Equality Diversity and Community Cohesion Policy

1. Rationale

Rossett School provides an education for all, acknowledging that the society in which we live is enriched by diversity. We strive to recognise and celebrate the diversity within our school community where everyone is equally valued and treats one another with respect and fairness.

Community cohesion lies at the heart of what makes a strong and safe community.
We aim that Rossett is a place where:

• There is a warm, welcoming, happy atmosphere that is secure, stimulating and supportive of learning.
• High self esteem is nurtured and young people feel confident, valued and proud to be themselves.
• Positive relationships are fostered between our young people, staff and parents/carers; bullying and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated
• Our young people achieve to the highest level possible for them; achievement by others is celebrated; different intelligences are recognised; young people can pursue many different interests; and achieve a broad knowledge of the world to equip them for life.

2. Aims

• To educate and develop all our young people whatever their gender, race, culture, origin or ability to attain the highest levels possible
• To prepare young people to be full citizens in society
• To ensure that all young people have access to the whole curriculum
• To challenge racism and celebrate diversity
• To address the issues of stereotyping and to ensure that teaching styles and resources do not reinforce stereotypes
• To create a fair and just school community, that promotes social inclusion, community cohesion and equality; that respects diversity and which challenges and acts upon discrimination and inequality including bullying

3. Our commitment to Equality, Diversity and Cohesion

• We will not tolerate harassment of any kind
• We are committed to combating all forms of discrimination
• We recognise that monitoring and evaluation of equality is essential to ensure that our young people are not being disadvantaged, and that monitoring leads to action planning
• We will work towards eliminating all discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, gender reassignment, disability, sexuality (including sexual orientation), age, religion and belief
• We believe that all young people, employees and everyone who comes into Rossett School should be treated with dignity and respect at all times and we will not tolerate bullying, harassment or victimisation of any groups or individuals

We will be an equality champion and community leader in:

• Promoting equality, for example by assessing the impact of our policies on different groups
• Challenging and eradicating discrimination, for example, by acting quickly to deal with all bullying including that which is aimed at groups as well as individuals, such as racist bullying
• Promoting community cohesion at all times

4. Our principles

• To promote equality, diversity and cohesion within the local community. We believe that our school needs to reflect the community and people it serves.
• To challenge discrimination on the grounds of race, gender, age, sexuality, religion or belief
• Our vision for equality and diversity goes beyond processes to achieve change. We will monitor progress towards meeting objectives by:
  • Taking adequate steps to prevent discrimination
  • Taking decisive action when discrimination occurs
  • Taking steps to promote equality, diversity and cohesion
• We acknowledge the Stephen Lawrence Enquiry definition of a racist incident is “any incident which is perceived by the victim or any other person”
• We also recognise that young people may experience harassment and bullying and in tackling these issues in school we use the same definition as above
• We aim to be a “listening school”. We listen to all our members including students, staff, parents, visitors, wider community members and other partners
• To help to achieve this we have a ‘peer mentoring’ scheme – The Listeners (especially for Year 7 and 8 students), year group councils, whole school council, a student support officer for each year group and a staff tutor. The Headteacher meets regularly with student focus groups to listen to feedback about specific issues in school
• We will continue to develop our PSHEE programme to promote human rights and equality particularly focussing on the rights of the child, the right to education and the right to be safe.
• Our SEN policy and practice demonstrates our commitment to inclusion, working with parents, appropriately allocating resources to ensure full curriculum access
• Our excellent partnership with parents, governors and other stakeholders in the wider community are essential to promoting equality, diversity and community cohesion
• We will aim to encourage diversity and eliminate unfair treatment and discrimination through our human resource policies and procedures in particular in the areas of recruitment, training and development and promotion
• We recognise that staff have rights as employees to work in a supportive, safe and harassment free environment and that we all have an individual and collective responsibility to respect each other’s contributions
• We promote an environment where standards of conduct are of the highest level and to ensure that no-one is harassed, victimised or bullied

5. Equality, Diversity and Cohesion in Practice

Racial discrimination

We have a general duty to:

• Eliminate unlawful racial discrimination
• Promote equality of opportunity
• Promote good relations between people from different racial groups

Curriculum

All students are entitled to equal access to the curriculum. This means that barriers need to be overcome should there be reasons why students find certain aspects difficult. Each case will be considered independently. All lunchtime and after school activities are open to all students.

We operate a ‘late bus’ system which allows all students to access after school activities and still be able to get home safely.

Staff must be constantly aware that their own expectations affect the achievement, behaviour and status of each student and that we ensure that we set challenging targets for all students including those for whom English is not their first language Staff must ensure that teaching resources are multi-cultural and non-sexist containing positive images of all groups.

Language

We view linguistic diversity positively and value language and dialect spoken as an asset. Students will be allowed to use their home language in school but not to exclude others and always use English when participating in school activities

Hidden Curriculum

We are aware that there might be some misconceptions amongst students, parents, teachers – for example:

• Certain subjects are not for them (they are boys/girls subjects….)
• That girls and women are inferior to boys/men
• That SEN students have ‘problems’ and cannot tackle some curriculum areas
• That students are somehow quirky or difficult because of their race or religion

We seek to challenge these stereotypes and assumptions at every opportunity but especially through our PSHEE programme

Discrimination

All forms of discrimination within the school will be treated seriously. We will note where the incidents take place to check if there are any ‘no go’ areas. This will be checked by the Whole School Student Council. It will always be made clear to offending individuals that such behaviour is unacceptable and the Code of Discipline will be applied.

We monitor sanctions and exclusions to gather evidence regarding any gender or racial bias

Students

In the first instance any misbehaviour will be dealt with by the class teacher/Director of Studies or year team as appropriate.

It may be appropriate to refer the incident to the Assistant Headteacher (Pupil Care) and depending on the nature and number of incidents, parents will be involved as per the Code of Discipline.

Racist/homophobic/sexist symbols or badges will not be tolerated in school

Staff

Staff should be aware of possible cultural assumptions and bias within their attitudes. We will ensure that staff have information regarding cultural backgrounds and faiths. They will be expected to be vigilant in and around the school for any type of inappropriate behaviour such as name calling and other forms of victimisation.

Religious observance

We respect the religious beliefs and practice of all staff, students and parents, and comply with reasonable requests relating to religious observance and practice.

Staff development and training

We ensure that all staff, including support and administrative staff, receive appropriate training and opportunities for professional development, both as individuals and as groups or teams.

All staff are expected to:

• promote an inclusive and collaborative ethos in their classroom
• deal with any prejudice-related incidents that may occur
• identify and challenge bias and stereotyping in the curriculum
• support pupils in their class for whom English is an additional language
• keep up-to-date with equalities legislation relevant to their work

The Headteacher

The Headteacher has overall responsibility within the school for implementing the policy and will be the named person responsible for taking any disciplinary action in any case of racial or other discrimination. The head teacher also has responsibility for reporting any racist incidents to the governing body

The Governing Body

The Governing Body is responsible for ensuring that the school fulfils its legal responsibilities