Equality Statement
At Isaac Newton Primary School we are committed to ensuring equality of opportunity in line with the Equality Act of October 2010. We seek to demonstrate this through all aspects of school life and in particular through our commitment to every child, fulfilling their potential. This commitment applies to our work in the classroom, our pupil support systems, our recruitment and retention of staff and our work in the local and wider community. We are fully committed to eliminating discrimination alongside improving equality of opportunity for those with protected characteristics
Our school population is extremely diverse with approximately one third of children having English as an additional language, and two fifths of children being eligible for pupil premium. As a school we will ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to achieve the very best that they are capable of and will also guide parents on how they can support their child’s achievement. Where pupils experience barriers to their success we will work with them to address these in a sensitive and sympathetic way.
Through our work in the classroom we will ensure that pupils understand the importance of equality and what forms discrimination can take and the impact discrimination can have. We will also seek to foster within our pupils their own commitment to promoting equality.
As an employer we will not discriminate on any of the following:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender re-assignment
- Race
- Religion and belief
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Direct Discrimination,
- Indirect Discrimination,
- Discrimination by perception,
- Associative discrimination,
- Harassment,
- Harassment by a third party,
- Victimisation.
As a school we will ensure that we are involving those affected by inequality in the decisions that we take to promote equality and eliminate discrimination. This information is gathered annually through our community surveys. We also acknowledge the need to have objectives in order to ensure that we are able to address any areas where there are either inequalities or perceived inequalities. Our objectives are as follows:
- To improve our Parent/ Carer communication systems within school through the use of technology to ensure that all members of are school community are able to access and receive information and updates quickly and easily.
- To increase the number of outside agencies (police, fire brigade, NSPCC, e-safety experts etc) who attend school to give the pupils expert advice on a range of issues.
- To ensure that Religious Education (RE) is given priority within the curriculum to ensure that children can develop an understanding of and tolerance towards a range of different religions, faiths and beliefs.
- To audit and improve upon the range of books within school which can be used to promote Black, Asian, and minority ethnic (BAME) characters, thus helping to deepen children's understanding of equality and diversity.
- To use our in school tracking systems for behaviour to identify at risk pupils. This information will then be used to identify any equality issues which will be addressed.
The Local School Board (LSB), in conjunction with the Headteacher, will review the school's 'Equality Statement' annually as part of the LSB's policy review schedule. Any amendments or updates that need to be made following review will be recommended for approval at the scheduled meeting.
The equality objectives outlined above will be updated at least every four years.
The school also follows and adheres to the Trust's equality and diversity policies which can be found on the C.I.T website: C.I.T Policies.
