to:
- Eliminate discrimination and 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 across all characteristics – between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it
What is the Public Sector Equality Duty (the PSED)?
The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies to promote equality. The relevant protected characteristics are-
- age
- disability,
- gender reassignment
- pregnancy and maternity
- race
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation
Legislation and guidance
This document meets the requirements under the following legislation:
This document is also based on Department for Education (DfE) guidance: The Equality Act 2010 and schools.
Roles and responsibilities
The governing board will:
- Ensure that the equality information and objectives as set out in this statement are published and communicated throughout the school, including to staff, pupils and parents, and that they are reviewed and updated at least once every four years
- Delegate responsibility for monitoring the achievement of the objectives on a daily basis to the Headteacher
The Headteacher will:
- Promote knowledge and understanding of the equality objectives amongst staff and pupils
- Monitor success in achieving the objectives and report back to governors
The Assistant headteacher will:
- Support the headteacher in promoting knowledge and understanding of the equality objectives amongst staff and pupils
- Support the headteacher in identifying any staff training needs, and deliver training as necessary
All school staff are expected to have regard to this document and to work to achieve the objectives as set out in section 7.
Eliminating discrimination
The school is aware of its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and complies with non-discrimination provisions.
Where relevant, our policies include reference to the importance of avoiding discrimination and other prohibited conduct.
Staff and governors are regularly reminded of their responsibilities under the Equality Act, for example during meetings.
Advancing equality of opportunity
As set out in the DfE guidance on the Equality Act, the school aims to advance equality of opportunity by:
- Share attainment data each academic year showing how pupils with different characteristics are performing
- Removing or minimising disadvantages suffered by people which are connected to a particular characteristic they have (e.g. pupils with disabilities)
- Taking steps to meet the particular needs of people who have a particular characteristic
- Encouraging people who have a particular characteristic to participate fully in any activities (e.g. encouraging all pupils to be involved in the full range of school activities)
In fulfilling this aspect of the duty, the school will:
- Analyse data to determine strengths and areas for improvement. Implement actions in response.
- Make evidence available identifying improvements for specific groups (e.g. declines in incidents of homophobic language being used)
How does Barnham CEVC comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty?
The Public Sector Equality Duty aligns with our Christian Vision of Education and Christian Values.
A Christian Vision of Education
The Christian vision of education has, at its heart, Jesus’ promise of ‘life in all its fullness’ (John 10:10). So we seek to educate our children for fullness of life, to work to fulfil their God-given potential, whether they or their family identify with a faith or not, and with special consideration given to those who are disadvantaged.
Each child is to be understood as respectfully and deeply as possible: to be believed in and to be cherished. As the Archbishop of Canterbury said: ‘A Christian school is one in which the entire atmosphere is pervaded by a conviction that there is… something potentially wonderful in everybody’.
Our task as a Church of England school is to deliver an education that seeks human flourishing, so we set academic rigour within a wider framework.
Our School Vision
Our vision for all in our school is to Inspire, Cherish and Believe in each person that they might flourish and fulfil their potential.
The school has a range of policies which make explicit the school’s long established commitment to actively promoting equality of opportunity for all. The main policies that deal with equality of opportunity are:
- British Values
- Accessibility plan
- Equality policy
- SEND policy
- Behaviour and anti-bullying policy
- Religious Education Policy
- Curriculum 2019 intent
Barnham CEVC prides itself on being an inclusive school that cares for every individual child. In doing so, we promote and deliver a range of strategies to ensure that we comply to the Public Sector Equality Duty. Some of these are;
- Active promotion of Christian values whilst remaining inclusive
- Promoting the rights of each individual as outlined in the United Nations Charter through our ethos, behaviour policy and curriculum content.
- Promoting tolerance, individual liberty, friendship and understanding by actively promoting British Values through assemblies and workshops
- Promoting tolerance, mutual respect and understanding through termly world religion days and assemblies. Working with the community by inviting in leaders of local faith groups to speak in assemblies and deliver class workshops.
- Promoting tolerance and mutual respect through projects and celebrations i.e. International Women’s Day and Black History Month
- Taking steps to meet the needs of individuals – through our pastoral support approach, for example friendship group support, Thrive, ELSA, Human Toolbox workshops
- Promoting inclusion, tolerance, friendship and understanding through different aspects of our curriculum. This includes teaching in RE, PSHE and other subjects. In English, a variety of text from a range of cultures will be used. Scientists, historians, artists, poets, engineers and designers who represent the protected characteristics will be embedded within the updated curriculum.
- Ramp and access to the school premises and building eg toilets.
- Fundraising for many charities
- Monitoring and evaluating the attainment and progress of all pupils; looking at the performance of particular groups who share a protected characteristic to compare their performance with those who do not share it.
- Supporting all staff and children to reach their potential
- Interventions to maximise the progress of all groups of children
- Encouraging children who have a particular character to participate fully in all activities – for example; after school clubs, sport lunchtimes, choir
- Curriculum trips that meet the needs of all children
- Active promotion of Barnham’s Behaviour policy
- Active promotion of the Barnham’s Anti-bullying policy
- Restorative justice – supporting any tensions between different groups of pupils within the school
- Service level agreement with Thrive
- Service level agreement with ELSA inc Educational Psychologist supervision sessions
- Pilot school for the newly launched NHS Mental Health Support Team
- Pupil participation in school activities such as the reading council; ensuring that is formed of pupils from a range of backgrounds.
Equality objectives (2021-2025)
Under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) the school is required to set Equality Objectives.
Our published information must be updated annually and objectives published at least once every four years.
Objective 1: To narrow the gap between the progress made by all children and that made by boys in Writing in Key Stage Two.
Objective 2: Train all members of staff and governors on equal opportunities and non-discrimination. Training evaluation data will show that 100% of those attending have a good understanding of the legal requirements.
Objective 4: To ensure that future reviews of all school policies include information about and links to PSED
Objective 5: Adopting a whole-school approach which will provide staff with formal guidance on how to deal with homophobia in school.