Equality and Diversity at Grove Vale Primary
Grove Vale Primary is an inclusive school where we focus on the well-being and progress of every child and where all members of our community are welcome and of equal worth. Everybody who enters our school is behave in a way which respects the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010. We believe that the Equality Act provides a framework to support our commitment to valuing diversity, tackling discrimination, promoting equality and fostering good relationships between people. It also ensures that we continue to tackle issues of disadvantage and underachievement of different groups.
The Equality Act 2010 requires us to publish information that demonstrates that we have due regard for the need to:
· Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct 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 between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
At Grove Vale Primary School, we take this obligation very seriously and ensure that all our pupils can take part as fully as possible in every aspect of school life. We want each child to fulfil their potential and have equality of opportunity.
Our approach to equality is based on the following key principles:
1. All learners are of equal value
2. We recognise and respect difference
3. We foster positive attitudes and relationships and a shared sense of cohesion and belonging.
4. We observe good equalities practice in staff recruitment, retention and development.
5. We aim to reduce and remove inequalities and barriers that already exist.
6. We have the highest expectations of all our children.
Information on pupils by protected characteristics
The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics. Every person has several of the protected characteristics, so the Act protects everyone against unfair treatment. In order to ensure that all pupils are protected from discrimination, the school collects information on protected characteristics.
Equality and Diversity
Information on other groups of pupils
In addition to pupils with protected characteristics, we gather further information on the following groups of pupils:
· Pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM)
· Pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN)
· Disadvantaged group
· Pupils with English as an Additional Language (EAL)
· Young carers
· Looked after children
· Other vulnerable groups
Advancing equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it
We advance equality of opportunity by:
· Using the information we gather to identify underachieving groups or individuals and plan targeted intervention
· Ensuring participation of parents/carers and pupils in school development
· Listening to parents/carers
· Listening to pupils at all times
Fostering good relations across all characteristics - between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it
We foster good relations by:
· Ensuring that Grove Vale Primary School is seen as a community school within our local community
· Ensuring that equality and diversity are embedded in the curriculum, celebrations and in collective worship.
At Grove Vale Primary School, we are committed to ensuring equality of education and opportunity for all pupils, staff, parents and carers, irrespective of race, sexual orientation, gender, disability, belief, religion or socio-economic background. To achieve this, our equality objectives 2023 - 2026 are as follows
Equality objective 1: To raise awareness of equality & diversity
Equality objective 2: Ensure tolerance and respect towards individuals who identify with any of the protected characteristics
Equality objective 3: To review levels of parental and pupil engagement in learning and school life, across all activities to ensure equity and fairness in access and engagement.
Equality objective 4: Ensure that the school promotes role models and heroes that young people positively identify with, who reflect and broaden the school’s diversity in terms of race, gender and disability etc.
