Equalities
At our school, we are committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion, and we work hard to meet our obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty (known as the ‘equality duty’).
This means we have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation, and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010. We are dedicated to ensuring that every member of our school community is treated fairly, with dignity and respect, regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, or sexual orientation.
We also strive to advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. This includes identifying and removing barriers to participation, ensuring all pupils have access to high-quality learning opportunities, and providing appropriate support to enable every child to achieve their full potential.
We actively foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not, promoting understanding, respect and positive relationships throughout our school community.
As required by the equality duty, we publish updated information each year to demonstrate how we are complying with these obligations. Through our policies, curriculum, staff training and wider school activities, we continually review and develop our practice to ensure that equality remains at the heart of everything we do, creating a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment for all.
Our mission statement, “Nurturing our children to grow, achieve and thrive,” underpins our commitment to equality and inclusion ensuring that every child has the opportunity to succeed. We are dedicated to creating an environment where all children feel safe, valued and respected, regardless of their background, abilities or individual needs. Thus, ensuring children feel inspired to learn, confident to try new things and fully supported to reach their potential. By working closely with families and recognising each child as unique, we provide tailored support and inclusive learning experiences that remove barriers to participation and enable every child to reach their full potential academically, socially and emotionally.
Our core values — Be Curious, Be Kind, Be Resilient, Be You — are central to promoting our equality objectives and fostering an inclusive school culture. These values encourage children to respect and celebrate differences, develop empathy and understanding for others, and appreciate the diversity within our school and wider community. We encourage children to explore the world with curiosity, show kindness and respect towards others, develop resilience when faced with challenges, and celebrate their individuality. By embedding these values into everyday learning experiences, we support children in developing confidence, empathy and a strong sense of self, ensuring all children have the opportunity to flourish within an inclusive and welcoming school community.
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 Ashfield Primary School. ‘Due regard’ ensures that we work towards eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act.
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
- Our Anti Bullying Policy 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
- Listening to and monitoring views and experiences of pupils and adults to evaluate the effectiveness of our policies and procedures.
Equality Objectives
At Ashfield Primary School, we are committed to creating an inclusive environment where every child feels valued, respected, and supported to grow, achieve, and thrive.
Objective 1
We foster a culture of respect and understanding where equality and diversity is celebrated and everyone is encouraged to be kind, considerate, and accepting of others.
Objective 2
We actively promote equality of opportunity by removing barriers and ensuring all children can fully participate and succeed, regardless of their background or needs. We aim to raise the achievement of vulnerable pupils, including disadvantaged pupils, those with SEND, those who are known or previously known to children’s social care, and those who may face other barriers to their learning and/or wellbeing through improving the curriculum, quality of teaching including the effective use of assessment to identify gaps and inform learning.
Objective 3
We aim to improve the attendance of disadvantaged pupils and reduce persistent absence.
OBJECTIVE 4
Through completion of the Red Award, we aim to continue to seek ways in which the culture, policies and practices within school can be further improved to advance equality, inclusion and to eliminate discrimination.
Please also see our SEND pages where you can find information about special educational needs and disabilities.
Collaborative Learning Trust Equality and Diversity Charter
In June 2024, after a year-long process which began with our student leaders from the Trust coming together and collaborating, we launched our Trust Equality and Diversity Charter. This is a living document, which everyone in our Trust works together to embed in our daily practice. You can read about the launch here.
We want all schools in the Collaborative Learning Trust to be harmonious, inclusive places where every individual can thrive and reach their full potential because differences are celebrated, inequality is eradicated, and discrimination is systematically addressed.
Our Equality & Diversity Charter is underpinned by the values of our Trust and covers six key areas: an inclusive culture; opportunities for all to flourish; engaging the wider community; preventing/tackling bully ing/discrimination; a diverse, inclusive curriculum; leadership commitment. The Charter is available to download below.