At our school diversity means acknowledging that there are differences between people that should be recognised, respected and celebrated. We promote respect of each other’s differences and identities. We celebrate and raise awareness of diversity in the school and in the wider community and believe that teaching children about diversity prepares them for life in modern Britain.
We pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive school. For us at Overchurch Infant School, equality means that everyone is able to participate and feel welcome and safe in the activities of our school. This includes pupils, parents, staff, governors and visitors. Everyone should be able to achieve the best possible outcomes as a result of their participation. We believe that equality should permeate all aspects of school life and is the responsibility of all members of the school community.
Overchurch Infant School is committed to advancing equality of opportunity, fostering good relations as well as eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation. We strongly oppose all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination, whether because of age, ethnicity, disability, gender, religion and belief, sexual identity or any other condition or requirement which places a person at disadvantage and cannot be justified. The impact of all policies, practices and day-to-day activities are considered to ensure that no member of the community is discriminated against or put at a disadvantage.
The Equality 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.
Overchurch Infant School is proud to be an inclusive school 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 the difference.
- We foster positive attitudes and relationships and a shared sense of cohesion and belonging.
- We observe good equalities practise 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.
Through rigorous tracking and monitoring of individuals and of all the groups of children, including progress and attainment, and by providing equal opportunities to access the curriculum and activities, we aim 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.
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 eliminate discrimination by:
- Adoption of the Single Equality Scheme
- Our behaviour policy 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.
Equality Objectives
At Overchurch Infant School, we are committed to ensuring equality of education and opportunity for all pupils, staff, parents and carers, irrespective of race, gender, disability, belief, religion or socio-economic background.
In order to further support pupils, raise standards and ensure inclusive teaching, we have set the following objectives:
Objective 1: To promote cultural development and understanding through a rich range of experience, both in and beyond the school.
Objective 2: To ensure that all pupils are given similar opportunities with regards to after-school clubs and activities.
Objective 3: To ensure the school environment is accessible as possible to all pupils, staff and visitors.
Objective 4: To increase understanding of equality through direct teaching across the curriculum.
Objective 5: Actively close gaps in attainment and achievement between pupils and all groups of pupils; especially students eligible for free school meals, students with special educational needs and disabilities and looked after children.