Public Sector Equality Duty at Britannia Village Primary School March 2016
Welcome to Equalities at Britannia Village Primary School. You will find here information about how our school ensures it meets its Specific Equalities Duties (These are things our school must do).
The Public Sector Equality Duty requires our school to publish information about Equalities.
The Equality Act 2010 clearly states that the following groups must be taken into account. People identified in the following groups are considered to have a protected characteristic.
Disability
Sex (gender)
Race (ethnicity)
Pregnancy and Maternity
Religion and Belief
Sexual Orientation
Gender reassignment
The information we publish and analyse must be clearly linked to the three aims (General Duties) of the Public Sector Equality Duty. General Duties are the things that schools aim to achieve).
General Duties
The three aims of the Public Sector Equality Duty are:
Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act.
Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
Equalities information and analysis Section 1. Who Comes to Our School?
(Please see attached document)
Section 2. Advance Equality of Opportunity Between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
Britannia Village Primary is an inclusive school and we provide excellent access to education with the achievement and attainment of all pupils being promoted. The inclusion manager and standards leaders work closely with staff in each phase to ensure equality of opportunity for all protected groups. The school strive to improve equal opportunities. Examples of this work can be seen in the School Development Plan, regular monitoring of teaching and learning, individual inclusion plans, staff training and phase planning.
Identification is seen as a key element to ensuring equality of opportunity. The school employ regular analysis of data from the earliest stages of education, screening for common specific learning difficulties and the opinions of staff at all levels as the main strategies in the identification of barriers to learning. Intervention is targeted in response to the identification. The inclusion team liaise closely with each phase, class teachers, support staff and families. This allows for flexible planning that can respond quickly to changes in the pupil’s needs.
Pupils at Britannia Village attain well and there is no significant disadvantage to pupils with protected characteristics or who are eligible for free school meals. The school’s family of equality policies such as the Accessibility Plan, Behaviour Policy, Attendance Policy, Race Equality Policy and Recruitment Policy outline how the school ensures equality of opportunity in relation to the curriculum, attitudes and participation, employment and environment.
Further information on the attainment data and the Accessibility Plan can be obtained through the SENCO at the school.
Objective
Investigate improved ways of determining impact of a range of
interventions currently in use in our school in order to make the best use of staff and resources.
Section 3. Foster Good Relations Between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
Our school community is a welcoming and comfortable environment for all who come here. We aim to foster an open environment where people feel they are being treated with dignity and respect.
The school fosters good relations between pupils through its collective worship,
PHSE curriculum and pastoral provision. There is a dedicated Inclusion Team comprising SENCO, counsellor and safeguarding officers who are senior leaders who oversee social and emotional well being. The school seeks to involve parents and families throughout their time at our school. Events are held throughout the year that reflect the cultures of various communities as well as those that reflect British culture. Some of these include events around Eid, Divali, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, St George’s Day, Arts Week, Fund Raising for charities, International Market and Festival of Voices.
The school also provide a weekly meeting point for parent and toddlers - 'Breakfast at BV', parenting classes, parent curriculum workshops, opportunities for parent volunteers and termly parent/teacher evenings. Relationships are also developed beyond the school both in the local community, other parts of the U.K. and abroad. The school has strong links locally through the Creative Heads group of five local primary schools in addition to links with Brunschvig Rousseau school in Lille, France. Pupils from the school have attended local events through the Creative Heads group, visited France, hosted visitors from France and sent gifts to a variety of charities around the world.
Objective
Increased and sustained parent participation in our workshops
Section 4. Eliminate Unlawful Discrimination, Harassment and Victimisation – as defined by Equalities Act 2010
At Britannia Village Primary School we recognise that all staff and governors share responsibility for the implementation of our Public Sector Equality Duty with regards to discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Governors are responsible for:
• Ensuring the school adopts and reflects the relevant equality legislation • Ensuring that the school Public Sector Equality Duty and its procedures are followed.
The Head Teacher is responsible for:
• Ensuring the Public Sector Equality Duty and its procedures are followed
• Ensuring the Public Sector Equality Duty is readily available and that the governors, staff, pupils, and their parents and guardians know about it.
• Producing regular information for staff and governors about the School Equality Objectives and how they are working
• Ensuring that all staff know their responsibilities and receive training and support in carrying these out
• Taking action in cases of harassment and discrimination against members of any protected group.
All staff are responsible for: • dealing with racist, homophobic and other hate-incidents
• the recognition and tackling of bias and stereotyping • the promotion of equal opportunities
• the avoidance of discrimination against anyone and, in particular, members of protected groups.
