Equality
Ash Grove Academy is a Rights Respecting School. We currently have our Silver Award and are aiming for Gold accreditation in the summer term 2023. This means that we are embedding the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child within all that we do.
Being part of a Rights Respecting school results in four key areas of impact for our children – wellbeing, participation, relationships and self-esteem. Our vision is that all of our children will feel confident to express themselves and use their voice to raise awareness of injustice in the world; we want all of our children:
* to feel healthier and happier
* to feel safe
* to have better relationships
* to become active and involved in school life and the wider world
We believe that when children learn about their rights, and understand the importance of respecting the rights of others, the impact reaches beyond the school gates and has a positive effect on the whole community.
Legal Duties
As a school we welcome our duties under the Equality Act 2010. The general duties are to:
- eliminate discrimination.
- advance equality of opportunity.
- foster good relations.
Protected Characteristics
We understand the principal of the act and the work needed to ensure that those with protected characteristics are not discriminated against and are given equality of opportunity.
A protected characteristic under the act covers the groups listed below:
- Age
- Disability
- Race
- Sex
- Gender reassignment
- Maternity and pregnancy
- Religion and belief
- Sexual orientation
- Marriage and civil partnership
In order to meet our general duties listed above, the law requires us to do some specific duties to demonstrate how we meet the general duties. These are to:
- publish equality information - to demonstrate compliance with the general duty across its functions. We will not publish any information that can specifically identify any child.
- prepare and publish equality objectives.
Ash Grove Academy is part of the Aspire Educational Trust. The Trust Strategic Business Plan 2021-2022 has DIVERSITY as its overarching objective:
To ensure all our schools are inclusive, tolerant, and providing equal opportunities for all.
To ensure that the correct language is used across all of the schools so that everyone feels valued and included.
KEY STRATEGIES to secure success
- INSET day in September linked to diversity - workshops to run for ALL staff around disability, race and sexual orientation
- follow-up work across the year celebrating diversity both in our Trust and in the wider world
SUCCESS CRITERIA
- staff and children have a greater understanding of 'diversity' and what it is like to live in a diverse community
- staff able to identify any unconscious bias and have the opportunity to explore ways to overcome these and promote a climate of equality across the Trust
- staff confident that the language they are using is appropriate
The Ash Grove Academy Equality Information and Objectives (PSED) Policy and Equality Objectives Statement can be found below.
