Safeguarding Children

Race Equality Policy

Earlsheaton Technology College is committed to work towards racial equality and to combat racial discrimination and racial harassment.

School Context

Earlsheaton Technology College is a mixed comprehensive high school in Kirklees LEA. The school is a very mixed school socio-economically.

Aims

To acknowledge the existence of racism and to work towards the elimination of unlawful discrimination.

To promote equality of opportunity.

To promote good relations in order to encourage inclusion in the wider educational community.

To ensure that students and staff from all racial groups are encouraged to achieve their full potential.

To prepare students for a life in a culturally diverse society.

To create a school in which every person, irrespective of their race, colour, ethnic national origin or citizenship, feel valued and welcomed.

Purpose

Address and raise standards of educational attainment for those groups of students at risk of underachieving, including those of African and Asian origin.

To promote an inclusive curriculum, ethos and learning environment.

To celebrate cultural diversity.

To promote a climate of understanding, tolerance and harmony.

To combat discrimination, prejudice and harassment.

To address the under representation of black and minority staff in school.

Promoting Race Equality, Good Race Relations, Tackling Racial Discrimination

The school will promote equality and challenge racism by:

Exploiting opportunities to celebrate the richness and diversity of different cultures. e.g. People of the Americas (Year nine History), exploring the cultures of France, Germany and Spain in Modern Foreign Languages
Exploiting opportunities through assemblies to deal with issues of prejudice. e.g. ‘Kick Racism out of Football’
Exploiting opportunities through the teaching of PSHCE. e.g. The use of visiting speakers, role-play exercises, the use of media and film
Displays relating to student achievement. e.g. displays of students that have achieved in academic, sporting or the Arts areas. The school has many gifted and talented students from minority ethnic groups
Regularly reviewing all our publications to ensure that all our publications are inclusive. Named person: Deputy Head.
Purchasing and reviewing resources such as texts and IC software to ensure appropriateness in relation to inclusivity. Named persons: subject leaders
All members of staff to challenge inappropriate racist or stereotypical comments used both in lessons and in social environments. Examples should include the use of offensive works and stereotypical ‘mimicking’
All racist leaflets, badges or insignia to be banned from school
Following LEA guidelines on reporting any incidents appertaining to the above two statements using the prescribed pro-forma. Named person: EFA Co-ordinator
Examining the content of our curriculum to ensure that negative images are not portrayed and that exemplars of positive images are promoted wherever possible. Schemes of work should, where appropriate, make reference to positive examples. Named persons: Curriculum Team Leaders and Subject Leaders. A statement to be made in the annual Curriculum Review relating to the audit of subject areas.
Audit of material available in the Library. Named person: Librarian
Maintaining close links with the LEA Inspector for Ethnic Minority Achievement for guidance on resources, developments and achievements
Ensuring Ethnic Minority Achievement is published and commented on by appropriate Subject Leaders

Relationships with other School Policies

The policy should be reviewed annually in relation to the aims and content of other school policies such as:

Equal Opportunities Policy
Bullying Policy
Teaching & Learning
Assessment
Special Educational Needs Policy
Induction Policy

Consultation with the School Community

The section on ‘Promoting Race Equality’ was produced in consultation with Senior Management Team and Subject Leaders. The school also has an annual questionnaire to parents that includes a question about the school’s success (or otherwise) in promoting anti-racism. The Governing Body of the school has approved the policy.

The Senior Leadership of the school will review the policy annually.

Implementation Strategy/Roles and Responsibilities

The Governing Body is responsible for ensuring that the school fulfils its legal responsibilities including those arising from the Race Relations Amendment Act and complies with all legislation in relation to race relations. A named governor will be responsible for monitoring the implementation of the policy. The Head Teacher is the named person with overall responsibility in school for the implementation of the policy and the school management will be proactive in promoting racial equality, tackling unlawful racial discrimination and ensuring that all staff are aware of their responsibilities. The Head will be the named person responsible for taking disciplinary action against staff or students who racially discriminate.

Practical examples of the implementation of the policy are provided in:

The section: ‘Promoting Race Equality’
Education For All Action Plan (attached)

Breach of the Policy

The school will complete a ‘Racial Incident Form’ and a report on the number and type of incidents will be sent to LEA for monitoring purposes. This will be used for both students and staff. The following action will then be taken:

Students: will be informed that a letter will be sent to parents stating the unacceptability of the breach of discipline and that if further incidents occur the normal procedures for serious breaches of discipline will be instigated
Staff: the procedures outlined in the Personnel file will be instigated

Monitoring, Assessing and Reviewing the Policy

The following information will be used in the monitoring process:

Internally produced monitoring and target setting data including that for public examinations
Kirklees data from the ‘Secondary School Profile’
Information from the school PANDA and other baseline data
Internal monitoring of extra curricular involvement
Attendance (through SIMS system)
Exclusions
Records of returns regarding racial incidents

Ethnic monitoring will take place as part of our comprehensive monitoring systems to ensure that students are performing to their potential in curricular activities. The purpose of ethnic monitoring is to identify trends and patterns that may show up differences and inequalities between ethnic groups. If trends of underachievement of ethnic minority students are identified, this will suggest that problems may exist in school that will need to be addressed. Earlsheaton High School will also endeavour to communicate progress towards racial equality through the annual parental questionnaire and communications through newsletters. The implications of monitoring will be considered when reviewing all school policies and racial equality questions will be built into school self-review and evaluation frameworks. The school will also produce a Racial Equality Action Plan. The results of monitoring and assessment (as in the bullet points above) will be published in the annual curriculum review and annually to governors. Summary statements will also be made in the annual report to parents.

Admissions and Attendance

Earlsheaton Technology College follows LEA policies on admissions and attendance.

Behaviour, Discipline and Exclusions

Earlsheaton Technology College expects high standards of behaviour from all students and deals with disciplinary issues without any form of discrimination. The school will continue to work with staff to develop an appreciation of patterns of behaviour that may occur as a result of cultural, health or gender differences.

Exclusions are monitored in order to ascertain any patterns and trends.

Personal Development and Pastoral Care

The school takes account of cultural differences in its pastoral care of students. E.g. the adoption of Kirklees suggested procedures for Eid. The school maintains contact with various sections of the LEA to support Traveller children, those at risk of attendance difficulties and has developed thorough systems for Careers advice and guidance. Work experience providers are required to provide evidence of their commitment to racial equality and challenging racism.

Curriculum

Refer to section: ‘Promoting Race Equality’ regarding the Curriculum Teams in relation to:

Curriculum audit
Challenging stereotypes
Schemes of work and resources

Teaching and Learning

Our policy encourages staff to use a range of methods to suit the varied requirements of the learner.

Staff Recruitment

Through our commitment to IIP and our Performance Management system, all staff are encouraged to develop to their full potential
The school adopts the procedures for recruitment outlined in the ‘Personnel Procedures’ document provided by the LEA
The school is conscious of the need to recruit more staff from under-represented groups