Equality

Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)

This information sets out our school’s approach to promoting equality, as defined within the Equality Act (2010) which covers the following 9 protected characteristics:

Age
Sex
Race
Disability
Religion or belief
Sexual orientation
Gender reassignment
Pregnancy or maternity
Marriage and civil partnership

Although the first and last protected characteristic are listed in the Equality Act 2010 and April 2011, they are not listed in the DfE guidance. Age as a protected characteristic does not apply to pupils in schools, so pupils can be treated in ways appropriate to their age and stage of development without risk of legal challenge.

Alexandra Primary School Context

Alexandra Primary School is a 3-form entry school and was formed from the amalgamation of Alexandra Infant School and Alexandra Junior school in 2014. The school is located in a socially and ethnically diverse area of the central part of the west London Borough of Hounslow. The school’s self-evaluation states that 97% of the pupils are from minority ethnic groups with approximately 52 first languages other than English. The largest ethnic groups are Indian (44%), Pakistani (10%) and White Eastern European (11%). 15% of pupils are currently disadvantaged. The school benefits from a relatively stable staff. COVID19 impacted with 7 new staff for Sept 21, 2 being Early Career Teachers.

A large majority (90%) of pupils live within one mile of the school, in a mixture of rented and privately owned homes. Overall, 50% of pupils live in financially challenged, adverse conditions or not in private households. The deprivation level is high because a large number of our families reside in high density, multiple occupancy homes. Additionally, many of our families are not entitled to claim public funds due to their immigration status.

Mobility is high at Alexandra with 81 arrivals, with over half from overseas and 50 leavers during 20-21. This high mobility has an effect on the performance of cohorts at the end of each key stage as pupils have not benefitted from teaching for the full key stage. This can cause difficulties with the organisation of year groups and also issues with the comparison of data as so many pupils may have changed in year. At least 5 different religious groups are represented by our families; 35% Muslims, 25% Hindus, 15% Christians, 4% Sikhs and 2% Buddhist.

Equality – Aims and Values

At Alexandra Primary School we aim to encourage all children to:

Aspire to be successful learners who enjoy learning
Perform as well as they can, make progress and achieve and become confident individuals who are able to live safe and fulfilling lives
Succeed as responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society

… and when children enter their next stages of education and then ultimately employment the young people know that educators and employers want them to have the following attributes; to have…

a good grasp of basic knowledge and skills;
be reliable, take responsibility and show resilience;
an ability to build and maintain relationships;
an ability to work collaboratively in a team;
creativity and use problem solving skills.

Alexandra Primary School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all members of the school and its community to demonstrably share this commitment, promote our aims and model our values.

To achieve our aims, we have looked at the main values that will underpin them and link together and start from the first day children join Alexandra Primary so that these should be embedded by the time they leave us.

Children should have high aspirations in their school career. Staff, parents and carers will work together to equip children with the skills to perform the best they can whilst at Alexandra. This will then determine success for achievements at school and beyond.

Alexandra Primary School aims to provide equality and excellence for all and promote the highest possible standards of achievement, enjoyment and fulfilment. These aims are promoted through our school Values, specifically:

Aspire, Perform, Succeed

We aim to prepare children for life in a diverse society where they are able to be involved in and celebrate all aspects of that society and are welcomed as part of it.

Our Approach to Promoting Equality and eliminating discrimination

Our Equality policy provides a framework in which we can pursue our duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment, promote equality of opportunity and promote good relations and positive attitudes between people of diverse backgrounds.

We will ensure that no pupils, staff, parents, carers or any other person through their contact with the school receives less favourable treatment on any grounds. This includes the protected characteristics identified within the Equality Act 2010 i.e. sex, race, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy, those undergoing or those who have undergone gender reassignment and age (not pupils).

We also choose to include ethnic or national origin, language, marital or civil partnership status, responsibility for children or other dependants, trade union or political activities, social class, where the person lives and spent convictions that are not related to safeguarding.

The principles of our policy apply to all members of the extended school community, pupils, staff, governors, parents and community members.

Fostering good relationships

We will ensure that our pupils are part of their local community, using local resources and being known and accepted within that community. We also aim to include our various local communities in the life of the school for example, businesses, faith groups, ethnic or language groups, voluntary groups, wider family and friends. In order to help achieve a cohesive community our school aims to:

Promote understanding and engagement between communities
Encourage all children and families to feel part of the wider community
Tackle discrimination
Increase life opportunities for all
Ensure that learning, teaching and the curriculum explores and addresses issues of diversity
Ensure that the school is an inclusive environment for all

Advancing equality of opportunity

The school aims to advance equality of opportunity by:

Sharing attainment data each academic year showing how pupils with different characteristics are performing
Removing or minimising disadvantages which are connected to a particular characteristic they have for example pupils with disabilities
Taking steps to meet the particular needs of people who have particular characteristics or needs.
Encouraging people who have a particular characteristic to participate fully in any activities for example by encouraging all pupils to be involved in the full range of school activities

