At Penshurst CE Primary School, staff and Governors are committed to:
- promoting equality of opportunity
- eliminating discrimination and harassment
- valuing diversity and promoting positive relationships
- providing an inclusive education which enables all pupils to develop their full potential
- meeting the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.
The Equality Act 2010
The Equality Act 2010 replaces previous anti-discrimination legislation with a single Act. The Equality Duty is set out in section 149 of the Act. It replaces the three previous public sector equality duties – for race, disability and gender – and covers the following protected characteristics:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender reassignment
- Marriage and civil partnership (but only in respect of eliminating unlawful discrimination)
- Pregnancy and maternity
- Race
- Religion or belief
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
At Penshurst CE Primary School we ensure that we have due regard to the need to:
- eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct that is prohibited by the Act
- advance equality of opportunity between people who share a characteristic and those who don’t
- foster good relations between people who share a characteristic and those who don’t
Equality in Teaching and learning
We provide all our pupils with the opportunity to succeed and to reach the highest level of personal achievement. We do this by:
- Ensuring equality of access for all pupils and preparing them for life in a diverse society
- Using materials that reflect the diversity of the school, population and local community without stereotyping
- Promoting attitudes and values that challenge any discriminatory behaviour or prejudice
- Providing opportunities for pupils to appreciate their own culture and celebrate the diversity of other cultures
- Seeking to involve all parents in supporting their child’s education
- Utilising teaching approaches appropriate for the whole school population which are inclusive and reflective of our pupils.
2024-25 Equality Objectives
Objective 1:
To close the gap in attainment between disadvantaged pupils (SEND and those in receipt of FSM) and non-disadvantaged pupils.Why we have chosen this objective:
To ensure that no pupil’s progress is disadvantaged by their needs or background.To achieve this objective we plan to:
- Regularly monitor progress of identified groups
- Pupil progress for identified pupils is discussed and reviewed with senior leaders at every progress meeting
Objective 2:
To provide all children will enrichment opportunities so that no one group has better access than another does.Why we have chosen this objective:
As an inclusive school, we wish to promote equality of opportunity to our pupils whatever their circumstances, ability or gender.
We provide pupils eligible for FSM with access to our early morning and after school clubs free of charge. We support parents to return to work and know their child will be looked after.To achieve this objective we plan to:
- Monitor the opportunities of key groups (children in receipt of FSM, boys, girls, prior attainment groups)
Objective 3:
We aim to promote positive attitudes and a better understanding of ‘diversity’, ’empathy’ and ‘compassion’.Why we have chosen this objective:
To ensure pupils understand communities (and the challenges they may face) beyond Penshurst. As a school with an intake that is predominantly white, it is important that we promote tolerance and harmony to our pupils.