• the need for keeping up to date with the law on discrimination
• the opportunity for taking up training and learning opportunities
Attitudes that promote discrimination are challenged and staff seek to achieve this with all stakeholders including pupils by both example and active promotion. Examples of this are the teaching of issues surrounding bullying, social skills groups and one-to-one mentoring.
The school deals with discriminatory incidents seriously and parents are informed of the action taken. Incidents are shared with all staff who are involved with the pupils and in some cases this leads to a referral to the inclusion team. Any racist incidents are recorded in line with the London Borough of Newham’s guidelines. Incidents were recorded during the academic year 2010-2011 and all were acted upon.
The school has made no permanent exclusions over the last school year. The school works with the local authority on the policy of managed moves which endeavours to prevent permanent exclusions by moving pupils between schools within the borough as an alternative.
Objective
Develop a better understanding, within the school community, of the
meaning of bullying and how the school deals with it
Greater pupil voice
Section 5. Participation, Engagement and Satisfaction with our Equalities Practices
We have involved a range of stakeholders to develop our Public Sector Equality Duty and objectives. These include pupils, parents, staff and governors. The school have sought parents’ and pupils’ aspirations and opinions through responses to questionnaires, formal and informal meetings and conversations. The Public Sector Equality Duty has been presented to the Senior Leadership Team and the Governing Body.
Workforce-staffing and training
Britannia Village has a diverse workforce. Information on the school’s employees can be found in the school's Workforce Census. The school follows the HR policies developed in Newham related to the equality of opportunity regarding recruitment and retention and the daily management of staff.
The school provides CPD for staff at all levels that support staff with equality issues. Some of these include input on signing, colourful semantics, positive handling, intervention programmes and provision for EAL learners.
This information was ratified by the governors of Britannia Village Primary School on 9th March 2016
Our school information will be reviewed in the Summer term of 2017
Signed: Dave Mann, Chair of Governors Linda-May Bingham, Headteacher and teacher governor
Equality Objective – Action Plan
All the information and analysis will be from school's annual calendar of school self evaluation and student assessment data – we intend to use the information to improve provision for all groups in the school.
A lot of this information is already being used by the school to develop and become better at making sure we are doing well for all our students and staff. Some of the information may show us that we could be doing better. We will use information which tells us we could be doing better to plan for the future and include these actions in our Equalities Objectives.
This information is meant to be clear and simple. If you have any problem with the way we have written it and can think of a way we can make the information clearerpleaseletusknow.
You may contact Linda-May Bingham (Headteacher).
You will find all the information on the school website. It is called Equalities.
The person you need to contact if you are interested in helping us with our equalities or you can see something that can be improved is Linda-May Bingham.
We would like to hear from you.
Equalities Duty UPDATE
Objective
Investigate improved ways of determining impact of a range of interventions currently in
use in our school in order to make the best use of staff and resources. “Disabled pupils and those who have special educational needs make the same rapid progress as their peers because of the effective support they received that is tailored carefully to their needs”. Ofsted May 2013
Every term all pupils are discussed by the leadership team, SENCo and class teachers at pupil progress meetings. The SENCo then ensures that the provision is right for every pupil of concern by carrying out assessments to identify strengths and needs for individual pupils. She monitors Quality First teaching across the school with a particular focus on inclusion, as well as observing and monitoring the work of support staff delivering tailored intervention teaching sessions. By monitoring the intervention sessions, support staff can be aware of changes that need to be made to improve the engagement and learning of the pupils and ensure improvement in progress.
A robust provision map clearly identifies the school’s current interventions, support staff are carefully selected to teach an intervention depending upon their skills, knowledge and experiences. A tracking system is used by the SENCo to monitor support staff’s professional development.
The SENCo meets with support staff regularly to discuss the intervention teaching sessions that are delivered. Discussions help to highlight: pupil engagement, progress and next steps for the pupil and the intervention.
The Learning Mentor and School Councillor have each produced a report for a specific pupil. The report demonstrates how their intervention over a period of time has made a significant impact on the pupil’s overall well-being and learning. In addition to this they have also evaluated their roles in working with pupils and families at Britannia Village Primary School.
