Race Equality Policy for Schools

Transcription

1 Toolkit for Preparing a Race Equality Policy for Schools Learning & Development Directorate 1

2 Toolkit for preparing a Race Equality Policy for Schools PART 1: BACKGROUND INTRODUCTION The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, address the needs for schools to: promote racial equality. promote good race relations. eliminate unlawful racial discrimination. Schools have a number of specific duties, including a duty to prepare and maintain a written race equality policy. This toolkit is designed to help your school prepare a race equality policy that meets the requirement of the specific duty. You should use the Statutory Code of Practice for Promoting the Positive Duty to ensure that you fulfil all the requirements placed on your school by the general and specific duties. The CRE s racial equality standards for schools, Learning for All will also help you prepare and maintain your race equality policy. Use it, for example, when reviewing your race equality policy, to audit how effectively your school addresses racial equality matters. THE PURPOSE AND BENEFITS OF HAVING A RACE EQUALITY POLICY Your race equality policy should help you to systematically establish and implement good practice racial equality across all areas of school life. It should help you promote racial equality and good race relations and to tackle and avoid racial discrimination. The policy, if it is effectively implemented, will help you ensure that: all pupils achieve their full potential all staff and pupils feel valued and are able to contribute fully to all aspects of the school s work the school works effectively in partnership with a wide variety of local organisations, including groups representing the minority ethnic population there is an increased trust and satisfaction from all the parents, pupils and staff and a rich and diverse sense of community within the school 3

3 the school is respected for it s commitment and effectiveness in the race equality field challenging racism and celebrating diversity and racial equality is addressed across all areas of the curriculum the school utilises the experiences and expertise of all pupils, parents, staff and members of the local community few pupils are excluded from the school and there are no disparities in rates of exclusion across different racial groups parental involvement is high across all racial groups membership of the governing body reflects the local population and retention rates for minority ethnic governors match the rate for the whole governing body incidents of racism and racial harassment are dealt with firmly and sensitively PREPARING THE POLICY AND KEEPING IT UP TO DATE Your race equality policy may either be a separate policy or part of another policy. If your race equality policy is part of another policy, it must be explicit and easily identifiable. You should pay particular attention to getting all those involved in the school to understand and own the policy. Consulting and actively involving governors, pupils, parents, staff and others in the policy development and implementation will help you to do this. You are required to have prepared a race equality policy by 31st May After this date, you will need to show that you are maintaining your policy, i.e. that you are improving the policy and implementing it. If meeting the 31st May 2002 deadline means you are not able to actively consult and involve pupils, parents and others in the process, then clearly outline your priority to improve your policy and to consult and involve these groups. 4

4 STEPS TO PREPARE YOUR RACE EQUALITY POLICY 1. Get a senior member of staff to lead on the development of the policy. 2. Establish a framework for consulting and involving staff, governors, parents, pupils and others in the process of developing your policy. 3. Prepare a policy statement which: i. sets out the school context ii. sets out the school s aims and values iii. sets out commitment and responsibilities of governors, staff, pupils, parents and visitors iv. covers arrangements for policy planning and review v. sets out the process for implementing the policy vi. is signed and dated 4. Produce an action plan, as part of the school improvement plan or other strategic plan, for implementing the policy and for ensuring it s continuous improvement. 5

5 STEPS TO MAINTAIN YOUR RACE EQUALITY POLICY 1. Promote the policy to all pupils, staff, parents and others connected with the school. 2. Provide regular and on-going information and training to all staff and governors on areas related to the policy and its implementation. 3. Review and revise other school policies in light of the race equality policy. Use cross referencing to ensure clear links between the race equality policy and other policies. 4. Monitor the implementation of the policy and its related strategies and targets. 5. Regularly review and evaluate the impact of your race equality policy, for example, by auditing current procedures and practices, in tackling racial discrimination, promoting equality of opportunity and good race relations. Ensure that pupils, staff and parents are actively involved in the assessment process. 6. Use the assessment findings to expand, revise and update the race equality policy and to establish or revise race equality priorities and targets in appropriate strategic plans. 7. Provide regular reports to governors, staff, pupils, parents and other interested groups on the school s progress in tackling racial discrimination, promoting racial equality and good race relations. This should include implementation of the race equality policy and the results of race equality impact assessments and monitoring. 6

