Limehurst Academy Policy Document Race Equality Date Approved by Governors: March 2016 Review Date: March 2017 Headteacher s signature: Chair of Governors signature: Reviewer - ML
RACE EQUALITY POLICY Introduction Limehurst Academy is fully committed to equal opportunities and to enabling all staff and students at the school to develop their potential to the full, irrespective of their race, colour or creed. We are similarly committed to developing good relationships with parents and to promoting their involvement in, and support for, the school. Limehurst Academy is opposed to all forms of racism and xenophobia, including those forms that are directed towards religious groups and communities, for example Islamophobia, and against travellers, refugees and asylum-seekers. The prime purposes of the Race Equality Policy are: To promote respect for others and harmonious race relationships between members of different racial, cultural and religious groups in the school and in the wider community; To eliminate racial discrimination; To ensure that students, staff and parents are not adversely affected in any area of the school s activities on grounds of ethnicity. Students We are guided by three essential principles: Every student should have opportunities to achieve the highest possible standard and the best possible qualifications to support them in transition to life and education beyond Limehurst Academy. Every student should be helped to develop a sense of personal and cultural identity that is confident and that is receptive and respectful towards other identities. Every student should develop the knowledge, understanding and skills that they need in order to participate in a multi-ethnic society and interdependent world. We ensure that the principles above apply to the full range of our policies and practices, including those that are concerned with: Staff Students progress, attainment and assessment Behaviour, discipline and exclusions Students' personal development and pastoral care Anti-bullying Teaching and learning Admissions and attendance The content of the curriculum Partnerships with parents and communities All suitably qualified people are encouraged to apply for vacant posts at Limehurst Academy: equality of opportunity underpins all aspects of the selection and recruitment process. Applications and appointments are monitored according to ethnic origin to provide information over time. Positive action will be undertaken if monitoring identifies any issues such as under-representation. All members of staff have equal access to professional development opportunities.
Responsibilities Governors The governing body is responsible for ensuring that the school complies with legislation, and that this policy and its related procedures and strategies are implemented. The following information is available to the Governors: Statutory Code of Practice; Non-statutory Guide for Schools; The Duty to promote Race Equality: A Guide for Public Authorities; Ethnic Monitoring: A Guide for Public Authorities and Learning for All: Racial Equality Standards for Schools. Headteacher The Headteacher is responsible for implementing the policy; for ensuring that all staff are aware of their responsibilities and are given appropriate training and support and for taking appropriate action in any cases of unlawful discrimination. The Headteacher will ensure that this policy is distributed to all students, parents, staff and governors. The Headteacher will report at least annually to the governing body, and will ensure that the Full Governing Body receives regular updates. The Headteacher will work with the Equality and Diversity Group to develop positive equal opportunities and racial harmony strategies, to implement staff training and to maintain a record of racial incidents. Staff All members of staff are expected to deal with racist incidents that may occur; to know how to identify and challenge racial and cultural bias and stereotyping; to support students in their class for whom English is an additional language; and to incorporate principles of equality and diversity into all aspects of their work. (NB: A racial incident is one which the 'victim' or any other person directly involved, perceives as being of a racial nature, regardless of the race of the person who is the victim, that is minority ethnic or majority ethnic.) Dealing with Racism We use the Racial Harassment Incident Form to record any incidences of racist behaviour. We recognise that racist incidents can take a number of forms and include: Verbal or physical assault Display of racist pictures, insignia or graffiti Rejection or isolation of someone because of their ethnicity Unwelcome comments, jokes, taunts or innuendos based on ethnicity, colour or culture Derogatory comments about people or groups
Telling racist jokes or mimicking accents Deliberately mispronouncing names Dismissal of viewpoints from other cultures or societies Stereotypical comments during discussion Making negative comments about appearance, clothing, food, language accent or dialect, family, culture, religion, country of origin Staff Training The school is committed to ensuring that all staff understand the importance of the policy, and the necessity to deal with each and every incident. All teaching and support staff have training regarding the religious and cultural backgrounds of the main groups of students attending the school. Teaching and Learning about Racial Equality The school is committed to including active teaching and learning about racial equality in its daily life. This is reflected in the relationships and attitudes of staff and students, the formal curriculum, and the monitoring of equality of opportunity. For example: In all teaching and learning activities a full range of styles is employed to ensure that no student is excluded from learning. Formal teaching about racial equality takes place in the school s PD/Citizenship programmes of study. Relevant issues are discussed in Personal Development programme. Uniform requirements are reviewed routinely to ensure that there is no cultural or religious discrimination or conflict. All students will learn in the school s citizenship programme how cultural diversity can contribute to cultural and racial harmony. In publications we ensure that the racial mix of the school is shown. Religious observance We respect the religious beliefs and practice of all staff, students and parents and comply with all reasonable requests relating to religious observance and practice. Although religion is not synonymous with race, it is an important element, and all students will learn about the basic beliefs, ceremonies and festivals of the major world religions in RE and/or in assemblies. The School will celebrate a mix of religious ceremonies that reflects the ethnic mix of the School and will encourage, monitor and evaluate participant involvement. Liaison with Parents Each year the School will report to Parents to indicate how the governing body monitors what is done, any trends arising and subsequent action/s in response to any trends identified; The school will continue to ensure close liaison with families of all students; When students join Limehurst Academy, additional liaison time is given for students and their families if their first language is not English;
Careful consideration will be given to ensure effective communication with parents, both in writing and in person, when English is not the preferred medium. Action plan Actions relating to the implementation of this policy and continuous improvements in relation to race equality will be included in the Equality and Diversity Action Plan. Monitoring and Review Limehurst Academy will assess and monitor the impact of the race equality policy, on students, staff and parents of different racial groups including, in particular, the impact on attainment levels of such students. The school will monitor separately the attainment and exclusions of students of minority ethnic backgrounds, as we do for majority ethnic students, students with disabilities other than visual impairment and by gender. The Governing Body will monitor annually the above statistics and information. The effectiveness of this policy will be reviewed annually by the Headteacher and the Equality and Diversity Group and by the Governing Body within the Governors policy review schedule. Repeated racist incidents or a single serious incident may lead to consideration under safeguarding children procedures.