Witchford Village College welcomes a diverse population of both students and staff. We understand the reality of an ethnically, culturally and sexually diverse society. We respect all members of our school community and value the differences between us.

Not only do we believe in establishing a safe, secure and open community in which we protect the individuals in our care but we also strive to develop attitudes and philosophies amongst the members of our community so that they may play their part in promoting equality in the wider communities in which they live, play and work.

People are protected by this statement on the grounds of: age; disability; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; race; religion or belief; sex; sexual orientation.

This list of protected groups is taken from the Equality Act 2010. Witchford Village College will meet the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 and welcome our duty under the Educating and Inspection Act 2006 to promote community cohesion. The policy has been prepared in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. The policy relates to students and staff using the facilities.

Witchford Village College is committed to equality both as a College and as an employer. We carry out our day to day work through our embedded values:

• We try to ensure that everyone is treated fairly and with respect.
• We want to make sure that the College is a safe, secure and stimulating place for everyone.
• We recognise that people have different needs, and we understand that treating people equally does not always involve treating them all exactly the same.
• We recognise that for some pupils, extra support is needed to help them to achieve and be successful.
• We try to make sure that people from different groups are consulted and involved in our decisions, for example through talking to pupils, parents/carers and school staff.
• We aim to make sure that no-one experiences harassment, less favourable treatment or discrimination because of their age; any disability they may have; their ethnicity, colour or national origin; their gender; their gender identity or reassignment; their marital or civil partnership status; being pregnant or having recently had a baby; their religion or beliefs; their sexual identity and orientation.

We welcome our general duty under the Equality Act 2010 to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations, and our specific duties to publish information every year about our school population; to explain how we have due regard for equality; and to publish equality objectives which show how we plan to tackle particular inequalities, and reduce or remove them.
We also welcome our duty under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 to promote community cohesion.

We welcome the emphasis in the Ofsted inspection framework on the importance of narrowing gaps in achievement which affect, amongst others:

• Pupils from certain cultural and ethnic backgrounds
• Pupils who belong to low-income households and pupils known to be eligible for free school meals
• Pupils who are disabled, or who are in the process of being diagnosed as disabled
• Pupils who have special educational needs
• Boys in certain subjects, and girls in certain other subjects.
• Vulnerable Pupils, where home circumstances are known or believed to be unsettled in some way, causing some level of concern.

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.

At Witchford Village College we have rigorous systems for monitoring standards and challenging any underperformance; our responsibility in this equality duty is scheduled as part of this rigorous process.

Disability

The Equality Act defines disability as when a person has a ‘physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on that person’s ability to carry out normal day to day activities.’

• We are aware of the requirements of the Equality Act 2010 that it is unlawful to discriminate, treat some people less fairly or put them at a disadvantage.
• Where applicable our policies make explicit that we aim to give careful consideration to equality issues and as policies are reviewed in line with the monitoring cycle they will be edited to reflect this requirement
• We try to keep an accurate record, when possible and appropriate, of the protected characteristics of our pupils and employees at whole school and year group levels
• We analyse our data to ensure we act upon any concerns in relation to the protected groups and this is reported termly to Governors through what we call the “Executive Summary”
• We record any racist or homophobic incidents and act upon any concerns and report this to the LA and the Governing body on a termly basis
• The Leadership Team of the College is concerned with supporting all students to make progress in line with their potential, this is reflected in the College’s values
• We give due regard for equality issues in decisions and changes we make
• We deal promptly and effectively with all incidents and complaints of bullying and harassment that may include cyber-bullying and prejudice-based bullying related to disability or special educational need, ethnicity and race, gender, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity, religion and belief and sexual orientation. We keep a record of all such incidents and notify those affected of what action we have taken and importantly monitor the impact our provision has had.
• We provide training to all staff in relation to dealing with bullying and harassment incidents.
• We have a special educational needs policy that outlines the provision the College makes for pupils with special educational needs.

Under the Equality Act 2010, we are also required to have due regard to the need to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations. This includes steps we are taking to tackle disadvantages and meet the needs of particular individuals and groups of students.

We are committed to working for the equality of people with and without disabilities. In order to achieve this we:

• Provide good quality training for our staff on inclusion.
• Obtain external advice and support from many different professionals, when required
• Promote positive links with our parents
• Implement specific targeted support where appropriate
• Complete timely and targeted Annual reviews for those students with Education, Health and Care Plans
• Liaise and work in partnership with a number of professional organisations.
• Welcome all students to join the College no matter their needs or disabilities whenever possible
• Enable all pupils to learn about the experiences of disabled people and the discriminatory attitudes they often experience.
• Ensure that the curriculum and resources we use have positive images of people of different abilities, ages, faiths, genders and race
• Support a smooth transition to enable students to experience a positive start to learning at the College; involving parents at all steps along the journey
• Foster effective, positive working relationships with parents, enabling College and home to work in partnership to support the child
• Promote an inclusive environment for all students and staff
• Pupil voice shows that our children with additional needs are happy in school

This information describes how the Governing Body of Witchford Village College intends to fulfil its responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty with regard to its workforce. The Equality Objectives is also part of the School Development Plan.

We will have due regard to the need to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it; and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not share it.
  We will collect and use equality information to help us to:
• Identify key issues – Understand the impact of our policies, practices and decisions on people with different protected characteristics, and thereby plan them more effectively.
• Assess whether you are discriminating unlawfully when carrying out any of our functions.
• Identify what the key equality issues are for our organisation.
• Assess performance.
• Benchmark our performance and processes against those of similar organisations, nationally or locally
• Take action
• Consider taking steps to meet the needs of staff who share relevant protected characteristics
• Identify if there are any actions we can take to avoid discrimination and harassment, advance equality of opportunity or foster good relations
• Make informed decisions about policies and practices which are based on evidence about the impact of our activities on equality
• Develop equality objectives to meet the specific duties
• Have due regard to the aims of the general equality duty by ensuring that staff have appropriate information for decision-making

Publication of Equality Information

We will collect and use enough workforce information to effectively meet the general equality duty. Where relevant and proportionate we will publish on our website some information about the impact of our employment functions on people with the different protected characteristics in order to demonstrate compliance with the general equality duty.