6 PART 2: PREPARING YOUR RACE EQUALITY POLICY 1. SCHOOL CONTEXT Briefly summarise and highlight the main issues for the school from a race equality perspective. Issues that may be relevant here include geographical location, the ethnic composition of pupils and staff, racist incidents in the school and the local area, school pupils turnover and demographic trends of the area. 2. AIMS AND VALUES Your race equality policy should build on the school s core values and ethos. Include a statement or set of statements covering your school s aims for promoting racial equality, promoting good race relations and challenging racial discrimination. 3. LEADERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND GOVERNANCE Your policy should set out the school s commitments, and cover the responsibilities of governors, the headteacher, staff, pupils and visitors to the school. (i) Commitments areas that will be relevant here include: being proactive in promoting racial equality, good race relations and tackling unlawful racial discrimination encouraging, supporting and enabling all pupils and staff to achieve their full potential working in partnership with parents and the wider community to tackle racial discrimination and establish, promote and disseminate racial equality good practice ensuring that all staff, pupils and parents adhere to the policy. (ii) Responsibilities areas that will be relevant here include: A. Governing Body ensuring that the school complies with Race Relations Legislation, including the general and specific duties ensuring that the policy and its related procedures and strategies are implemented giving details of the governor who has lead responsibility for racial equality 7

7 B. Headteacher along with the governing body, ensuring that the policy and its related procedures and strategies are implemented ensuring that all staff are aware of their responsibilities under the policy and are given appropriate training and support so that they can fulfil their responsibilities taking disciplinary action against staff or pupils who racially discriminate C. People with specific responsibilities details the person responsible for co-ordinating racial equality work. This may be the school s Ethnic Minority Achievement Co-ordinator details people responsible for dealing with reported incidents of racism or racial harassment D. All staff dealing with racist incidents and knowing how to identify and challenge racial bias and stereotyping not discriminating on racial grounds keeping up to date with race relations legislation by attending training and information events organised by the school or LEA E. Teaching staff ensuring pupils from all racial groups have full access to the curriculum promoting racial equality and diversity through teaching and through relation with pupils, staff, parents and the wider community F. Visitors and contractors Being aware of and complying with the school s race equality policy 8

8 4. POLICY PLANNING AND REVIEW Your policy needs to briefly set out how the duties to assess and monitor the impact of the policies on pupils, staff and parents from different racial groups will be addressed through the school s planning and review process. Relevant areas include: Policy planning and development building race equality impact assessment into all policy development and planning processes consulting and involving pupils, parents and others in the development and planning process assessing the impact of the policy through consultation, evaluations and auditing tools (e.g. Learning for All ) to identify specific race equality targets and actions incorporating race equality targets into relevant strategic plans Ethnic monitoring using ethnic monitoring data to monitor the attainment and progress of pupils and to set targets for removing any identified disparities between different groups of pupils ensuring that ethnic monitoring data on admissions, attendance, exclusions, sanctions and rewards is used to inform planning and decision making Reviewing and evaluating policies regularly reviewing, monitoring and assessing all policies and strategies for their effectiveness in eliminating racial discrimination, promoting racial equality and promoting good race relations building racial equality questions into school self-review and evaluation frameworks using the results of reviews and assessments to inform planning and decision-making Making available the results of monitoring and assessments saying what methods you will use to make available the results of impact assessments and monitoring how information will be made available to different members of the school community steps that will be taken to ensure that information cannot be used to identify individuals 9

9 5. IMPLEMENTING THE POLICY How the policy will be implemented? strategic plans that will be used to implement the policy mechanisms that will be used to monitor the policy and to review and evaluate it s effectiveness when the policy will be reviewed What about training and development? develop a training strategy which includes providing regular training and support for all staff and governors so that they understand how to implement the requirements of the positive duty methods that will be used to train and develop staff and governors monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of training Communicating and promoting the policy Everyone involved in the school needs to know about the policy and what it means for them. Include details: of how and where the policy will be published of who gets a copy of the policy and in what format about translating or communicating the policy in special formats 6. SIGNATURES AND DATES signature of the chair of governors and the headteacher date when the policy was approved 10

10 Appendix This section helps you to identify aspects of good practice and areas that need attention. Advice in the Statutory Code of Practice on the duty to promote race equality A Guide for Schools, Standards for racial equality in schools Learning for All and Milton Keynes LEA Guidelines for Dealing with and Reporting Racist Incidents in Schools may be helpful too. A. TEACHING AND LEARNING Do staff create an environment where all pupils can contribute fully and feel valued? Does teaching take account of pupil s cultural background, linguistic needs and different learning styles? Are different cultural traditions valued in their own terms and made meaningful to pupils? Are pupils helped to make connections with their own lives? Do teachers challenge stereotypes and build pupil awareness so that they can detect bias and challenge racial discrimination? B. CURRICULUM Is each area of the curriculum planned to incorporate the principles of racial equality and to promote positive attitudes towards diversity? Do pupils have the opportunity to explore concepts and issues relating to identity, racial equality and racism? Does the school monitor and evaluate its effectiveness in providing an appropriate curriculum for pupils from all racial groups? Do resources and displays portray positive images of different people and cultures? Are role models and presenters from a range of different racial and faith groups used to share a wide range of skills and experiences? Do extra-curricular activities and events cater for the interests and capabilities of all pupils and take account of parental concerns related to religion and culture? 11