In fulfilling this aspect of the duty, the school will:

Analyse data to determine strengths and areas for improvement. Implement actions in response.
Make evidence available identifying improvements for specific groups for example, declines in incidents of homophobic language being used

Roles and Responsibilities

School governors are responsible for:

Making sure that the school complies with current equality legislation
Making sure that this policy and its procedures are followed
Ensuring that the equality information and objectives as set out in the policy are published and communicated throughout the school, including to staff, pupils and parents, and that they are reviewed and updated at least once every four years
Delegating responsibility for monitoring the achievement of the objectives on a daily basis to the Headteacher

The Headteacher is responsible for:

Making sure that the policy is readily available and that the governors, staff and parents and carers know about it
Making sure that its procedures are followed
Producing regular information for staff and governors about the policy and how it is working
Providing training for them on the policy if necessary
Making sure that all staff know their responsibilities and receive training and support in carrying these out
Taking appropriate action in cases of harassment and discrimination
The promotion of knowledge and understanding of the equality objectives amongst staff and pupils
Monitoring success in achieving the objectives and report back to governors

All school staff members are responsible for:

Modelling good practice, dealing with discriminatory incidents and being able to recognise and tackle bias and stereotyping
Passing any concerns to the Headteacher, Leadership team or Governing Body as per the Whistleblowing Policy
Promoting equality and avoiding discrimination against anyone
Keeping up to date with the law on discrimination and taking training and learning opportunities
Treating all members of the school community fairly

Pupils are taught about:

Learning to treat other community members kindly and respectfully
Learning to be understanding of others
Celebrating cultural diversity
An awareness of what constitutes discriminatory behaviour

Parents and carers are responsible for:

Supporting the school in the implementation of this policy

Visitors and Contractors are responsible for:

Behaving appropriately in our school in support of the Equality policy

Responsibility for overseeing equality practices in the school lies with the Headteacher and the member of the Governing Body linked to equality. These responsibilities include:

Coordinating and monitoring work on equality issues
Dealing with and monitoring reports of harassment (including racist and homophobic incidents)
Monitoring exclusions

Advancing equality of opportunity

We have specific targets in the School Development Plan for the current 2021-2022 academic year and in the schools Equality Policy which specifically promotes equality within our school community:

To continue to narrow the gaps for vulnerable groups especially SEND & all groups of Pupil Premium.
To develop provision for the whole child, improving further our personal and social and health education.

How does Alexandra Primary comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty?

The school has a range of policies which demonstrate our commitment to actively promoting equality of opportunity for all. The main policies that deal with equality of opportunity are:

British Values, particularly respect and compassion
Equality policy
SEND policy
Behaviour and anti-bullying policies
Curriculum intent

Alexandra Primary is inclusive school that cares for every individual child. In doing so, we promote and deliver a range of strategies to ensure that we comply to the Public Sector Equality Duty. Some examples are as follows:

Active promotion of the British values whilst remaining inclusive
Promoting the rights of each individual through our core values, our rights respecting agenda, behaviour policy and curriculum content.
Promoting tolerance, individual liberty, friendship and understanding by actively promoting British Values through assemblies and workshops
Promoting tolerance, mutual respect and understanding through our study of world religions and cultures, and celebrated in our assemblies. Working with the community by inviting in leaders of local faith groups to speak in assemblies and deliver class workshops.
Promoting tolerance and mutual respect through the curriculum for example black history month projects and celebration. This includes teaching in PSHE and other subjects. In English, a variety of text from a range of cultures will be used. Scientists, historians, artists, poets, engineers and designers that embody these characteristics.
Taking steps to meet the needs of individuals – for example, promoting friendship groups and individual support plans where necessary and learning to respect projects.
Easy access to the school premise and building e.g. toilets, lift access.
Fundraising for charities, both local and national, chosen by school council, with a particular focus on local needs.
Monitoring and evaluating the attainment and progress of all pupils; looking at the performance of particular groups who share a protected characteristic to compare their performance with those who do not share it.
Supporting all staff and children to make progress
Interventions, both bridging learning gaps or personalised to maximise the progress of all groups of children
Encouraging children who have a particular character to participate fully in all activities, for example after school clubs and lunch time clubs, participating in competitions or activities as a school representative.
Curriculum trips that meet the needs of all children.
Active promotion of the Behaviour policy and our Anti-bullying policy.
Restorative justice and mediation – supporting any tensions between different groups of pupils within the school
Use of ELSA to support children’s mental health and wellbeing
Supervision offered to staff working in various challenging roles
Working closely with our Community Police service and local youth clubs; supporting our work with groups of children, our behaviour policy and working with our community.
Commissioning counselling and play therapy support
Pupil participation in school activities such as the school council; ensuring that is formed of pupils from a range of backgrounds.