Equality Duty Compliance Statement

March 2022

Our school's Equality Policy 

We aim to be a community where everyone is treated fairly and with respect.  We want everyone to reach their potential and we recognise that for some pupils extra support is needed to help them to achieve and be successful. We are required to publish equality information as well as equality objectives, which show how we plan to reduce or remove particular inequalities or disadvantages.  This information is reviewed and updated annually.

The Equality Act 2010 was introduced to ensure protection from discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of specific characteristics (referred to as protected characteristics).  This means that schools cannot discriminate against pupils, staff, parents and carers or treat them less favourably because of their sex (gender), race, disability, religion or belief, gender reassignment, sexual orientation or pregnancy or maternity.

The Act requires all public organisations, including schools, to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty and two specific duties:

1. The Public Sector Equality Duty or ‘general duty’. This requires all public organisations, including schools, to:

- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation

- Advance equality of opportunity between different groups

- Foster good relations between different groups.

2. Two ‘specific duties’. This requires all public organisations, including schools, to:

- Publish information to show compliance with the Equality Duty

- Publish Equality objectives at least every 4 years which are specific and measurable.

Our aim to create a prejudice-free environment

Gurnard Primary School believes that a greater level of success from pupils and staff can be achieved by realising the uniqueness of individuals. Creating a prejudice-free environment where individuals feel confident and at ease is a commitment of the school.

• We try to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and with respect.
• We want to make sure that our school is a safe, secure and stimulating place for everyone.
• We recognise that people have different needs and we understand that treating people equally does not always involve treating them all exactly the same.
• We have developed an inclusive curriculum that is accessible to all.
• We recognise that for some pupils extra support is needed to help them to achieve and be successful.
• We encourage compassion, open-mindedness and an inclusive attitude as well as an understanding of diversity and the benefits it can have.
• We try to make sure that people from different groups are consulted and involved in our decisions, for example through talking to pupils, our Young Governors, parents/carers and school staff.
• We aim to make sure that no-one experiences harassment, less favourable treatment or discrimination because of their age; any disability they may have; their ethnicity, colour or national origin; their gender; their gender identity or reassignment; their marital or civil partnership status; being pregnant or having recently had a baby; their religion or beliefs; their sexual identity and orientation.

At Gurnard Primary School, our pupils are taught to be:

• Understanding of others.
• Celebratory of cultural diversity.
• Eager to reach their full potential.
• Aware of what constitutes discriminatory behaviour.

The school’s employees will not:

• Discriminate against any member of the school.
• Treat other members of the school unfairly.

The school’s employees will:

• Promote diversity equality.
• Encourage and adopt an inclusive attitude.
• Lead by example.

Dealing with prejudice

Gurnard Primary School does not tolerate any form of prejudice-related incident. Whether direct or indirect, we treat discrimination against all members of our school with the utmost severity. When an incident is reported, through a thorough reporting procedure, our school is devoted to ensuring appropriate action is taken and a resolution is put into place which is both fair and firm.

Equality in our curriculum

We are committed to having a balanced and fair curriculum. We believe that our pupils should be exposed to ideas and concepts that may challenge their understanding to help ensure that pupils learn to become more accepting and inclusive of others. Challenging and controversial concepts will be delivered in a way that prevents discrimination and instead promotes inclusive attitudes. We will also respect the right of parents to withdraw their children from classes which pose conflicts to their own beliefs.

The equality duty supports good education and improves pupil outcomes.  It helps us as a school to identify priorities such as underperformance, poor progression and bullying.  It does this by requiring us to collate evidence, take a look at the issues and consider taking action to improve the experience of different groups of pupils. It then helps us to focus on what can be done to tackle these issues and to improve outcomes by developing measurable equality objectives.

At Gurnard Primary School we have rigorous systems for monitoring educational standards and challenging any underperformance; our responsibility in this equality duty is scheduled as part of this rigorous process.

Promoting equality of opportunity

Under the Equality Act 2010, we are also required to have due regard to the need to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations. This includes steps we are taking to tackle disadvantages and meet the needs of particular individuals and groups of pupils.

