Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

Honeywell Schools  Equality Information and Objectives 

In accordance with the Equality Act 2010: Public Sector Equality Duty 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.

Honeywell Schools are inclusive and a place where we focus on the well-being and progress of every child and where all members of our community are of equal worth.   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.

Our Approach To Equality Is Based On The Following Key Principles:

• All learners are of equal value

• We recognise and respect difference

• We foster positive attitudes and relationships and a shared sense of cohesion and belonging

• We observe good equalities practice in staff recruitment, retention and development

• We aim to reduce and remove inequalities and barriers that already exist

• We have the highest expectations of all our children

The schools work actively to promote equality and foster positive attitudes and are committed to equality of education within the schools. We do this by:

• treating all those within the school community (e.g. pupils, staff, governors, parents and the community) as individuals with their own particular abilities, beliefs, challenges, attitudes, background and experience.

• creating and maintaining a school ethos which promotes equality, develops understanding and challenges myths, stereotypes, misconceptions and prejudices.

• encouraging everyone in our school community to gain a positive self-image and high self-esteem.

• having high expectations of everyone involved with the whole school community.

• promoting mutual respect and valuing each other’s similarities and differences and facing equality issues openly and honestly.

• identifying, challenging and removing all practices, procedures and customs which are discriminatory and replacing them with practices that are fair to all.

• monitoring, evaluating and reviewing all the above to secure continuous improvement in all that we do.

Information By Protected Characteristics

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 schools collect information on protected characteristics.

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/Pupil Premium Grant (FSM/PPG)
• Pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN)
• Disadvantaged group
• Pupils with English as an Additional Language (EAL)
• Young carers
• Looked after children
• Other vulnerable groups

We will pay particular attention to:

• Admissions
• Pupil attainment and progress to ensure that any gap in attainment for pupils within any of the above different groups is removed, or at least remains less than the gap nationally
• Prejudice related incidents
• Sanctions
• Staff recruitment and selection
• Promotions
• Professional development opportunities

Eliminating Discrimination And Other Conduct That Is Prohibited By The Act

The information provided here aims to demonstrate that we give careful consideration to equality issues in everything that we do at Honeywell Schools. ‘Due regard’ ensures that we work towards eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act.

We are committed to working for equality for all our staff, parents/carers and children to meet our duties under the Equality Act 2010.

We will try to eliminate discrimination by:

• Adoption of the single Equality Scheme
• Our behaviour policy which ensures that all children feel safe at school and addresses prejudicial bullying
• Reporting, responding to and monitoring all racist incidents
• Regularly monitoring the curriculum to ensure that the curriculum meets the needs of our pupils and that it promotes respect for diversity and challenges negative stereotyping
• Teaching is of the highest quality to ensure children reach their potential and all pupils are given equal entitlement to success
• Tracking pupil progress to ensure that all children make rapid progress, and intervening when necessary
• Ensuring that all pupils have the opportunity to access extra-curricular provision
• Listening to and monitoring views and experiences of pupils and adults to evaluate the effectiveness of our policies and procedures.

Advancing equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it 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 Honeywell Schools is seen as a community school within our local community
• Ensuring that equality and diversity are embedded in the curriculum and in collective worship.
   

In order to further support pupils, raise standards and ensure inclusive teaching, we have set the following objectives:-

• Promote understanding and respect for differences.
• Provide training for all staff and governors on equality and diversity
• Identify opportunities in the curriculum to celebrate diversity.
• Close gaps in attainment and achievement between pupils and all groups of pupils

Please see the Action Plan we have produced to meet the objectives below.