Report on Equality and Diversity at Brooklands College

Transcription

1 Report on Equality and Diversity at Brooklands College JUNE 2013

2 Introduction The College is strongly committed to inclusion and celebrates diversity. It is the first FE College in Surrey to achieve the full Investors in Diversity award at level 2 ( January 2013) The award is run by the National Centre for Diversity and Solat Chaudhry, the Centre s Chief Executive said the college had engaged wholeheartedly with the programme and demonstrated a real and tangible commitment to equality. The College prioritises equality and diversity and has made good progress in making these themes central to all of its work. However, there are a number of priority actions which will address the need for the college to better promote equality and diversity and these have been identified through an assessment of our areas for improvement in equality and diversity. As part of its commitment to ensure compliance with the Equality Duty introduced by the Equality Act 2010, the College has identified specific measures which can be taken to improve equality and diversity outcomes for all stakeholders at the College. These are set out in the College s Equality and Diversity Action Plan. This report summarises what progress has been achieved in the past year towards our Equality objectives. Brooklands College Equality Objectives In line with its statutory obligations, Brooklands College has identified the priority actions which it wants to take forward in the next three years. These objectives were published on the college website in April Progress against the objectives will be monitored through the E&D Committee and an update will be provided to Governors in the Autumn term. Objective 1 To develop opportunities to raise awareness amongst students of other cultures and groups through college wide events 2 To develop new curriculum offers to support progression pathways for all learners, including routes into Higher Education 3 To ensure that there are no significant differences in outcomes between identified groups 4 To deliver further development opportunities for teaching staff to better understand how to improve the promotion of equality and diversity in lessons 5 To further promote the College s commitment to equality and diversity to external stakeholders 6 To monitor the promotion of equality and diversity in lessons, and review available resources to ensure that these support classroom activity 7 To take account the views of our stakeholders through the development of regular and effective feedback channels 8 To encourage the disclosure of protected characteristics and promote a culture of positive awareness in relation to all protected characteristics 2

3 Progress made against Aim 1: To develop opportunities to raise awareness amongst students of other cultures and groups through college wide events The College s first Diversity Festival for staff and students was held from the 15 th to 26 th October The programme for the Festival was both varied and fun and included the following: A photo exhibition of Surrey Ethnic Communities in Action A Journey to Surrey - to celebrate Black History month members groups from the Surrey Minority Ethnic Forum gave talks to staff and students on the Journey to Surrey from the Nepalese perspective, the African perspective, the Indian subcontinent and the Hungarian perspective event. We also learned about Gypsy and Traveller issues and about ethnic dress. We saw performances from an Indian Dancer, a Brazilian Guitarist and our students joined in with an African Drumming session led by students from Park Special School in Woking. Lecturers from the Media Department ran showed a number of films under the Showcasing World Cinema banner. Lecturers took two groups of students on a Brighton and Hove Black History Tour, led by a member of the Brighton and Hove Black History group. The aim of the tour was to challenge racism and prejudice by raising awareness of the multi-cultural history of Britain, with particular reference to Brighton and Sussex. The feedback for this event from our students was very positive. Living with Ashley was a DVD made about one of our Supported Learning Students by student film makers at the Magna Carta School working in conjunction with Shepperton Studios. The film has been praised by Ofsted and Ashleigh was at the screening to answer questions. One of the big successes of the festival was the presentation by Jennifer Basannavar of the Institute of Tourist Guiding on The History of Immigration to the UK with particular reference to London. This talk emphasised how immigrants had contributed to the commercial and business success of the capital and discussed the different communities which were established across London. The Festival also included a talk on Female Breadwinners, an Around the World staff quiz, Deaf Awareness training and the highlight of the Festival was a visit from Wheelchair Rugby Paralympian, Andy Barrow, who talked about his sport and his determination and discipline to succeed despite his disability and how this was relevant to all of our lives. Events were attended by both staff and students and many positive responses were received. Feedback from staff and students attending the Festival was used as evidence in the final submission to Investors in Diversity to achieve the full Level 2 Award in January Other ways that equality and diversity has been promoted in the college to raise awareness included College events to celebrate success and achievement such as Supported Learning s Student of the Year Award and whole college celebration events of student achievement; In Olympic Year 2012, students were involved in curriculum projects around the five continents, to raise awareness of the range of countries which will be represented and where they are located in the world. The college also hosted performances of the Souvenir d Anne Frank in February 2012 to commemorate Holocaust Memorial Day. We promote and celebrate equality and diversity widely with our students through induction, tutorials, special events, enrichment sessions, and our E&D policy covers both staff and students. We promote respect for all, and challenge inappropriate language, views and behaviours. Progress made against Aim 2: To develop new curriculum offers to support progression pathways for all learners, including routes into Higher Education. The College has bid for work with students who are not yet ready to come into mainstream educations (previously NEETS) and has opened three Skills Centres in local areas. In addition, the college has been very successful in its Princes Trust programme and has now opened up two further Princes Trust Groups, so we have three in total. 3

