Equality Statement

Walford Nursery & Primary School wants to be recognised as a school at the heart of the community, providing an inclusive, safe, caring and stimulating environment in which to learn.

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

Equality Statement

At Walford Nursery & Primary School, we are committed to ensuring equality of education and opportunity for all pupils, staff, parents and carers receiving services from the school, irrespective of race, gender, disability, faith or religion or socio-economic background.  We aim to develop a culture of inclusion and diversity in which all those connected to the school feel proud of their identity and able to participate fully in school life.

The Governing Body of the school is committed to the principle of equality of opportunity for all in employment and the provision of teaching and learning.

The achievement of pupils will be monitored by race, gender and disability and we will use this data to support pupils, raise standards and ensure inclusive teaching.  We will tackle discrimination by the positive promotion of equality, challenging bullying and stereotypes and creating an environment which champions respect for all.  At Walford Nursery & Primary School, we believe that diversity is a strength, which should be respected and celebrated by all those who learn, teach and visit here.

Our Mission Statement

“Learning and Enjoyment…

Every Child, Every Opportunity, Every Day!”

Our mission statement for Walford Nursery & Primary School values the individuality of each child.  All children are different; all children are special and should be treated as such.  Our primary purpose is to enhance the quality of children’s learning through the effective and efficient delivery of the curriculum.  We are committed to honesty, sensitivity and responsibility in all relationships.  We will adopt a philosophy of continuous improvement in every aspect of the school’s work and life.

We are committed to giving our children every opportunity to achieve the highest standards.  We do this by taking account of pupils' varied experiences and needs.  We offer a broad and balanced curriculum and have high expectations of all children.  The achievements, attitudes and wellbeing of all our children matter.

The school's Equality Policy extends to all members of our school community to include pupils, staff, parents / carers and governors.

The school complies with The Equality Act 2010, which replaced all previous legislation in relation to equal opportunities.  The general duties are to eliminate discrimination, advance equalities of opportunity and foster good relations.  In line with the legislation, the policy seeks to ensure that this school provides equal opportunities for all children, their families, adults and staff, giving due regard to groups with ‘protected characteristics’, in terms of:

• gender (including issues of transgender);
• gender reassignment;
• maternity and pregnancy;
• race (includes ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality);
• disability;
• sexual orientation and identity;
• religion and belief;
• age (for employees only);
• Marriage and Civil Partnership (for employees);
• level of educational need or background.

In order to meet our general duties, listed above, the law requires the school to carry out some specific duties to demonstrate how we meet the general duties.  These are to:

• Publish Equality Information – to demonstrate compliance with the general duty across its functions (please note, the school will not publish any information that can specifically identify any individual).
• Prepare and publish equality objectives which we will review on an annual basis.
• Consult all our stakeholders in the development of our equality objectives and report on progress against our objectives on an annual basis.
   

In order to do this effectively, the school will collect data related to the protected characteristics above and analyse this data to determine our focus for our equality objectives.  The data will be assessed across our core provisions as a school, but we will also analyse available data relating to the context of our local community, including hate crime data and demographic information. In relation to school provision, we will pay particular attention to the following functions:

• Admissions
• Attendance
• Attainment
• Exclusions
• Prejudice related incidents
   

Our objectives will detail how we will ensure equality is applied to the services listed above.  However, where we find evidence that other functions have a significant impact on any particular group we will include work in this area.

We also welcome our duty under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 to promote community cohesion. 

We also recognise that the school’s work on equality is central to the successful promotion of fundamental British Values, especially in relation to the values of respect and tolerance and the rule of law.  The school will, therefore, ensure that our curriculum helps to prepare pupils for life in modern Britain and that we work proactively to address all forms of prejudice and discrimination, including derogatory and discriminatory language.

We recognise that these duties reflect international human rights standards as expressed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and the Human Rights Act 1998.

In fulfilling our legal obligations, the school will:
 

• recognise and respect diversity;
• foster positive attitudes and relationships, and a shared sense of belonging;
• observe good equalities practice, including staff recruitment, retention and development;
• aim to reduce and remove existing inequalities and barriers;
• consult and involve widely;
• strive to ensure that society will benefit.
   

The aims of the school are the same for all children. They are:
 

• to progress to the full extent of their ability, developing and fostering their talents and interest irrespective of gender, religion, ethnic origin and family circumstances;
• to achieve the highest academic standards of which they are capable, and develop practical and physical skills, creative and aesthetic appreciation and a reasoned set of moral, social and spiritual values by ensuring entitlement and access to the National Curriculum and all other aspects of school life;
• to have each child’s individual progress assessed, recorded and interpreted to cater for individual needs;
• to acquire good learning habits and develop a positive attitude towards learning so that children enjoy school and acquire a solid base for lifelong learning;
• to begin to acquire a personal awareness so they may develop the confidence and self-esteem necessary to adapt to a changing society;
• to develop respect and a sensitive, caring and tolerant attitude to others in school, the local community and to society at large;
• to enable children to know right from wrong and to be positive citizens in society.

We aim to act positively and have due regard to the need to challenge and eliminate unlawful discrimination within both our school and our community.

We aim to promote the principle of fairness and justice for all through the education that we provide in our school. We recognise that doing this may entail treating some pupils differently.

We seek to ensure that all pupils have equal access to the full range of educational opportunities provided by the school.

We constantly strive to remove any forms of indirect discrimination that may form barriers to learning for some groups of pupils.

We aim to ensure that all recruitment, employment, promotion and training processes are fair to all and

provide opportunities for everyone.

We aim to challenge personal prejudice and stereotypical views whenever they occur.

We value each pupil's worth, celebrating the individuality and cultural diversity of our school community, and showing respect for all minority groups. 

We are aware that prejudice and stereotyping are often caused by poor self-image and also aware of the relationship between that and ignorance.  Through positive educational experiences, and support for each individual's legitimate point of view, we aim to promote positive social attitudes and respect for all.