The Equality Act 2010 was introduced to ensure protection from discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of specific characteristics (referred to as protected characteristics). For schools, this means that it is unlawful to discriminate against individuals or treat them less favourably because of their sex; race; age; disability; religion or belief; gender reassignment; sexual orientation; pregnancy or maternity.
Under the Act, the school is expected to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). This requires us to:
- Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
- Advance equality of opportunity between different groups
- Foster good relations between different groups
As a public organisation, we are required to:
- Have due regard to the PSED when making decisions, taking action or developing policy and practice.
- Publish information to show compliance with the Equality Duty. This is done via our Equalities Policy.
- Publish Equality Objectives which are specific and measurable.
- Our Equalities Policy is in line with national guidance and contains information about how the school complies with the Public Sector Equality Duty. We also give guidance to staff and the wider school community on our approach to promoting equality.
- Our Equality Objectives reflect the school's priorities, our Cooperative values and draw upon available data and other evidence. Careful analysis of this is undertaken in order to ensure that we are working to achieve improved outcomes for different groups.
Our Equality Objectives are:
- To continue to provide a school environment that welcomes, protects and respects diverse people.
- To continue to close the gaps in attainment and achievement between students and all groups of students; especially boys and girls, disadvantaged students, students with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, Looked After Children, and students from different heritage groups.
- To ensure that all students are given the opportunity to make a positive contribution to the life of the school, particularly focusing on developing leadership opportunities for all students.
- To eradicate the use of homophobic, sexist, racist and other discriminative language by students in the school.
- To review the accessibility across the school for students, staff and visitors with disabilities, including access to specialist teaching areas.
- To successfully maintain an inclusive uniform policy sensitive to different genders and races.
Specific tasks relating to these objectives can be found within the School Improvement Plan.