Pupils’ communication skills on entry to nursery were of grave concern and it is for this reason that the school now employs a private Speech and Language Therapist on a part-time basis. The therapist screens all pupils in nursery and identifies a range of concerns. She also assesses children in the rest of the school who have been identified by their class teachers as having possible Speech and Language difficulties. Intervention sessions are then planned and put in place to meet the needs of specific pupils. The therapist monitors improvements in language and behaviour.A data tracking tool (B-Squared) has been purchased to monitor small steps of progress for pupils working below National Curriculum levels in Maths, English & PHSE.
Reading intervention software (LEXIA Core 5) has been purchased and its impact on progress in Reading is closely monitored by the SENCo.
Objective: Increased and sustained parent participation in our workshops.
The SENCo arranges termly events for parents of pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and other Special Educational Needs. Most recently this involved a Stay-and-Play session where parents were invited to join their children in Galatea class and see first-hand how they learn. Previous sessions involved workshops led by SEN experts from the Language Communications and Interaction Service. This informal setting gave parents the opportunity to learn about the new SCERTS model, which is implemented across the school for supporting all pupils with ASD. It also gave parents, pupils and support staff the opportunity to share experiences and learn from each other. Parents found it extremely beneficial meeting others who have children with similar needs. They have also requested another session so that they can make resources for their child so that there is consistency between home and school. Parent workshops will also take place this term to give parents of children in EYFS who have ASD or Language difficulties some training and strategies to use at home. Parent Training sessions, workshops and support groups run by the Local Authority are always advertised at the school entrance and given to specific parents as needed.
Since February 2016, numerous Parent Engagement Groups have been arranged, targeting specific parents to help them engage with their child’s learning and homework. These include a Parent Writing workshop, Maths workshop, Early Years Workshop. We are planning on extending these to reach parents in every year group.
Parents are invited on numerous occasions to performances in school with the emphasis on days such as the Big Draw or Artsweek that they will join in with their children. Some of the parent’s work has been of such a high standard that we have displayed it previously!
The school also holds phonics and E-safety workshops. The phonics session is always well attended.
The combination of the Year 5 and 6 children’s school Journey this year saw an increased number of parents attending a question and answer session based on Fairplay House and Lille, providing a forum for their concerns at an early stage of the year.
The school continues to keep parents informed of upcoming events, activities/participation opportunities through the school newsletter and website. The school website also provides parents and the community with support materials to extend their child’s learning.
Objective: Develop a better understanding, within the school community, of the meaning of bullying and how the school deals with it.
The school has had 3 incidents of bullying within the past 2 years. Many parents use the term ‘bullying’ loosely to describe what their child experiences. In addition to this there have been two cases of cyber bullying linked to social media where the school has had to act very quickly with parents and, in one instance, the police and another school
“As a result of parental concerns, work was undertaken recently to clearly define bullying and help parents to understand which events were part of normal pupil behaviour that was easy to sort out and what kind of actions would be reported as bullying”. IQM May 2014
The quick and consistent action of staff, enforcing the school behaviour policy means that there has been minimal scope for children to develop bullying behaviours.
If bullying surfaces then our school follows the Behaviour policy which has a dedicated section for dealing with bullying.
Current strategies in place to prevent the risk of bullying, which have been successful, include meeting with parents of children who form initial concerns; working in groups with the children to solve difficulties which arise as well as providing our children with PSHE sessions centred around the topic of bullying.
Significant disputes among peers which could potentially lead to bullying actions are discussed in inclusion meetings and then decisions are made as to whether children will need to work with the school learning mentor or the school counsellor in a boys or girls group.
Objective: Greater Pupil Voice:
Children’s views and opinions are valued. The children continue to have the opportunity to view their concerns in special lunch on Fridays with the Headteacher and Deputy Head. Children’s views are displayed alongside any ideas which they may have.
Children in Year 6 are interviewed for Team Leader positions. These pupils will go through an application process and are provided with specific training. They are able to make decisions about leading activities and are encouraged to support younger children with their worries and present as role models.
Children with Special Educational Needs are regularly consulted about their views with regards to what they feel works best for them and what is important to them. We fully support Child Centred Reviews of these children’s provision and outcomes.
Regularly timetable PSHE sessions allow children a forum within which to voice their concerns or worries. These objectives are also linked to larger school assemblies for children in Years 2 to 6.
The welcoming nature of our school means that if a child has a concern or an idea, they can express these to members of staff and they will be listened to.
The school counsellor is available on Monday and Tuesday lunchtimes for children as ‘drop-in’ sessions if they have any personal matters which the feel they would like to divulge.
Children are actively involved in setting their own learning targets often challenging themselves to achieve and exceed their goals.