4 Students on the LEAP course (a Supported Internship) have been on an extended work experience programme at St Peters Hospital. The St Peters staff report they have a much improved understanding of the value which young people with learning disabilities bring to the workplace; this viewpoint was endorsed by the St Peters staff at a conference on Supported Internships hosted by the College on 7 th June Additional courses have been introduced to cater for a more diverse population of students, including work based learners: Mental Health Programmes for our learners and employees. Level 2 Equality and Diversity courses Fenestration Frameworks Specialist glazing Framework Higher Lever Management qualifications Employability courses for Job Centre Plus customers Distribution and Warehousing courses Online programmes for distance learning Expansion of care courses Welding Introduction to Health and Safety L7 Strategic management for middle & Senior managers. Expanded offer in A levels, Environmental Studies, Dance, Gypsy Skills undertaking nail art skills development with a working with others qualification. Short Courses in skills development for car maintenance, nail art, cupcakes. Foundation Diploma in Business, NHC in Aero, Manufacturing, Media, Supported internships for foundation learners HE courses developed for 2013/14 include the following: Top up Degree in Motor-Sport Foundation Degree Business, Management and Communication HNC Media HNC Aeronautical Progress made against Aim 3: To ensure that there are no significant differences in outcomes between identified groups. Since the success rate data for 2012/13 is not available at the time of this report, the data for 2011/12 shows that there were no gaps in success rates between male and female students, which is a significant strength for the College. In addition, according to the data, there was no significant difference in success rates between those who have learning disabilities and those who do not. For 2011/12 there have been improved outcomes for all groups. The data shows that there is a 3% difference in success rates between BME students and white students, with BME students having the higher success rates. However, detailed analysis shows that the learners who performed well were part of cohorts that also performed well. The data for 2012/13 will be available in the autumn term 2013/14 and will be analysed to ensure that any underperformance in identified groups is assessed and actions taken as appropriate to ensure that all learners achieve their best. Progress made against Aim 4: To deliver further development opportunities for teaching staff to better understand how to improve the promotion of equality and diversity in lessons. During 2012, an Equality and Diversity training specialist was recruited and worked with college managers in July 2012 on a programme to embed E&D into the curriculum. This work was developed further with a proposal to LSIS to include other south eastern colleges and we achieved funding for this to run a programme in autumn 2012, with a feedback event in February 2013 to share ideas and best practice. 4

