Equality Statement
At Woodlands Academy we are committed to ensuring equality of opportunity in line with the Equality Act of October 2010. We seek to demonstrate this through all aspects of school life and in particular through our commitment to every child, fulfilling their potential. This commitment applies to our work in the classroom, our pupil support systems, our recruitment and retention of staff and our work in the local and wider community.
Our school population is extremely diverse with approximately 10% of children who are Looked After, and 60% of children eligible for Pupil Premium. As a school we will ensure that all pupils have the opportunity to achieve the very best that they are capable of and will also guide parents on how they can support their child’s achievement. Where pupils experience barriers to their success we will work with them to address these in a sensitive and sympathetic way.
Through our work in the classroom we will ensure that pupils understand the importance of equality and what forms discrimination can take and the impact discrimination can have. We will also seek to foster within our pupils their own commitment to promoting equality.
As an employer we will not discriminate on any of the following:
– Age
– Disability
– Gender re-assignment
– Race
– Religion and belief
– Sex
– Sexual orientation
– Marriage and civil partnership
Nor as a school or employer will we accept any of the following:
– Direct Discrimination,
– Indirect Discrimination,
– Discrimination by perception,
– Associative discrimination,
– Harassment,
– Harassment by a third party,
– Victimisation.
As a school we also acknowledge the need to have objectives in order to ensure that we are able to address any areas where there are either inequalities or perceived inequalities. Our objectives are as follows:
1. To complete a school community survey annually to identify any areas of concern, particularly for Parents/Carers and Pupils.
2. To use our suite of assessment tools to monitor the progress of pupils with different characteristics (EAL, PP, Gender etc) in order to identify and address any trends.
3. To use our in-school tracking systems for behaviour to identify at risk pupils. This information will then be used to identify any equality issues which will be addressed.
4. To continue to closely monitor pupil attendance in order to ensure that quick action can be taken to address low attendance rates at school.
5. To increase the number of outside agencies (police, fire brigade, NSPCC, e-safety experts etc) who attend school to give the pupils expert advice on a range of issues.
The School Leadership Team and Local School Board review the Equality Policy and all other policies within the cycle agreed by governors. Should any issues arise that mean that the policy needs amendments then these will be recommended for approval at following governors’ meetings.
To download the full CIT Equal Opportunity and Diversity Policy, please visit the CIT Policies page here.