• We are aware of the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 that it is unlawful to discriminate, treat some people less fairly or put them at a disadvantage.
• Where applicable our policies make explicit that we aim to give careful consideration to equality issues and as policies are reviewed in line with the monitoring cycle they will be edited to reflect this requirement
• We try to keep an accurate record, when possible and appropriate, of the protected characteristics of our pupils and employees at whole school and year group levels
• We analyse our data to ensure we act upon any concerns in relation to the protected groups and this is reported termly to Governors through our School Self-evaluation and Development Plan
• We record any racist or homophobic incidents and act upon any concerns and report this to the LA and the Governing Board on a termly basis
• The Senior Leadership Team of the school is concerned with closing gaps in attainment and progress and this is reflected in the school’s values.
• We give due regard for equality issues in decisions and changes we make.
• We have a special educational needs policy and SEND information report that outline the provision the school makes for pupils with special educational needs. These documents are updated annually.
• We provide guidance to all staff in relation to dealing with bullying and harassment incidents.
• We deal promptly and effectively with all incidents and complaints of bullying and harassment that may include online bullying and prejudice-based bullying related to disability or special educational need, ethnicity and race, gender, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, religion and belief and sexual orientation. We keep a record of all such incidents and notify those affected of what action we have taken and importantly monitor the impact our provision has had.

An inclusive approach

We are committed to working for the equality of people with and without special educational needs and disabilities:

• Our school admissions criteria welcomes all pupils.
• Feedback from pupils shows that our children with additional needs are happy in school.
• We provide good quality training for our staff on inclusion.
• When required we gain external advice and support from many different professionals
• We promote positive links and have regular meetings with our parents.
• Specific targeted support is provided where appropriate.
• We continually liaise and work in partnership with a number of professional organisations.
• A wide range of resources is stored in an easily accessible central location.
• We work with local pre-schools and secondary schools to ensure that transfer into and from our school is effective and as smooth as possible.
• We enable all pupils to learn about the experiences of disabled people and the discriminatory attitudes they often experience.
• We ensure that the curriculum and resources we use have positive images of disabled people.
• Effective, positive relationships with parents, school and home working in partnership to support the child.
• Effective inclusion of children with special educational needs and disabilities.

Equality and dignity in the workplace

This information describes how the Governing Board of Gurnard Primary School intends to fulfill its responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty with regard to its workforce.  We will have due regard to the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it; and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not share it.

Gurnard Primary School does not discriminate against staff with regards to their:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment.
• Marital or civil partner status.
• Pregnancy or maternity.
• Race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin.
• Religion or belief.
• Sex or sexual orientation.

Equality of opportunity and non-discrimination extends to the treatment of all members of the school community.  All staff members are obliged to act in accordance will the school’s various policies relating to equality.  We will guarantee that no redundancy is the result of direct or indirect prejudice.  All disciplinary procedures are non-prejudicial, whether they result in warnings, dismissal, or any other disciplinary action.

Equality information

We will collect and use equality information to help us to:

• Identify key issues.
• Understand the impact of our policies, practices and decisions on people with different protected characteristics, and thereby plan them more effectively.
• Assess whether there is unlawful discrimination when carrying out any of our functions.
• Identify what the key equality issues are for our organisation.
• Assess performance
• Benchmark our performance and processes against those of similar organisations, nationally or locally.
• Take action
• Consider taking steps to meet the needs of staff who share relevant protected characteristics.
• Identify if there are any actions we can take to avoid discrimination and harassment, advance equality of opportunity or foster good relations.
• Make informed decisions about policies and practices which are based on evidence about the impact of our activities on equality.
• Develop equality objectives to meet the specific duties.
• Have due regard to the aims of the general equality duty by ensuring that staff have appropriate information for decision-making.

We will collect and use enough workforce information to effectively meet the general equality duty. Where relevant and proportionate we will publish on our website some information about the impact of our employment functions on people with the different protected characteristics in order to demonstrate compliance with the general equality duty.

Prejudice is not tolerated at Gurnard Primary School and we are continuously working

towards a more accepting and respectful environment for our school's community.