At St Thomas Primary School, we are committed to ensuring equality of education and opportunity for all pupils, staff, parents and carers, irrespective of race, gender, disability, belief, religion or socio-economic background. We welcome our duties under the Equality Act 2010.

 

The school’s general duties with regard to equality are:

• Eliminating discrimination.

• Fostering good relationships.

• Advancing equality of opportunity.

 

We will not discriminate against, harass or victimise any staff member, 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.

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Other groups of pupils we believe it is also important to consider are:

• Children Looked After/ children who were previously looked-after

• Young carers

• Pupils eligible for free school meals or living in poverty

 

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 a greater level of success from pupils and staff can be achieved by realising the uniqueness of individuals. Creating an inclusive and 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 inclusion and the benefits it can have.

• Adopting an inclusive attitude and ensuring that the whole school community understands what inclusive behaviour looks like in the school and how this aligns with the school’s values.

• Adopting an inclusive curriculum that is accessible to all.

• Encouraging compassion and open-mindedness.

• Challenging bias and calling it out in order to move the conversation forward.

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 We are committed to having a balanced, diverse 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 feel this is achieved thought the ‘St Thomas Curriculum’.

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Dealing with prejudice and celebrating diversity

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, our school is devoted to ensuring 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 diversity.

• Eager to reach their full potential.

• Inclusive; accepting, understanding and catering for students' differences and diversity whether that's physical, cognitive, academic, social, or emotional.

• 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 unfairly.

 

The school’s employees will:

• Promote diversity and equality.

• Encourage and adopt an inclusive attitude.

• Lead by example.

•  Seek training if they need to improve their knowledge in a particular area.

 

Throughout the year, the school provides a variety of opportunities to celebrate diversity, including:

• Planning activities for key diversity awareness days.

• Inviting guest speakers to talk to pupils about diversity.

• Incorporating lessons about diversity into the curriculum.

 

Equality and dignity in the workplace

We do not discriminate against staff with regard 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.

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Diversity and representation

At St Thomas we aim to create a secure, accepting, collaborative and stimulating school community in which everyone is valued. We celebrate the diversity and acknowledge the richness of culture, religion and language in our school, through both children, staff and the wider community using a proactive approach through roles, responsibilities and representation at all levels across school.

 

Inclusion

All of our pupils are entitled to a broad, balanced and challenging curriculum. This includes pupils who have special needs or disabilities, those for whom English is not their first language, those who are gifted or talented and those in vulnerable groups. By setting suitable learning challenges, responding to our pupils different needs and overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils, St Thomas strives to ensure that all pupils learn and make good or better progress.

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Equality Objectives

In order to further support pupils, raise standards and ensure inclusive teaching, we have set the following objectives:-

Objective 1: Raise standards and narrow  gap in reading, writing and math for vulnerable learners.

Objective 2: Improve teaching of learning of all pupils and specifically vulnerable pupils

Objective 3: To implement a strong and rigorous Curriculum which meets the needs of the pupils and is accessible for all. 

Objective 4: To extend the curriculum beyond the academic for all our pupils to ensure that vulnerable pupils in particular, have equal access to events/activities/opportunities which offer broader development

 

Closing statement

Prejudice is not tolerated and we are continuously working towards a more accepting and respectful environment for our school community.

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The school’s Equality Information and Objectives Policy, Pupil Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy and Staff Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy further outline the school’s policies regarding equality.