11 C. ATTAINMENT, PROGRESS AND ASSESSMENT Does the school have equally high expectations of all pupils and is it committed to encouraging and enabling all pupils to achieve the highest standards? Does the school recognise and value all forms of achievement? Are pupil attainment and progress monitored by ethnicity and evaluated to identify trends and patterns of underachievement? What action is taken to remove disparities between different groups of pupils? Are all methods of assessment monitored to ensure that they are, as far as possible, free of cultural or linguistic bias? Are all pupils appropriately supported in assessments so that they are able to show fully both what they know and what they can do? Is particular attention paid to identifying and meeting the needs of groups that are particularly disadvantaged (e.g. Travellers, refugees and asylum seekers)? D. PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND PASTORAL CARE Does pastoral support take account of religious and ethnic differences and the experiences and needs of particular groups of pupils such as Travellers, refugees and asylum seekers? The following four points apply mainly to secondary schools: Are all pupils encouraged to consider the full range of career and post 16 options? Are work experience opportunities monitored by ethnicity to ensure that there is no stereotyping in placements? Does the school provide support to any pupil who experiences racism or racial harassment whilst on work experience and take action to ensure that it doesn t recur? Is appropriate support given to victims of racism and racial harassment using the support of external agencies where appropriate? 12

12 E. BEHAVIOUR, DISCIPLINE AND EXCLUSIONS Does the school ensure that its procedures for managing pupils behaviour are fair and equitable to pupils from all racial backgrounds? Do all staff operate consistent systems of rewards and sanctions? Are exclusions monitored by ethnicity to establish patterns and trends? Do strategies for integrating long-term truants and excluded pupils address the needs of pupils for all racial groups? F. RACISM, RACIAL HARASSMENT AND SCHOOL ETHOS Does the school, actively promote good personal and community relations? Does the school have procedures for dealing with racial harassment and bullying? Are all incidents of racism and racial harassment recorded, thoroughly investigated and reported to the LEA? Are all staff trained so that they deal firmly, consistently and effectively with racist incidents, racial harassment and bullying? Are all the pupils, parents and staff aware of the procedures for dealing with racism and racial harassment? Does your school work closely with the LEA and other partners to tackle racism and racial harassment within the school and the local area? G. ADMISSIONS AND ATTENDANCE Are the admissions policy and criteria equally open to pupils from different racial groups? Is the admissions process monitored by ethnicity to ensure that it is administered consistently and fairly? Is provision made for leave of absence for religious observance and does this include staff as well as pupils? Is pupil attendance monitored by ethnicity? 13

13 H. STAFF RECRUITMENT AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Are all the posts, including those for non-teaching staff, advertised and open to the widest pool of applicants? Are all those involved in recruitment and selection trained and aware of what they should do to avoid unwitting racial discrimination? What steps are taken to encourage people from underrepresented groups to apply for positions at all levels in the school? Are applications for employment, training and promotion, along with details of staff in post, monitored by ethnicity? Are all parents encouraged to participate in the full life of the school? What action is taken to encourage the involvement and participation of under-represented groups of parents? Is information and material for parents accessible in user-friendly language? Translations should be made where appropriate. Are the school s premises and facilities fully accessible to and used by groups from all local ethnic minority communities? WHERE TO GET FURTHER HELP If you require further help with preparing or maintaining your race equality policy or work related to meeting your other duties please contact Kewal Goel, Ethnic Minority Achievement Adviser, or Ethnic Minority Achievement Support Service (EMASS). Navrita Atwal, Director of Milton Keynes Race Equality Council (tel: ) may also be able to provide advice and support. 14

14 Toolkit for Preparing a Race Equality Policy for Schools Produced by: ETHNIC MINORITY ACHIEVEMENT SUPPORT SERVICE Milton Keynes Multicultural Resource Centre, Queensway Centre, Queensway, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK2 2HB Tel: (01908) Fax: (01908) multicultural@milton-keynes.gov.uk Learning & Development Directorate 16