Equality
Public Sector Equality Duty
At Over Hall Community School, we are committed to ensuring inclusivity and equality of education alongside opportunity for all pupils, staff, parents and carers, irrespective of race, gender, disability, belief, religion or socio-economic background. We believe every young person must be given the opportunities to thrive in our modern world.
Legislation and guidance
The Equality Act 2010 provides a single legal framework to provide a more effective means of tackling disadvantage and discrimination. It harmonises previous equality legislation much of what is required by schools is already being carried out by them. It no longer requires schools to provide separate Disability, Gender and Race Equality Schemes.
This declaration meets the requirements under the following legislation:
- The Equality Act 2010, which introduced the public sector equality duty and protects people from discrimination
- The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011, which require schools to publish information to demonstrate how they are complying with the public sector equality duty and to publish equality objectives
- prepare and publish equality objectives.
This declaration is also based on the Department for Education (DfE) guidance: The Equality Act 2010 and schools.
Equality Objectives
Under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) the school is required to set Equality Objectives and our published information must be updated annually.
Objective 1: To ensure policies and procedures within the school promote equality and diversity from our recruitment processes to and through all of our policies.
Objective 2: To raise awareness of the protected characteristics within the school by having an annual whole-school focus by celebrating uniqueness and differences.
Objective 3: To encourage positive conversations are happening wider than the classroom and school gates by signposting parents to texts, inviting visitors into school and exploring multi-cultural environments.
Public Sector Equality Duty
The Equality Act 2010 requires schools to publish information that demonstrates that we have due regard for the need to:
- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct 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 between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
Over Hall Community School is an inclusive school where we focus on the well-being and progress of every child and where all members of our community are of equal worth. We will not discriminate against, harass or victimise any pupil, prospective pupil, or other member of the school community because of their:
- Sex
- Age
- Race
- Disability
- Religion or belief
- Sexual orientation
- Gender reassignment
- Pregnancy or maternity
- Marriage and civil partnership
We aim to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development, with special emphasis on promoting equality and diversity, and eradicating prejudicial incidents for pupils and staff. Our school is committed to not only eliminating discrimination, but also increasing understanding and appreciation for diversity.
Aims to eradicate discrimination
We believe that the Equality Act provides a framework to support our commitment to valuing diversity, tackling discrimination, promoting equality and fostering good relationships between people. It also ensures that we continue to tackle issues of disadvantage and underachievement of different groups. We believe 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.
This environment will be achieved by:
- Being respectful.
- Always treating all members of the school community fairly.
- Developing an understanding of diversity and the benefits it can have.
- Adopting an inclusive attitude.
- Adopting an inclusive curriculum that is accessible to all.
- Encouraging compassion and open-mindedness.
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 promotes inclusive attitudes. We will also respect the right of parents/carers to withdraw their children from certain classes which pose conflicts to their own beliefs.
Dealing with prejudice
At Over Hall, we do 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 our reporting procedure, appropriate action is taken and a resolution is put into place which is both fair and firm.
Our pupils are taught to be:
- Understanding of others.
- Celebratory of cultural diversity.
- Eager to reach their full potential.
- Inclusive.
- Aware of what constitutes discriminatory behaviour.
The school’s employees will:
- Not discriminate against any member of the school community.
- Treat other members of the school community fairly.
- Promote diversity and equality.
- Encourage and adopt an inclusive attitude.
- Lead by example.
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 / carers.
- Delegate responsibility for monitoring the achievement of the objectives on a daily basis to the Head.
The Senior Lead Team will:
- Promote knowledge and understanding of the equality objectives amongst staff and pupils
- Monitor success in achieving the objectives and report back to the trustees
- Ensure there is an annual focus on one of the nine protected characteristics
Equality and dignity in the workplace
We do not discriminate against staff with regards to their:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender reassignment
- Marital or civil partner status
- Pregnancy or maternity
- Race
- Religion or belief
- Sex
- 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.
Information on pupils by protected characteristics
The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics. Every person has several of the protected characteristics, so the Act protects everyone against unfair treatment.
In order to ensure that all pupils are protected from discrimination, the school collects information on protected characteristics.
Information on groups of pupils
In addition to pupils with protected characteristics, we gather further information on the following groups of pupils:
- Pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM)
- Pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN)
- Disadvantaged group
- Pupils with English as an Additional Language (EAL)
- Young carers
- Looked after children
- Other vulnerable groups
Through rigorous tracking and monitoring of individuals and of all the groups of children, including progress and attainment, and by providing equal opportunities to access the curriculum and activities, we aim to ensure that any gap in attainment for pupils within any of the above different groups is removed, or at least remains less than the gap nationally.
Eliminating discrimination and other conduct that is prohibited by the Act
At Over Hall, we give careful consideration to equality issues in everything that we do. ‘Due regard’ ensures that we work towards eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act.
We are committed to working for equality for all our staff, parents/carers and pupils to meet our duties under the Equality Act 2010.
We eliminate discrimination by:
- Promoting equal opportunity and celebrating uniqueness
- Adoption of the single Equality Scheme
- Ensuring our behaviour policy enables all pupils to feel safe at school and addresses prejudicial bullying
- Reporting, responding to and monitoring all racist incidents
- Regularly monitoring the curriculum to ensure that the curriculum meets the needs of our pupils and that it promotes respect for diversity and challenges negative stereotyping
- Ensuring teaching is of the highest quality to enable pupils to reach their potential and all pupils are given equal entitlement to success
- Tracking individual progress to ensure that all pupils make rapid progress, and intervening when necessary
- Ensuring that all pupils have the opportunity to access extra-curricular provision
- Listening to and monitoring views and experiences of pupils and adults to evaluate the effectiveness of our policies and procedures.
Advancing equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it
We advance equality of opportunity by:
- Using the information we gather to identify underachieving groups or individuals and plan targeted intervention
- Ensuring participation of parents/carers and pupils in school development
- Listening to parents/carers
- Listening to pupils at all times
Fostering good relations across all characteristics - between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
We foster good relations by:
- Ensuring that Over Hall Community School is seen as a community school within our local community
- Ensuring that equality and diversity are embedded in the curriculum and within collective worship
In conclusion,
At Over Hall, prejudice is not tolerated and we are continuously working towards a more accepting and respectful environment for our school community.
Over Hall Community School 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 with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). We give all of our pupils the opportunity to discuss and explore the values that underpin the PSED through our assemblies and learning activities.