Public Sector Equality Duty
At West Jesmond Primary School we strive to promote equality of opportunity for all children, staff and our families. We celebrate diversity and champion equality. Everybody who enters our school is expected to behave in a way which respects the protected characteristics of the Equality Act 2010.
Aims
Our school aims to meet its obligations under the public sector equality duty by having due regard for 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
What is the Public Sector Equality Duty (the PSED)?
The Equality Act 2010 introduced a single, general duty for public bodies, including schools, and which extends to all ‘protected characteristics’.
The Protected Characteristics
It is against the law to discriminate against someone because of:
- age
- disability
- gender reassignment
- marriage and civil partnership
- pregnancy and maternity
- race
- religion or belief
- sex
- sexual orientation
Legislation and guidance
Our whole school approach aims to meet 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 the Department for Education (DfE) guidance: The Equality Act 2010 and schools.
How does West Jesmond Primary School comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty?
The school has a range of policies which make explicit the school’s commitment to actively promoting equality of opportunity for all. The main policies that deal with equality of opportunity are:
- WJPS Accessibility policy
- WJPS Equality Statement and Policy
- WJPS SEND policy
- WJPS Positive Behaviour and Relationships policy
- WJPs Family and Relationships Policy
West Jesmond Primary School prides itself on being an inclusive school that cares for every individual child. In doing so, we promote and deliver a range of strategies to ensure that we comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty.
The school aims to foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not share it by:
- Helping our children to care and look after each other and follow our West Jesmond Way. We do not tolerate any forms of discrimination and our children learn that we show respect for everyone and for all those who share the protected characteristics.
- Promoting tolerance, friendship and understanding of a range of backgrounds, beliefs, similarities and differences and cultures through different aspects of our curriculum. This includes teaching in RE, and Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education, and is also embedded across our curriculum.
- Teaching children about the protected characteristics in a sensitive, consistent and ongoing way through our weekly themes that are explored in assemblies and learning sessions, themed weeks and celebrations. These give all of our pupils the opportunity to discuss and explore the values that underpin the PSED.
- Working with our local community. This includes inviting in members of community to speak in class and at assemblies, and organising school trips and activities based around the local community, including our International Evenings.
- Working with our families to promote knowledge and understanding of different cultures
- Helping and encouraging all children to participate in the school’s activities.
- Working to raise standards for all children, but especially for the most vulnerable. We believe that improving the quality of education for the most vulnerable groups of children raises standards across the whole school.
- We observe good equalities practice for our staff. We ensure that policies and procedures benefit all employees and potential employees in all aspects of their work, including in recruitment and promotion, and in continuing professional development.
Equality objectives
Under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) the school is required to set Equality Objectives and our statutory published information must be updated annually.
Objective 1: Ensure every child, including those with SEND has full access to the curriculum
Objective 2: Monitor and analyse pupil achievement by race, gender and disability and act on any trends or patterns in the data that require additional support for pupils
Objective 3: Ensure that all children are able to access all extracurricular and enrichment opportunities, including residential visits
Objective 4: Increase support for children with SEMH difficulties
Objective 5: Promote community cohesion and to raise awareness of the protected characteristics within the school with a focus on equality within our diverse school and community.
Please see the policy below for further details of our approach to promote equality