"Where love and learning meet."
Psalm 32:8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.
The Equality Act 2010 requires schools to publish information to show how we are working to:
Eliminate discrimination
Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic* and people who do not share it
Foster good relations between groups of people
The *protected characteristics – which relate to a primary school – are:
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Sex
• Sexual orientation
• Race
• Religion and belief
Looked-after pupils / children who were previously look-after
Young carers
Pupils eligible for free school meals or living in poverty
This forms part of our published information and is designed to show information that will be most useful and interesting to our families. On the school website, there is also our Equality Policy; our Anti-Bullying Policy and our PSHE (Personal, Social and Health Education) Curriculum Overview.
At St Pauls CE Academy, we believe that our school is where 'Love and Learning Meets'. We strive to treat each member of our community as an individual; to make each individual feel valued and to teach our pupils to do the same. Trying to achieve this involves us all learning what we all have in common as well as valuing our many differences. We think that children will learn better in a school where everyone feels safe and welcome. We believe everyone has the same rights but may have different needs and so we aim to make our school fair for everyone by putting the needs and the individuality of the pupils first.
As well as teaching the children about Equality and Diversity generally through our Jigsaw PSHE curriculum and all other areas, we also regularly discuss these ideas with the children in assemblies and aim to reflect these values in our day to day interactions with the children.
We teach children about how to deal with tricky situations, ‘put downs’ and prejudicial language and our playgrounds are safe places to be. We practice how to deal with these scenarios in the classroom so that children are confident with how to approach these issues when on the playground. The Equality message is loud and strong and we involve the children in ensuring that this remains so.
Stereotyping means expecting girls and boys to behave or look a particular way. We recognise that there is still incredible pressure in society for us to conform to gender specific roles / looks and we need to teach children about this
We value individuality and this includes individuality in children who don’t want to act or dress in a way that is ‘typically like a boy’ or ‘typically like a girl’
We respect and support children’s gender identities whether they accept, question or want to change the gender ascribed to them at birth.
Staff use language carefully to reflect gender equality (for example: we wouldn’t say ‘ladies first’, we would teach the children about letting each other through a door as a polite thing to do; we would talk about fire-fighters not firemen; police officers not police men or women; nurse not male nurse which suggests a man as a nurse is unusual).
We do run girl-only sports clubs because these sporting activities are often dominated by boys and so we positively discriminate.
We teach the children about stereotyping within the curriculum within our PSHE learning. They have the opportunity to discuss and reflect on these concepts.
We challenge stereotypes through the books we read children; choices of images we present etc.
We don’t tolerate gender put-downs (for example: calling a boy ‘a girl’ to make him feel bad; calling a girl a tomboy because she plays football).
We try to make sure reading books reflect our inclusive approach. If you find a book that you think gives the wrong message, please tell your child’s class teacher – we won’t be offended (some may slip through the net and we will be able to use them to teach children about gender equality). We do have books that are obviously aimed at girls or boys and we know these appeal to children – we are more worried about stories that give stereotypical messages about girls’ or boys’ roles in the world.
We celebrate different abilities in many ways while also supporting the specific needs children may experience. We teach children to celebrate difference in our in our PSHE learning.
We recognise that helping your child be equally included may need specific support and we will work with you and other agencies to ensure we do this well.
Disabilities can affect a child’s achievement or social experience in very different ways. Although achievement is a major factor, we also are clear that a child’s social experience is vital to a good education and can help your child achieve a positive social experience in a variety of ways.
We teach children about disability equality through the curriculum in our PSHE learning as well as our general language and attitude.
Children may become diagnosed with a learning disability during their time at St Pauls CE Academy (eg dyslexia). We have clear pathways to diagnosis of specific learning difficulties / disabilities and parents/carers will be involved with this process. You are welcome to discuss any concerns about your child’s development at any time.
We talk to the children about different skills, achievements and abilities.
We treat put downs related to ability/disability seriously. These can include put downs pertaining to high attainment (eg: geek; nerd) or low ability / attainment (eg: thick; stupid). Such put downs are unusual.
To increase representation of disabled people in our school. This includes curriculum developments (every subject leader’s action plan aims to develop diversity within their curriculum area) and every day learning and teaching practice (eg resources; worksheets; powerpoint images; displays; (eg) historical / scientific contributions of disabled people)
We value the diversity of religious belief and other philosophical beliefs (eg humanism) within our local and wider community. We also respect the right to have no religion or belief.
We believe that religious/belief education plays an important role in helping to keep our community a tolerant and inclusive place in which to live.
How do we value all the children’s beliefs and help children with different beliefs get on well together?
Our Religious Education curriculum and our PSHE learning gives young people the opportunity to develop an understanding of their own and other people’s beliefs and therefore helps young people live in a diverse society.
We respect the right of families to celebrate key religious festivals and authorise absences accordingly.
We respect the religious wishes of families regarding participation in school celebrations (for example Christmas performances and birthday assemblies).
Put-downs related to belief or religion are never tolerated
We would like to include more members of our school community to come and talk about their faith and how this affects their way of life. If you would like to talk to your child's class or their key stage, please talk to your child's teacher.
We aim to plan more opportunities for children to talk about their own beliefs.
What this means to us:
What we avoid/don’t tolerate:
How we would like to improve our work:
What this means to us:
What we avoid/don’t tolerate:
How we would like to improve our Family Equality work: