Aims of Equality Policy, Audit and Action Plan

Please have a look at our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Statement 

We aim to promote equal opportunities and good race relations in all areas of school life and to eliminate unlawful racial discrimination through the following:

· making the school a place where everyone feels welcome and valued;

· ensuring that all pupils are encouraged to achieve their full potential;

· enabling the school community to develop an understanding of and appreciation for different cultures and religions;

· fostering respect for and valuing the differences between people;

· celebrating the diverse nature of our school and the wider society;

· acknowledging the existence of racism and taking steps to prevent it;

· helping everyone to recognise racist attitudes and behaviour and to challenge them;

· having clear procedures in place to ensure that all staff deal with all forms of racism and racial harassment consistently;

· ensuring race equality in all areas of our work;

· helping the children to develop an understanding of global citizenship.

Garsington’s Equality Plan encompasses accessibility plans to increase access to education for disabled pupils in the three areas required under the Equality Act 2010. The three key duties are to:

· Increase the extent to which disabled children and young people can engage in the school curriculum.

· Improve the physical environment of the school to increase disabled pupils’ physical access to education and extra-curricular activities.

· Improve the delivery of information to disabled children and young people, using formats which give better access to information.

Including children with medical needs

In September 2014 a new duty came into force for local governing bodies to ensure arrangements are in place in school to support pupils at school with medical conditions. The guidance includes statutory and non-statutory advice under the Children and Families Act 2014. The statutory guidance applies to all maintained schools, academies and free schools. For children with SEND, this guidance should be read in conjunction with the 2015 SEND Code of Practice.

The new guidance document reiterates existing good practice and clarifies accountability.

Children and young people with medical conditions are entitled to a full education and have the same rights of admission to school as other children. This means that no child with a medical condition should be denied admission or prevented from taking up a place in school because arrangements for their medical condition have not been made. The local governing body must ensure that arrangements are in place to ensure that such children can access and enjoy the same opportunities at school as any other child.

Local governing bodies should ensure schools develop a policy for supporting pupils with medical conditions that is reviewed regularly and is readily accessible to parents and school staff. This policy may be a separate policy or may be a sub-section included in the school’s existing SEN & Disability policy.

Key Responsibilities

Working Together Impact Group: Meet termly to evaluate and update this policy plan. The Headteacher leads this process.

Inclusion Manager: Kim Bews The Inclusion Manager co-ordinates the provision of SEN, Pupil Premium pupils and pupils at risk of not achieving their potential. The Inclusion Manger evaluates the performance of these groups.

Anti Bullying and Responsibility Co-ordinator: Zara d’Archambaud and designated Governor link: The Responsibility lead co-ordinates the procedures for behaviour and bullying and monitors incidents to evaluate and improve on practice.

Attendance and Medical Lead: Karen Wadforth