LUDDENDENFOOT J&I SCHOOL

RACIAL EQUALITY POLICY

Introduction

The mission statement of our school talks of valuing the individuality of all our children.   We are committed to giving all our children every opportunity to achieve the highest of standards.  Within this ethos of achievement, we do not tolerate bullying and harassment of any kind.  This policy helps to ensure that this school promotes the individuality of all our children, irrespective ethnicity, attainment, age, disability, gender or background.  We aim to reflect the multi-ethnic nature of our society and ensure that the education we offer fosters positive attitudes to all people.

This policy reflects the general and specific duties on schools as detailed in the Race Relations Act 1976 and as amended by The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.  This policy must be read in conjunction with other related school policies – Anti-bullying, Equal Opportunities, Inclusion and Special Educational Needs.

The General Duty requires us to have due regard to the need to:

• Eliminate racial discrimination;
• Promote equality of opportunity;
• Promote good relations between people of different racial groups.

The specific duties requires us to:

• Prepare a written policy on racial equality;
• Assess the impact of our policies, including this policy, on pupils, staff and parents of different racial groups including, in particular, the impact on attainment levels of these pupils;
• Monitor the operation of our policies through the impact they have on such pupils, staff and parents, with particular reference to their impact on the attainment levels of such pupils.

Aims and Objectives

In our school we aim to tackle racial discrimination and promote equality of opportunity and good race relations across all aspects of school life.  We do this by:

• Creating an ethos in which pupils and staff feel valued and secure;
• Building self-esteem and confidence in our pupils, so that they can then use these qualities to influence their own relationships with others;
• Having consistent expectations of pupils and their learning;
• Removing or minimizing barriers to learning, so that all pupils can achieve;
• Ensuring that our teaching takes into account the learning needs of all pupils through our schemes of work and lesson planning;
• Actively tackling racial discrimination and promoting racial equality through our School Prospectus, Governors’ Annual Report to Parents, newsletters to parents and displays of work;
• Regular consultation with parents/carers and members of the local community, so that they are well informed of our policy and procedures;
• Making clear to our pupils what constitutes aggressive and racist behaviour;
• Identifying clear procedures for dealing quickly with incidents of racist behaviour;
• Making pupils and staff confident to challenge racist and aggressive behaviour.

Teaching and Learning Style

We aim to provide all our pupils with the opportunity to succeed, and to reach the highest level of personal achievement.  To do this, teaching and learning will:

• Ensure equality of access for all pupils and prepare them for life in a diverse society;
• Use materials that reflect a range of cultural backgrounds, without stereotyping;
• Promote attitudes and values that will challenge racist behaviour;
• Provide opportunities for pupils to appreciate their own culture and celebrate the diversity of other cultures;
• Seek to involve all parents in supporting their child’s education;
• Provide educational visits and extra-curricular activities that reflect all pupil groupings;
• Take account of the performance of all pupils when planning for future learning and setting challenging targets;
• Make best use of all available resources to support the learning of all groups of pupils.

Tackling Racial Harassment

Any incident of racial harassment is unacceptable in our school.  Incidents could take the form of physical assault, verbal abuse, damage to a pupils property or lack of co-operation in a lesson, due to ethnicity of a pupil.  Any adult witnessing an incident or being informed about an incident must follow these agreed procedures:

• Stop the incident and comfort the pupil who is the victim;
• Reprimand the aggressor and inform the victim what action has been taken;
• If the incident is witnessed by other pupils, tell them why it is wrong;
• Report the incident to the Headteacher or Deputy Headteacher and inform him/her of the action taken;
• Inform the class teacher(s) of both the victim and the aggressor, then record what happened in the incident book (kept in the Headteacher’s office);
• Inform relevant parents, if appropriate.

The school has implemented the recommendations of The Stephen Lawrence Inquiry: MacPherson Report (1999).  The diversity of our society is addressed through our schemes of work that reflect the programmes of study of the National Curriculum.  Teachers are flexible in their planning and offer appropriate challenges to all pupils, regardless of ethnicity.  All racist incidents are now recorded and reported to the governing body by the Headteacher.

A racist incident is ‘Any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person’.

Policy into Practice

This policy was drawn up with the support of teachers, support staff, members of the governing body and pupils.  Parents and members of the wider community were also invited to contribute

Staff Development

All members of staff are entitled to appropriate training, in order that they can play their full part in ensuring that our school promotes racial equality.  Training is linked to priorities within the school’s strategic plan.  Funding for professional development is identified within the Standards Fund.  Induction for new staff includes an element on racial equality.  Members of the governing body have also identified their own training needs in relation to racial equality.

The school is required to supply the LEA with employment data related to racial groups employed by the school.

Monitoring

The Headteacher, working through moderation meetings and work scutinies with the teaching staff, will monitor the implementation of the policy.