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round diamond school equal opportunities policy july 2011 this policy aims to · · · offer equal opportunities regardless of race culture gender academic ability physical ability or class provide an environment free from social sexual or cultural prejudice for all members of our school community achieve an environment in which members of the school community can be respected as individuals and in which the varied experiences of the community can enrich the life of the school equal opportunities are the responsibility of the whole school community and must be reflected throughout the organisation of the school and addressed in the taught and hidden curriculum an equal opportunities approach is practiced by all staff every member of staff will endeavour to further this objective by personally contributing towards a happy and caring environment and by showing respect for and appreciation of each other as individuals the school is committed to emphasizing the common elements and values of our diverse culture rather than highlighting conflicting areas the whole school aims equal opportunities is the responsibility of the whole school community and must be reflected throughout the organisation of the school and be addressed in the taught and hidden curriculum all staff governors parents/guardians and pupils will be involved in developing implementing and monitoring the equal opportunities policy and practice all staff governors parents/guardians and pupils regardless of race ethnicity disability gender and socio-economic background are welcome and will be encouraged to participate in the life of the school.

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the school recognises its responsibilities under the race relations act sex discrimination act and disability discrimination act to eliminate discrimination and to promote good race relations at round diamond school we aim to · · · · · · provide for all pupils according to their needs irrespective of race ethnicity disability gender or socio-economic backgrounds set good examples to the children and parents in the context of equal opportunities begin to develop pupil s awareness of our increasingly diverse society help children to see the world as it is now and how it might be improved encourage pupils to begin to develop their own attitudes of equal opportunities in our society encourage the support and active participation of all local communities actions statements of equality of opportunity will be printed in all relevant school documentation e.g school prospectus policies etc all governors staff and pupils will receive training in relevant aspects of equal opportunities to ensure their ability to actively support this policy on acceptance to the school all parents will receive information detailing the school s behaviour policy this information will be available in languages other than english as appropriate to the school community the school will make all reasonable effort to ensure that meetings are accessible and convenient for all and take into account particular needs and requirements e.g physical access child care and interpreter support parents and members of the local community are invited to help in the delivery of the curriculum and lead assemblies statement of inclusion the school recognises its need to celebrate the diversity that exists within its community and to ensure that all have the opportunity to respond to the expectations and challenges of the curriculum what follows are the different areas in which the school will pay particular attention to ensuring that there is equal opportunity for all equal opportunities multi-cultural it is our school policy · · · to incorporate a balanced view of the world through a multi-cultural approach to recognise that our pupils are world citizens who will meet a wide variety of cultures throughout their lives to evaluate our practice to ensure that it is not at the expense of indigenous cultures.

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equal opportunities ­ gender it is our school policy · · · to seek to promote non-sexiest attitudes in both children and staff to allow children equal access to opportunities which will equip them for adult life and to achieve challenging expectations to work towards the eradication of sex stereotyping in order to work towards the eradication of such differences we will ask ourselves the following types of questions when evaluating our practice 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 are all children able to try out new roles in play and learning activities are all classroom tasks shared equally between girls and boys do all children get an equal chance to use equipment and resources do all our displays and teaching aids present a non-sexiest attitude are our responses to bad behaviour the same to both boys and girls are men and women from other cultures presented to children in a non stereotypical way do all children have equal access to playground space and other play facilities equal opportunities race it is our school policy 1 2 that no child or adult should be treated in any way differently or in a derogatory manner because of their race to challenge racism in the context of a caring school community in order to fulfil the above the following types of behaviour will not e tolerated 1 2 3 4 5 6 provocative behaviour i.e wearing of any racist badges or insignia the use of verbal abuse or name calling of a racist nature the encouragement of other to behave in a racist manner the ridiculing of an individual for cultural differences the telling of racist jokes or stories the exclusion of others because of their culture ethnicity or race equal opportunities ability it is our school policy · · · to recognise good effort and attitudes regardless of academic achievement to allow all children access to equipment resources and teacher time regardless of their academic achievements to value all efforts and achievements of children in all areas of the curriculum every child has an entitlement to a positive helpful learning environment with carefully planned work which matches individual needs in order that they may reach their potential.

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equal opportunities class it is our school policy · · that children should not be treated in any way differently because of an assumed social class that assumptions will not be made as regards class difference equal opportunities physical disability it is our school policy that · · · children should not be treated in any way differently to others due to their individual physical disabilities and needs a provision should be made for the individual special needs of any disabled children within our school community a physically disabled child has a right to take part in all activities within the school environment in so far as their individual disability allows them to do so.

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our equal opportunities principles and actions the whole school principles equal opportunities is the responsibility of the whole school community and must be reflected throughout the organisation of the school and be addressed in the taught and hidden curriculum actions statements of equality of opportunity will be printed in all relevant school documentation as and when it is updated the school follows the lea admissions policy which does not permit gender race ethnicity socio-economic background or disability to be used as criteria for admission pupil s names are accurately recorded and correctly pronounced pupils are encouraged to accept and respect names from other cultures equality dimensions will be identified in all school policy and practice all staff and governors will receive training in relevant aspects of equal opportunities in order to ensure their ability to support this policy all staff governors pupils and parents/guardians will be involved in developing implementing and monitoring equal opportunities policy and practice all pupils will be introduced to our agreement about `how we would like everyone to behave they will sign a home/school contract which is in their homework diaries all new parents will be informed about our policies on behaviour and discipline all parents/guardians are welcome and will be encouraged to participate in the life of the school the involvement of parents/guardians from various groups will be monitored to ensure participation from across these groups where lack of representation exists consultation to identify and overcome barriers will be set up the school views linguistic diversity positively and staff are expected to be aware of the languages spoken by pupils and their families pupils are encouraged to feel that their language or dialect is valued.

