Equality

Equality Information and Objectives

Public Sector Equality Duty 

Public Sector Equality Duty

The Equality Act 2010 requires us to publish information that demonstrates that we have due regard for the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful  discrimination, harassment, victimisation  and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010

• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

The Discovery School is an inclusive school where we focus on the well-being and progress of every child and where all members of our community are of equal worth.

We believe that the Equality Act provides a framework to support our commitment to valuing diversity, tackling discrimination, promoting equality and fostering good relationships between people. It also ensures that we continue to tackle the issue of disadvantage and underachievement for different groups.

Our approach to equality is based on the following key principles:

1. All learners are of equal value.

2. We recognise and respect difference.

3. We foster positive attitudes and relationships and a shared sense of cohesion and belonging.

4. We observe good equalities practice in staff recruitment, retention and development.

5. We aim to reduce and remove inequalities and barriers that already exist.

6. We have the highest expectations of all our children and members of our school community.

Equality Information

Number of pupils on roll at the school: 626
Age of pupils: 4 to 11

Information on pupils by protected characteristics

The Equality Act 2010 protects people from discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics. Every person has several of the protected characteristics, so the Act protects everyone against unfair treatment.

In order to ensure that all pupils are protected from discrimination, the school collects information on protected characteristics.

Information on other groups of pupils

In addition to pupils with protected characteristics, we gather further information on the following groups of pupils:

• Pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM)

• Pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN)

• Disadvantaged group

• Pupils with English as an Additional Language (EAL)

• Young carers

• Looked after children

• Other vulnerable groups

• Gender: 51.12% male, 48.88% female

• Pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSM): 8%

• Pupils eligible for Pupil Premium Funding – Disadvantage group:  9%

• Pupils with Special Educational Needs (SEN): 10.5 %

• Pupils with English as an Additional Language (EAL): 10.1 %
  
  

Through rigorous tracking and monitoring of individuals and of all the groups of children, including progress and attainment, and by providing equal opportunities to access the curriculum and activities, we aim to ensure that any gap in attainment for pupils within any of the above different groups is removed, or at least remains less than the gap nationally.

Eliminating discrimination and other conduct that is prohibited by the Act

The information provided here aims to demonstrate that we give careful consideration to equality issues in everything that we do at The Discovery School. ‘Due regard’ ensures that we work towards eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act.

Evidence of our due regard for equality can also be found in the following published documents:

• Minutes of Governors meetings

• Through published data on specific pupil cohorts

• Disadvantaged and Vulnerable Pupil initiatives

• All relevant policies where due regard for equality is provided

We are committed to working for equality for all our staff, parents/carers and children to meet our duties under the Equality Act 2010.

We eliminate discrimination by:

• Adoption of the single Equality Scheme

• Our behaviour policy ensures that all children feel safe at school and addresses prejudicial bullying

• Reporting, responding to and monitoring all racist incidents

• Regularly monitoring the curriculum to ensure that the curriculum meets the needs of our pupils and that it promotes respect for diversity and challenges negative stereotyping

• Teaching is of the highest quality to ensure children reach their potential and all pupils are given equal entitlement to success

• Tracking pupil progress to ensure that all children make rapid progress, and intervening when necessary

• Ensuring that all pupils have the opportunity to access extra-curricular provision

• Listening to and monitoring views and experiences of pupils and adults to evaluate the effectiveness of our policies and procedures.
  
  

Advancing equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

We advance equality of opportunity by:

• Using the information we gather to identify underachieving groups or individuals and plan targeted intervention

• Ensuring participation of  parents/carers and pupils in school development

• Listening to parents/carers

• Listening to pupils at all times
  
  

Fostering good relations across all characteristics - between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

We foster good relations by:

• Ensuring that The Discovery School is seen as a community school within our local community.

• Ensuring that equality and diversity are embedded in the curriculum and in collective worship.
  
  

Equality Objectives

At The Discovery School, we are committed to ensuring equality of education and opportunity for all pupils, staff, parents and carers, irrespective of race, gender, disability, belief, religion or socio-economic background.

In order to further support pupils, raise standards and ensure inclusive teaching, we have set the following objectives:

• Objective 1: Increase % of disadvantaged pupils exceeding in combined core subjects at the end of KS2 (to exceed non-PPG levels nationally)

•  Objective 2: 100% of disadvantaged pupils achieving expected or greater than expected progress in core subjects (KS1 & KS2)

•  Objective 3: Pupils with SEND achieve exceptionally well against individualised targets

• Objective 4: Develop the children’s ability to question any systemic bias that exists in the community and the wider world

• Objective 5: Increase access to the outside curriculum for pupils with a disability

• Objective 6: Ensure that all door entry systems throughout the school are positioned at a height for wheelchair users to be able to access

The Discovery School is actively seeking the views of parents and the wider community in order to meet these objectives.  The Accessibility and Equality Plans are evaluated annually.

The Discovery School is actively seeking the views of parents and the wider community in order to meet these objectives.  The Accessibility and Equality Plans will be updated in December 2021, following the Parent Partnership Group meeting held on December 7th.

 The Discovery School Accessibility Plan 2020 - 2023

Equality Policy September 2023

You may also be interested to hear about our Diversity Council