Priory Infant School

Equality, Diversity and inclusion

Our school aims to meet its obligations under the public sector equality duty by having due regard to the need to:
  • Eliminate discrimination and other conduct that is 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 across all characteristics – between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

Priory School Equality objectives 

Objective 1: To raise achievement for all boys in writing

Why we have chosen this objective: boys traditionally are not achieving as highly as girls in writing across the school and nationally. To achieve this objective we plan to:

  • Develop more effective ‘feedback for improvement’ throughout the school
  • Identify and plan motivating writing projects each term to appeal to boys
  • Make better use of outdoor learning opportunities for writing
  • Promptly identify boys who are not on track and organise appropriate interventions 

Objective 2: To increase the number of children achieving a good level of development at the end of their Reception year

Why we have chosen this objective: to ensure our achievements are in line with national data. To achieve this objective we plan to:

  • Use the Tapestry online learning and assessment portal to track progress and achievements
  • Review pupil progress termly to ensure children are on track and identify where extra support/intervention may be needed
  • Develop more effective ‘feedback for improvement’ throughout the school 

Objective 3: To ensure the school ethos and curriculum promotes equality of opportunity and reflects the diversity of life in our local community, the UK and the wider world

Why we have chosen this objective: to enhance the experiences and opportunities of all our pupils and families To achieve this objective we plan to:

  • Review the British Values and Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural curriculum 
  • Purchase quality texts to celebrate diversity and equality
  • Compile new RHE policy with all stakeholders 

Legislation and guidance

This statement meets the requirements under the following legislation:

  • The Equality Act 2010, which introduced the public sector equality duty and protects people from discrimination

The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011, which require schools to publish information to demonstrate how they are complying with the public sector equality duty and to publish equality objectives

This statement is also based on Department for Education (DfE) guidance:

The Equality Act 2010 and schools.

Roles and responsibilities

The governing board will:

  • Ensure that the equality information and objectives as set out in this statement are published and communicated throughout the school, including to staff, pupils and parents, and that they are reviewed and updated at least once every four years
  • Delegate responsibility for monitoring the achievement of the objectives on a daily basis to the Headteacher

The Headteacher will:

  • Promote knowledge and understanding of the equality objectives amongst staff and pupils 3
  • Monitor success in achieving the objectives and report back to governors

All school staff are expected to have regard to this document and to work to achieve the objectives as set out in section 'Eliminating discrimination'.

The school is aware of its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and complies with non-discrimination provisions. Where relevant, our policies include reference to the importance of avoiding discrimination and other prohibited conduct. Staff and governors are regularly reminded of their responsibilities under the Equality Act, for example during meetings. Where this has been discussed during a meeting it is recorded in the meeting minutes.

New staff receive training on the Equality Act as part of their induction, and all staff receive refresher training annually. 

Advancing equality of opportunity

As set out in the DfE guidance on the Equality Act, the school aims to advance equality of opportunity by:

  • Removing or minimising disadvantages suffered by people which are connected to a particular characteristic they have e.g. pupils with disabilities
  • Taking steps to meet the particular needs of people who have a particular characteristic e.g. enabling Muslim pupils to pray at prescribed times
  • Encouraging people who have a particular characteristic to participate fully in any activities e.g. encouraging all pupils to be involved in the full range of school activities

In fulfilling this aspect of the duty, the school will:

  • Publish attainment data each academic year showing how pupils with different characteristics are performing
  • Analyse the above data to determine strengths and areas for improvement, implement actions in response and publish this information
  • Make evidence available identifying improvements for specific groups e.g. declines in incidents of homophobic bullying

Fostering good relations

The school aims to foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not share it by:

  • Promoting tolerance, friendship and understanding of a range of religions and cultures through different aspects of our curriculum. This includes teaching in RE, citizenship and personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education, but also activities in other curriculum areas. For example, as part of teaching and learning in English pupils will be introduced to literature from a range of cultures
  • Holding assemblies dealing with relevant issues. Pupils will be encouraged to take a lead in such assemblies and we will also invite external speakers to contribute
  • Working with our local community. This includes inviting leaders of local faith groups to speak at assemblies, and organising school trips and activities based around the local community
  • Encouraging and implementing initiatives to deal with tensions between different groups of pupils within the school. For example, our school council has representatives from different year groups and is formed of pupils from a range of backgrounds. All pupils are encouraged to participate in the school’s activities, such as sports clubs.
  • We also work with parents to promote knowledge and understanding of different cultures

Equality considerations in decision-making

The school ensures it has due regard to equality considerations whenever significant decisions are made. The school always considers the impact of significant decisions on particular groups. For example, when a school trip or activity is being planned, the school considers whether the trip:

  • Cuts across any religious holidays
  • Is accessible to pupils with disabilities
  • Has equivalent facilities for boys and girls 

Monitoring arrangements

The Headteacher will update the equality information we publish at least every year. This document will be reviewed by the governing body at least every 4 years. 

Links with other policies

This document links to the following policies: