Equality Information and Objectives

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This policy supports the Rights Respecting principles adopted by North Ealing Primary School and is particularly relevant to the following articles:

UNICEF – Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC)

Article 2
The Convention applies to everyone: whatever their race, religion or abilities, whatever they think or say, whatever type of family they come from.

Article 3
The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all things that affect children.

Article 4
Governments must do all they can to make sure every child can enjoy their rights.

Article 13
Every child must be free to say what they think and to seek and receive all kinds of information, as long as it is within the law.

Article 14
Every child has the right to think and believe what they want and to practise their religion, as long as they are not stopping other people from enjoying their rights. Governments must respect the rights of parents to give their children information about this right.

Article 15
Every child has the right to meet with other children and to join groups and organisations, as long as this does not stop other people from enjoying their rights.

Article 19
Governments must do all they can to ensure that children are protected from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and bad treatment by their parents or anyone else who looks after them.

Our school aims to meet its obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) by having due regard to the need to:

● Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation 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 a relevant protected characteristic

● Foster good relations across all characteristics – between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

The protected characteristics are:

● Age
● Disability
● Gender reassignment
● Marriage or civil partnership
● Pregnancy and maternity
● Race
● Religion or belief
● Sex
● Sexual orientation

Our school aims to promote respect for difference and diversity in accordance with our school vision.

Vision statement:
At North Ealing Primary, we inspire and nurture all our children to become aspirational, lifelong learners through an inclusive, ambitious and engaging curriculum.

We work together to provide the best teaching and learning environment for pupils, families and staff through the following ethos and values:

Working Inclusively
● Providing a welcoming, safe, happy school where everyone is respected and listened to
● Encouraging everyone to do their very best, through the promotion of mutual respect and positive values
● Building and developing upon individual strengths and talents

Learning Potential
● Develop a love of learning inspired by quality teaching
● Learning is creative and interesting
● Regular praising of achievement and how to improve our learning
● Coming together to support each other’s learning and make it fun

Community
● Striving to be the centre of our local community and an integral part of our society
● Working together with our parents to encourage the learning and development of all our pupils
● Preparing our pupils to become active citizens of the future, through a rich and broad curriculum

2. Legislation and guidance

This document 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 document is also based on Department for Education (DfE) guidance: The Equality Act 2010 and schools, the technical guidance for schools from the Equality and Human Rights Commission and guidance from the Government Equalities Office on meeting the specific duties that support the Public Sector Equality Duty.

3. 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/carers
● Ensure that the published equality information is updated at least every year, and that the objectives are reviewed and updated at least every 4 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 among staff and pupils
● Monitor success in achieving the objectives and report back to governors
● Have “due regard” when making a decision or taking an action to whether it may have particular implications for people with particular protected characteristics

All school staff are expected to have regard to this document and to work to achieve the objectives as set out in section 8.

4. 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.

The school has a designated member of staff for monitoring equality issues, and an equality link governor.

They regularly liaise regarding any issues and make senior leaders and governors aware of these as appropriate.

5. 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 that are connected to a particular characteristic they have (e.g. pupils with disabilities, or gay pupils who are being subjected to homophobic bullying)
● Taking steps to meet the particular needs of people who have a particular characteristic
● 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 societies)
● Adhering to our anti-racism and antibullying policies

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 data referenced above 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 or transphobic bullying)
● Publish further data about any issues associated with particular protected characteristics, identifying any issues which could affect our own pupils

6. 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:

● Placing the values and principles of the UN Convention Rights of the Child at the heart of a school’s ethos and culture. As part of UNICEF’s Rights Respecting School programme, our aim is to improve well-being and develop every child’s talents and abilities to their full potential
● 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, through English and reading, pupils engage with literature representing a wide range of cultures. They also learn about professionals from diverse backgrounds, broadening their understanding of the world. The curriculum is continually refined to reflect and respond to the needs of our evolving world and school community.
● Making pupils aware of our behaviour, anti-bullying and anti-racism policies
● 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
● We have developed links with people and groups who have specialist knowledge about particular characteristics, which helps inform and develop our approach

7. Equality considerations in decision-making

The school ensures it has due regard to equality considerations whenever significant decisions are made. We consider equality implications before and at the time that we develop policy and make decisions and continue to review these on a continuing basis.

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

The school keeps a written record to show we have actively considered our equality duties and asked ourselves relevant questions. This is part of our School Improvement Plan and reported in the end of year Headteacher report to governors.

8. Equality objectives

Objective 1
Undertake an analysis of recruitment data and trends in regard to race, disability and any gender pay gap by July, and report on this to the staffing and pay sub-committee of the governing board.

Why we have chosen this objective: To ensure no unconscious bias is evident and ensure that all recruitment materials are reaching a diverse group of potential applicants

To achieve this objective, we plan to: Where possible anonymised data for each applicant for advertised roles showing age, ethnicity and disability status. Support all staff recruited and try to reflect the diversity of the school community.

Objective 2
Ensure that the protected characteristics are embedded throughout the curriculum, representing key figures, texts, and perspectives that reflect all protected characteristics. Regularly review and update the curriculum to maintain this representation and inclusivity.

Why we have chosen this objective: to ensure that coverage and teaching of the protected characteristics, in an age-appropriate manner, is frequent and embedded across the curriculum so that pupils develop a strong understanding of diversity, equality, and respect, and can recognise, value, and celebrate differences within their school community and the wider world.

To achieve this objective, we plan to: Ensure medium term plans and show extensive coverage of the protected characteristics and staff are knowledgeable of when and how the protected characteristics feature.

Objective 3
To improve attendance rates and attainment of underperforming groups and individuals. This is monitored by protected characteristics and socio-economics and any trends or patterns in the data that may require additional action to narrow the gap are addressed;

Why we have chosen this objective: because we know that strong attendance is key to academic success and improved well-being. We are aware of the gaps between different groups of pupils – we aim to close these gaps.

To achieve this objective, we plan to: ensure data of all pupils is collected 3 times per year by class teachers. Analyse data by race, gender, PPG entitlement and SEND.
Interventions will be put in place to meet the needs identified.

Regular pupil progress meetings, data (attainment and attendance/punctuality) analysed fully annually and shared with staff and governors.

Objective 4
To regularly review the impact of workload on staff and how valued they feel, taking swift and effective action to address any concerns and promote staff well-being, satisfaction, and retention.

Why we have chosen this objective: because we want staff to have a healthy work-life balance and to feel confident they have clear, supportive forums for raising any concerns.

To achieve this objective, we plan to: Annual questionnaire and staff one-to-ones and use the information to change practice if needed – giving staff a voice.

9. Monitoring arrangements

The headteacher will update the equality information we publish, at least every year.

This document will be reviewed by governing board and the headteacher annually, to ensure continued compliance with the PSED.

This document will be approved by governing board during full Governing Body meetings.

Policy to be approved by the Headteacher
Summer 2025
Policy last ratified and adopted by the Headteacher and FGB
Summer 2025
Policy / Document due for review
Summer 2029