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Equality, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Justice

School Statement on Equality

Every person in our school community has been made in the image of God and is loved unconditionally by God. Everyone is equal and we treat each other with dignity and respect. Our school is a place where everyone should be able to flourish in a loving and hospitable community. Each person in all their unique difference should be able to thrive, irrespective of physical appearance, gender, race, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, academic ability, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.

We are committed to promoting the understanding of the principles and practices of equality – treating all members of our school community as individuals, according to their needs, with an awareness of our diverse society and appreciating the value of difference. We actively seek to challenge discrimination and we promote an anti-bullying stance which makes clear the unacceptability of racist, disablist and homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying and langauge.

Equal Opportunities

The school is committed to ensuring access and inclusion for all its pupils and believes that every child deserves the opportunity to fulfil their potential. We achieve this by ensuring that our planning meets the needs of all pupils: boys and girls, children with special educational needs, children who are more able, children with disabilities and children from all social and cultural backgrounds, different ethnic groups and diverse linguistic backgrounds. Please see the document below for details of our Equality and Diversity Policy.

See our Equality and Diversity policy here in our Policies Section
 
Governors' Annual Statement:
 
December 2023 - Annual Statement: 
 
The current equality objectives remain the focus of the work of the school in promoting equality, equity, diversity, inclusion and justice in the community. 

Staff training and development was a key focus last year. The impact of the training and development has lasted and staff and volunteers continue to reflect on ways in which to promote diversity through the curriculum and representation in texts and resources used. 
 
The work since the last annual statement has included reinforcing key themes relating to equity for pupils. This has been shared in key presentations - such as Meet the Teacher (September 2023). Meanwhile, the messages in-line with the school's vision have continued to promote inclusion, welcome diversity and lead to justice. 
 
Pupils perspectives have been sought. Pupils can talk about the measures of how children and adults help pupils to feel included  (equity and inclusion) - especially those who need more support. This support was spoken about by children in terms of social and emotional support, along with academic support. Pupils can speak of how fairness (equality and justice) are upheld. 
 
December 2022 - Annual Statement:

The equality objectives were approved by the Full Governing Board on 02/12/21. In the year that has passed, specific actions have been taken against each of the objectives. One such conduit has been through continuing professional development for staff:

  •        June 2022, Equality and Diversity Training – Cathy Murphy – Cambridgeshire Local Authority
  •        October 2022, Global Citizenship, the RISC toolkit - Reading International Solidarity Centre (RISC)

Each of the training sessions above linked to objective 1 challenging stereotypes; understanding protected characteristics; promoting diversity in the school’s work and curriculum.

 

Communication has continued to be reviewed, to ensure that all stakeholders are well-informed and able to access the information they need (objective 2). The school’s newsletter has been reviewed and adapted for ease of access via mobile devices. Meanwhile, direct communication via telephone and email continues, including taking account of preferences and adaptations required.

 

Diversity across the curriculum has begun to be mapped (objective 3). This was reinforced by the training from RISC. The PSHCE Leader and English Leader have focused on supplementing texts in classes and the library with texts to promote diversity. During the RISC training, staff were able to assess example texts for their helpfulness in promoting diversity and challenging stereotypes.

 

December 2021 - Review of Equality Objectives

The previous Equality Objectives were reviewed and new Equality Objectives were developed. These were formed by a working party made up of governors and staff. The Full Governing Board approved these on 2/12/2021 and these Equality Objectives will run until 2025. 

Great and Little Shelford CE (A) Primary School Equality and Diversity Objectives 2021 - 2025

Objectives
  1.        We will work towards the elimination of discrimination by:
  •        Challenging stereotyping through the curriculum and wider environment
  •        Promoting an environment that welcomes, protects and respects diverse people
  •        Identifying barriers to learning
  •        Seeking to provide access to all areas of school and learning through modification of features of the school site.
  •        There are elements of the curriculum that explicitly explore challenging stereotyping (especially through PSHE, RE, Internationalism) – Curriculum Plans
  •        Pupils can discuss the idea of stereotyping – Pupils’ Perspectives
  •        Collective Worship is used to explore themes relating to discrimination through history – Collective Worship examples, monitoring and Pupils’ Perspectives
  •        Verbal interactions with all demonstrate a welcoming environment – Visitor Feedback
  •        All reasonable adaptations have been implemented to enable pupils to achieve their potential – SEND Leader Monitoring
  •        The site is fully accessible to the school community, most notably, the pupils – Site Visits and Reports, records of adaptations if required.
  1.        The advancement of equality of opportunity will become embedded throughout our school by:
  •        Understanding the barriers that exist within the school and wider community that limit the accessibility of the information we provide
  •        Maximising the accessibility of all information and communication
  •        Embracing a range of modes of communication and dialogue
  •        Embodying and demonstrating the above in all our practice
  •        School leaders are aware of any identified barriers for accessibility of information – survey results, Communication Working Party reports
  •        Information is communicated in manners that members of the community find most accessible – Use of feedback to inform communication choices, evidence of considering alternative or additional formats for communication (e.g. Video)
  •        School Leaders have ensured all school staff are aware of the communication priorities regarding accessibility – example forms of communication, monitoring, staff surveys
  1.        The fostering of good relations across all characteristics will be realised by:
  •        Consulting widely to ensure equality in decision making
  •        Promoting awareness of the diversity of the school and its community amongst all stakeholders through e.g. newsletters, ‘collapsed curriculum’ days, visitors, curriculum.
  •        Demonstrating our commitment to inclusion in all forms of communication e.g. by using representative images, adapted formats, a range of media, etc.
  •        The voice of the school community stakeholders is regularly sought to inform practice and policy – examples of consultation surveys
  •        The diversity of the world, including Britain and our community is shared and celebrated – evidence from specific areas of the curriculum, international days and international projects
  •        Communication is accessible as possible to all members of the community – images and media representative of diversity, formats of communication vary e.g. use of video / audio, staff awareness of any needs of members of the community to adapt communication for individual needs.
Annual Update - Equalities Objectives
 
2022
 
This year, the school has raised awareness of the Equality objectives set in 2021. This has been achieved through staff meetings and circulated minutes. Additionally, parents have learnt about these through our 'Equalities Spot' in our newsletter. Examples of this can be seen in the following newsletters:
 
Challenging Prejudice
 
Great and Little Shelford Primary School provides many learning opportunities, including the opportunity to learn about and respect one other.
 
Our community includes different ethnic groups, a range of cultures, languages and religious beliefs. We have different types of families and people who are disabled and those who are not.
 
We believe it is essential that children learn to respect one another and our school has a legal duty, under the Equality Act 2010, to do everything we can to make this happen.
 
There are very few incidents of prejudice and intolerance in our school. However, it is important that parents and carers understand how we will deal with any such incidents.
 
Prejudice-related behaviour refers to a wide range of damaging behaviour which is connected with prejudices around belonging, identify and equality in wider society - in particular, prejudices to do with:
 
- disability and special educational needs
- race and ethnicity
- religion or belief
- sex
- gender reassignment
- sexual orientation
 
Prejudice-related incidents are treated very seriously as their impact is damaging to all those involved as well as to our wider school community. We investigate, record and report all incidents, including those that are reported to be unintentional. Our response always aims to educate so that everyone understands the potential harm of such behaviour. Effectively tackling prejudice-related incidents in this way will improve the school environment for everyone and increase the potential for attainment and wellbeing for pupils and staff.