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Equalities

Equality Objectives

The Equality Act 2010 replaced all existing equality legislation. It put in place a number of duties to ensure public bodies and schools have due regard to certain ‘protected’ groups.

The protected groups are:

Age
Gender reassignment
Disability
Race
Religion or belief
Gender
Sexual orientation
Pregnancy / maternity

The general duty is set out in Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010. In summary all public bodies and schools must have due regard to the need to:

Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. Schools have a legal requirement to prepare and publish one or more specific and measurable equality objectives which will help them to further the three aims of the Equality Duty.

In setting our objectives the school will:

Set objectives that are appropriate to our size and circumstances.
Set objectives that address the most pressing issues facing the protected groups, that fit the school’s needs and are achievable in an appropriate timescale.
Align the objectives with the normal planning of the school, including self-evaluation and the school improvement plan.

Evaluation and Moderation of the Equality Objectives

The Governing Body will evaluate and moderate progress towards the objectives once per year. The Governing Body will ensure the school’s objectives are published every four years.

Equalities Statement and Aims

At Willow Park our school vision, ‘Be the Light!’ is central to all we do. We aim to teach our children to respect and value one another and to celebrate the differences that make us all unique. Our aim is for children to leave our school with the skills they need to be successful in modern Britain and to make a positive contribution in the world.

We are committed to ensuring equality of education and opportunity for all pupils, staff, parents and carers receiving services from the school, irrespective of age, disability, ethnicity and race, gender, gender identify and transgender, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion and belief and sexual orientation. 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.

We welcome the duties upon schools under the Equality Act 2010 to:

(a) eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010;

(b) advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it;

The achievement of pupils will be monitored by ethnicity, 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.

Willow Park Equality statement 2023 – 2026

Link to the Public Sector Equalities Duty	Protected characteristics	Aim	Objective	Target group	Actions	Who is responsible?
Advance the equality of opportunity	Newly arrived families Religion and/or belief	To ensure all children who are new to the country reach their full potential in reading, writing and maths	To ensure all children who are new to the country and new to English are well taught and that they continue to make expected or above expected progress in all year groups	Refugee and asylum-seeking children and families	Class monitoring of attainment and progress Discussion around strategies for supporting pupils during core group meetings and meetings with EAL lead Training staff as and when required EAL Lead to provide support to class teachers on a regular basis Ensure the Bell Foundation assessment framework is used by the school to identify needs that are addressed through QFT and interventions	Headteacher Teaching staff EAL Lead
Advance the equality of opportunity	Special educational Needs	To ensure all children with SEND reach their full potential in reading, writing and maths	To ensure all children with SEND are well taught and that they continue to make expected or above expected progress on an individual basis in all year groups	SEN children	Class monitoring of attainment and progress Discussion around strategies for supporting pupils during core group meetings and meetings with SENDCO Training staff as and when required SENDCO to provide support to class teachers on a regular basis Ensure IEPS or support plans are written, used and reviewed by the school. Ensure needs are identified and addressed through targeted interventions approved by the SENDCo	SENDCO All teaching staff
Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and peer on peer abuse	Sexual orientation, race, gender, identity, disability, religion or belief	To prevent and respond to all prejudice comments and behaviour.	To ensure all children feel safer as reported through pupil voice surveys	All children	Review and update existing policies and practice related to negative and bullying behaviour. Staff training for all staff including SMSAs in developing skills in identifying and challenging bullying and peer and peer abuse. Complete regular pupil voice surveys Using JIGSAW as a resource to support. Plan and implement anti-bullying weeks, which address key issues and ensure pupils feel safe in raising concerns.	All staff