5 The Stretch and Challenge training event took place on the November 2012 staff development day and was a priority for the curriculum during the remainder of the academic year, with support provided by the Quality Team and the Teaching and Learning Mentors. Learner profiles were shared with all teachers delivering to groups. Teaching and learning mentors delivered training on the use of group profiles. Training was delivered to highlight how individual needs can be addressed. The World of Construction project showcased different house/building styles across the world and was a display feature on the Ashford campus. Teacher training is offered at the college in partnership with outside agencies and a significant number of learners work at the college. E&D is integral to all teacher training offered, with an emphasis on preparing teaching staff to consider and integrate E&D in all planning and delivery; The college mentoring scheme is instrumental in developing good practice on a curricular level, including equality and diversity; Lesson resources cover strategies to integrate E&D into lesson content, and to assist in course planning; Learner profiles are drafted in conjunction with ALS and assist differentiation; The Internal Quality Review process is robust and provides clear feedback on areas for development, including equality and diversity; Progress made against Aim 5: To further promote the College s commitment to equality and diversity to external stakeholders An internal quality review took place in the Business Development Unit in December 2012, surveying a range of sub-contractors to establish how the promotion of E&D was taking place within these organisations and its impact. All sub-contractors have to ensure that their staff complete the on-line training module Diversity in the Workplace and they are provided with free access to this on the college VLE. The Business Development Unit ensures that their processes include promotion of E&D to external stakeholders. Paperwork has been reviewed to reflect this. The Marketing Department keeps its marketing activities focussed on the need to promote our values and actions with regard to equality and diversity though press releases, college publications, posters, events and publicity and for the first time this year included a curriculum E&D statement for its prospectuses from 2013/14. The prospectus also includes the college staff values, which were created by the staff during an all college training day. The Prospectus is produced in Braille, and also in large print, and is available in an on-line version on the website which is linked to Google translate so would be accessible to all those potential students for whom English is not their first language; Progress made against Aim 6: To monitor the promotion of equality and diversity in lessons, and review available resources to ensure that these support classroom activity Lesson observations which took place during the year highlighted good practice of E&D and used revamped review documentation to highlight E & D. LSIS project & external training was arranged to support the promotion of E&D in the classroom. Evidence from the final Investors in Diversity review included student feedback on what they saw in the classroom and how it impacted their learning and understanding. A project was set up to further develop understanding for sports learners in joint working with supported learners. The Diversity Festival events were used to support classroom activity and promote better understanding. Supported Learning students produced a DVD, scripted, acted and directed by them, exploring the issue of cyber-bullying and giving tips for safe use of social media. The DVD was also accompanied by leaflets with useful tips. Diversity was explored extensively throughout the curriculum, including specific projects in Music and Art. 5

6 Assessors given training and support to improve confidence and understanding of E & D. Adaptive technology is available for students with identified support needs, as well as other specialist hardware/software and specialist furniture. The ALS department provides a range of resources including learning support, 1:1 support, Signing, note taking and Braille materials once a student begins their course. Progress made against Aim 7: To take account the views of our stakeholders through the development of regular and effective feedback channels The College conducts a wide number of surveys and feedback events to take account of the views of stakeholders, including student surveys, student focus groups, the class rep system, an annual Student Voice Conference feedback. You said, we did posters produced to provide feedback to students on issues raised through student survey. Meet SLT meetings were introduced in autumn 2012 to enable staff to give their views direct to Principal and senior staff and these have proved to be very helpful. An Employer Survey was carried out in January 2012 and the College has developed a Business Development Communication strategy. Feedback from the staff survey carried out in January 2013 was very positive and showed that engagement and communications had improved since the last staff survey in Four staff focus groups were held during 2012/13 to get feedback on the staff appraisal scheme, training and development, communications and the location of the smoking areas on both campuses. During the summer term 2013, a Staff Suggestion Scheme will be introduced as a result of staff feedback in the staff survey. Curriculum Departments like Engineering take employer views into account when developing their curriculum offers. The college held several successful meetings with employers, gathering their feedback and their ideas for developments throughout the college, this will continue. Progress made against Aim 8: To encourage the disclosure of protected characteristics and promote a culture of positive awareness in relation to all protected characteristics All college staff will be encouraged to input their personal data, which will include the full range of protected characteristics when the self service part of the new HR computer system is introduced during This will enable us to establish data for a baseline assessment of how many staff are covered under protected characteristics. For students it was decided that this information should be sought via their tutors once they had been at college for a term so that they could have more confidence in how the monitoring information will be used. All staff are required to complete the Diversity in the Workplace on line training, introduced in January 2012, which covers the protected characteristics to raise their awareness of what these are. 6