Equal Opportunities
St Winifred’s Catholic Primary School Equality Objectives
St_Winifreds Single Equality Policy
Tackling-Race-Inequality-In-Education-Pledge
Management and Organisation
In future all policies to ensure that each area, whether a whole school issue or a curriculum subject, takes account of the specific ways in which equality applies:
- To ensure that all assemblies promote the Christian principles of tolerance, fairness, understanding and respect for all races
- To take a whole school approach to embedding race equality
- To improve Black representation in school leadership and the governing body
- To devise schemes of playground use which avoid domination of space by any particular group
- To provide training and support in order to ensure that playtime supervisors uphold the principles of equality in their work with children
- To include in the school’s Behaviour Policy a specific reference to the avoidance of harassment and abuse, together with clearly understood procedures for dealing with any occurrences including racial prejudice
- To ensure that sanctions used in the school are the same for boys and girls, applied equally
- To encourage an understanding of the ways in which language can be used to stereotype and undermine confidence
- To ensure that school publications reflect our commitment to equality
- To provide access throughout the school for wheelchair users and people with other disabilities as resources allow
- To encourage and develop positive links with the local and wider community
- To use visits, visitors, assemblies and lesson opportunities to promote equality
Classroom Practice and Delivery
- To ensure equal access to resources and equipment
- To take steps to build the skills and confidence of children in areas where they may traditionally be lacking in confidence, e.g. dance or sewing for boys, football or construction for girls
- To ensure equal opportunities for talking and listening in whole class discussion, group work and paired work
- To divide teacher time equitably between girls and boys
- Targeting ambitious outcomes for Black and Minority Ethnic pupils
- To create an environment in which co-operation is important and in which children will work in a range of grouping contexts
- To raise standards and provide support for pupils who are underachieving
- To teach children the skills needed to resolve conflicts amicably
- To give children the confidence to be assertive in appropriate situations
- To encourage children to report to a teacher any discrimination that they may encounter
Curriculum Planning and Design
- To review the taught curriculum and to address the issues of equality
- To ensure that multicultural issues are not presented in a superficial way
- To ensure that the curriculum reflects the diversity of our community
- To be aware of bias and stereotypical viewpoints within our teaching and language, e.g. only presenting images of Africa or India as poor and rural
- To draw on examples from many cultural traditions and recognise Britain and indeed, our school, as having a diverse cultural background
- To help children explore the idea of “stereotyping” in order that they may make more informed choices in relation to their identity
Resources
- To review our selection of resources and to be aware of the need to provide materials which are free from stereotyping e.g. cultural or gender bias
- St Winifred’s School is committed to keeping the school community updated on the progress made towards achieving objectives. Over the coming year the school’s website will be updated to provide a clear view of how St Winifred’s School is progressing.
Measuring Objectives
St Winifred’s School expects the highest possible standards and staff have high expectations of all pupils and themselves. St Winifred’s School will measure objectives but not solely for the purpose of the Equality Act; St Winifred’s School will measure them as a means to enable staff to continually challenge all members of our school community to reach higher standards.
In this way achieving objectives will be another powerful way in which St Winifred’s School identifies, recognises and values all forms of progress and achievement for staff and pupils alike.
Action Plan 2023 – 2024
Implementing the general equality duty in relations to protected characteristics
This is to be read in conjunction with the Lewisham ‘Tackling Race Inequality in education (TRIIE) Pledge.
1) Establishing the relevance of the equality duty to our school
- St Winifred’s School is involved in the Equality Act and has pupils, staff, volunteers, parents, carers and service providers to consider
2) Collect and use equality information
- Identify information relevant to protected characteristics of relevant groups
- Identify what information should be collected – identify factors, which will be particular to the school context
3) Consider what information St Winifred’s already has
- Identify any relevant information gaps
- Take steps to fill any information gaps
- Use in-house information and local, regional and national research/benchmarks/statistics/comparators
- Identify relevant publications from the Local Authority and DfE
4) Meeting the equality duty in policy and decision-making
- Consider the aims of the general equality duty when making decisions and setting policies. It will be necessary for school decision-makers to understand the potential impact of their decisions on people with different protected characteristics and to identify potential mitigating steps to reduce or remove adverse impacts
5) Engagement
This is intended to cover the whole range of ways in which staff interact with pupils, parents/carers and employees, over and above what St Winifred’s does in providing services, or within a formal employment relationship
Actively developing high quality relationships with Black Caribbean heritage and Minority Ethnic pupils and their parents
- In deciding who to engage with, consider the nature of the policy and the groups that are most likely to be affected by it. Consider people from less visible groups, and groups that St Winifred’s staff may not have engaged with before, as they may also be interested in, or affected by the work
- Be clear about aims and share them with the people who are engaged with St Winifred’s
- Engagement is most successful when people are engaged at an early stage, prior to key decisions being made
- Take steps to respect confidentiality
- Successful engagement is influential and transparent. This involves reporting on the results of engagement, and why certain points have not been taken on board
- Consider whether there are other schools that could work with St Winifred’s School to share resources and prevent stakeholders becoming overstretched
- Be mindful of diversity within characteristics and the multiple barriers that people face
- Don’t limit engagement to representative bodies only
6) Develop policy and provide training to relevant persons
- Communicate the revised equality scheme to relevant stakeholders
- Develop and deliver specific training that builds on existing training
- Ensure staff and governors know about the new equality scheme and their own, and the school’s, obligations under the new equality act
- Staff and Governors to access Lewisham’s TRIEE training
7) Funding
- Ensure that any funding received, such as that allocated for the promotion of sport or Pupil Premium, is used for the purpose intended.
Pupil Premium and Looked After Children
All staff at St Winifred’s School are aware of Pupil Premium and Looked After Children in their classes.
We ensure that they receive all possible support and encouragement as pupils who need special provision and positive discrimination, whilst preserving confidentiality and showing sensitivity and understanding.
January 2024