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principles all parents/guardians are welcome and will be encouraged to participate in the life of the school actions parents are invited to `new to key stage meetings to help them share in their children s learning annual curriculum evenings will be held there will be opportunities for parents/guardians to see the school in action parents workshops will be held when possible past ones include ict numeracy and writing members of different faith communities will be invited to lead collective worship parents and members of the local community will be involved in providing classroom support giving talks about their role in the community students on work experience will work in classrooms pupils from local secondary schools will share their talents through performances links with local business will be fostered e.g with tesco s computers in school schemes and budgens events will be held in conjunction with local groups e.g bunyan baptist church members of the school will participate in community events in the community centre the school will seek to encourage the support and participation of all local communities pastoral principles all members of the school community have a right not to experience behaviour which ignores puts down or offends anyone on grounds of race religion nationality gender ability social background or age actions staff and other adults at the school will be seen to have mutual respect in their interaction and relationships with each other.

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principles actions the school aims to foster a positive atmosphere staff pupils and parents will be encouraged to of mutual respect and care for its members in identify and challenge in the context of mutual which all feel affirmed safe and unthreatened trust and support the behaviour of others which infringed this right the school has developed procedures for dealing with harassment including racial and sexual incidents are recorded and investigated all staff will be trained to ensure play areas and activities encourage and promote positive and cooperative behaviour the msa s and peer mediators work with children to encourage and lead play at lunchtimes and resolve conflict the school council gives the children the opportunity to share in the running of the school each child shares in the democratic process of electing class representatives pupils will take part in circle time sessions in order for them to be able to discuss aspects of bullying and harassment and this is linked with strategies for response and advocacy there will be councilors coming into school to support any children with any difficult issues seal assembly is held once a week to celebrate children s successes and progress and sharing of week occurs on a rolling programme the pastoral organisation of the school will provide opportunities for pupils to think about their own learning progress behaviour and development and to develop self-esteem confidence and motivation in all areas of their lives pupil s perceptions of the curriculum and general school organization will be valued there will be regular opportunities for staff development on listening and counseling skills pupils will be given opportunities to undertake some formal responsibilities e.g show visitors around the school.

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principles actions teachers will endeavour to recognise and respond to individual needs and where appropriate take action to eliminate barriers of disadvantage the school will be sensitive to and provide for cultural and religious requirements as a matter of course e.g dress diet calendar events seating arrangements curriculum principles equal opportunity themes dimensions and skills will be addressed through the whole curriculum actions all pupils have access to the school s full curriculum staff are made aware that their own expectations affect the achievement behaviour and status of each pupil key areas of the curriculum will be identified in which specific aspects of knowledge skills and understanding of equality issues will be delivered pupils will be encouraged to explore aspects of their own and other s personal and cultural identity issues in social and political life values and concerns which humans have in common pupils will be encouraged to have an inquiring and open attitude to cultures beliefs languages and traditions which are not their own pupils will be given knowledge of the diverse and pluralist society in which they live pupils will be given the necessary skills to detect and challenge bias in language narrative behaviour and images they encounter teaching and learning strategies will facilitate and value diversity they will also acknowledge and respond to the different learning styles and needs of different pupils staff have drawn up a learning and teaching policy which considers the many different ways that pupils learn.

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principles all people will be portrayed in positive nonstereotypical ways actions children who have english as a second language will have support provided from the eal team in order that they can fully access the curriculum appropriate learning materials and displays will be used the school s policy on teacher assessment will take account of issues of equality of opportunity books and resources will be monitored to ensure that there are positive non-stereotypical images collective worship will address the experiences of all pupils and the wider community and challenge stereotypes assessment tasks and tests will not be gender biased or culturally exclusive in their assumptions and reference points personnel principles the school will aim to implement equality of opportunity in the recruitment support and development of all staff and governors where appropriate it will use positive action to achieve the aim actions a demonstrated commitment to equal opportunities will be a criterion for the selection of all new staff the governing body will seek to ensure that its recruitment policy is fair and equal and does not discriminate on grounds of race gender disability social behaviour age or sexual orientation in all staff appointments the best candidate is appointed based on strict professional criteria see equal opportunity employment policy hcc support and advice is available from the authority s minority ethnic curriculum support service mecss

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monitoring of the policy the following procedures exist for the monitoring of equal opportunities and the review and evaluation of this policy · · · · it will be reviewed on an annual basis in order to celebrate achievements and set priorities for further development we will identify specific areas in which to monitor the provision of equality of opportunity the outcomes of any monitoring and action will be recorded and reported to the relevant people where a need arises consideration will be given to meeting the needs of new members of the school community e.g provision of wheelchair ramps translators these procedures enable us to identify areas where there is not equal opportunity and take any necessary action to remedy this we acknowledge that groups of people have often suffered disadvantage due to prejudice or ignorance we recognise it is all too easy for the structure of institutions to result in inequality by default we therefore commit ourselves to take positive steps to examine our policies and practice and to change them where necessary the effectiveness of the above policy and our practice will therefore be evaluated every two years this will be done every two years by the senior leadership team in consultation with the whole school community.

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