Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy 2024-2026

Policy owner: Caroline Watkiss

Reviewed: January 2024

Date shared with governors: January 2024

Date for review: January 2026

Introduction

Public bodies, including local-authority-maintained schools, are covered by the public sector equality duty in the Equality Act 2010 and the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011.

The Act protects people from discrimination based on their ‘protected characteristics’ which are:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage or civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion / belief
• Sex (gender)
• Sexual orientation

At Co-op Academy Beckfield, we take this obligation very seriously and ensure that all our pupils can take part as fully as possible in every aspect of school life. We identify any barriers to learning that they may have and then work to overcome these so that each child can fulfil their potential.

We strive 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.

Review of our equality objectives (2021-23):

Beckfield’s Equality and Diversity objectives have been reviewed for 2021-23. We remain committed to providing equal opportunities for all our learners and continue to develop systems and processes so that we are giving the best chance to succeed, to every child.

In particular this coming year, we seek to continue to strengthen our relationships with parents, carers and the community, in order to develop a Parent-Teacher Committee and to make our communication with parents useful and accessible.

We have also embarked on the journey to achieve the Anti-Racism Award, in partnership with Leeds Beckett University. The team will create a thorough action plan to outline how we will achieve this over the next two years. We are committed to making our school inclusive and rewarding for everybody and a place where people of all ethnicities can thrive and feel valued.

Our behaviour system will continue to address the individual needs of children through a supportive and restorative approach, where children will be taught and supported to make positive choices for themselves and those around them. We will move away from a purely punitive approach and instead empower children to express their emotions in healthier and safer ways, and give them strategies to enable them to cope with adversity.

In addition to this, we will continue to grow our offer of extra-curricular clubs to the children and to monitor the impact of these. We want all children at Beckfield to have regular access to activities and clubs that will enrich their lives, help them to learn new skills and develop relationships outside of the classroom environment.

Our equality objectives (2023-25):

Objective 1:

To ensure our behaviour management systems are fair and equitable to support children effectively and build effective systems to improve children’s social and emotional development, including mental health.

We will do this by:

• Reviewing our behaviour policy and practices
• Monitoring behaviour incidents and identifying patterns
• Modifying our interventions to meet the changing needs of our students
• Ensure all staff have received CPD on key policies in school including the Behaviour policy, the Anti-Bullying policy, the Equality and Diversity policy, including the Anti-Racism strategy, and the Attendance policy
• Provide staff and parents with appropriate support on behaviour management strategies and supporting those who are subjected to discriminatory behaviour

Objective 2:

To ensure our curriculum reflects the diverse nature of the UK and support the community of Tyersal and the surrounding areas.

We will do this by:

• Teaching a broad, rich and deep curriculum, to include representation of people from different ethnic groups and different genders, and celebrating their achievements and contributions
• Giving parents frequent opportunities to gain a better understanding of our curriculum and provide school with feedback
• Working with local and national external agencies to provide curriculum enhancements such as workshops, assemblies, competitions and projects
• Working with other Co-op Academies Trust schools to seek best practice in developing an equitable curriculum and one that recognises the contributions of people from all backgrounds

Objective 3: To promote equality of opportunity in enrichment activities and learning experiences

We will do this by:

• Ensuring that all barriers to participation are removed
• Offering sufficient places to enrichment activities so all who wish to participate are able to
• Supporting payments for enrichment activities making them as cost effective as possible to families
• Offering a range of curriculum experiences in all year groups
• Ensure there is a range of activities to meet the needs of our children
• Offer additional staffing or other forms of support to give every child the best possible chance of taking part
• Regularly monitoring uptake of activities

Objective 4: To use inclusive practices to support learners with SEND

We will do this by:

• Using research-informed practices to ensure all learners can access learning
• Using teacher and teaching assistant time effectively to help meet the needs of all learners
• Ensuring teachers meet with the SENCo frequently to discuss learners’ needs and support areas that need to be targeted
• Purchasing resources needed to support learners with additional needs
• Making appropriate adjustments wherever needed, including making our physical environment accessible
• Creating learning environments suitable for all learners
• Supporting parents in feeling involved and well-informed about their children’s needs and how they are being supported in school

Objective 5: To develop an effective Anti-Racism strategy and achieve the quality mark

We will do this by:

• Developing an action plan to outline areas for development
• Working with staff, pupils, parents, governors and members of the community to gather information about what is important and how we can improve
• Deliver staff CPD, to develop understanding and confidence around issues of racism and discriminatory behaviour
• Creating a working party, including governors, to lead on the development of an Anti-Racist culture
• Review the curriculum to ensure it is decolonised and representative of achievements of people of colour now and through history
• Creating safe spaces within our school for people of colour

This means we will:

 – take reasonable and necessary steps to meet pupils’ needs by using a variety of approaches and planning reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils, enabling our pupils to take as full a part as possible in all the activities of the school. We will make reasonable adjustments to ensure the school environment and its activities are as accessible and welcoming as possible for pupils, staff and visitors to the school. We are also committed to ensuring staff with a disability have equality of opportunity.

 – actively encourage positive attitudes towards pupils and staff and expect everyone to treat others with dignity and respect.

 – regularly consider the impact of our curriculum to ensure that it promotes awareness of the rights of individuals and develops the skills of participation and responsible action. We want children to understand and value the diversity that surrounds them, and challenge prejudice and stereotyping.

 – monitor the progress and achievement of pupils who fall within the appropriate protected characteristics. This information will help us set equality objectives, remain fully inclusive and ensure pupils achieve their full potential.

 – work with outside agencies and other schools where appropriate to ensure that every opportunity is taken to promote and advance equality.

 – monitor bullying and prejudice-related incidents and deal with them effectively. Regular training will be given to new and existing staff to ensure that they are aware of the process for reporting and following up any incidents of bullying.

 – have an expectation that all staff will be role-models for equal opportunities, deal with bullying and discriminatory incidents and be able to identify and challenge prejudice and stereotyping.

Here are some key ways we show our commitment to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion:

Pupils / students

• School council focuses discussion on these areas
• Refurbishment of toilets ensured that all toilets are accessible around the school
• The building is designed and organised in a way that is inclusive to all pupils
• Zero tolerance approach to bullying
• Representations of different cultures and ethnicities within the curriculum
• Participation in national and international awareness events.
• Provide reasonable adjustments in line with The Equality Act for students with SEND
• Purchasing a range of texts from different cultures to support development of reading programme in school
• Pupil premium spend directed towards ensuring barriers are removed for all to support learning
• Working towards the Anti-Racism Award, so that our school is a place of inclusion for people of colour
• Consideration given to race and gender in the production of promotional and educational materials in school.

Colleagues

• Provide disabled parking for colleagues
• Provide Occupational Health referrals for colleagues struggling with health issues (both physical and mental)
• Provide ergonomic assessments / equipment for colleagues who struggle with mobility so they can access the workplace
• Provide a confidential employee assistance programme
• CPD to raise awareness on key Trust policies

Community

• We have an accessible toilet access near the main entrance
• All letters are pitched at appropriate level so they are accessible to as many as possible
• Parent Teacher Association supports opportunity for any parent to have involvement in the school
• Ensure any reasonable adjustments in line with The Equality Act are in place to enable candidates to access our recruitment procedure
• Governing body applications are encouraged from people who may fall within one of the protected characteristics