At St Anselm’s, equality of opportunity and freedom from discrimination permeates all aspects of school life. The right to develop, learn and work in an environment free from discrimination is implicit in our school’s ethos and embodied in our Mission Statement, School Aims and Pride Values.

1. Aims

Our school aims to meet its obligations under the public sector equality duty by having due regard to the need to:

• • Eliminate discrimination and other conduct that is 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 across all characteristics – between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

2. Legislation and guidance

This document meets the requirements under the following legislation:

• • The Equality Act 2010, which introduced the public sector equality duty and protects people from discrimination;
  • The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) Regulations 2011, which require schools to publish information to demonstrate how they are complying with the public sector equality duty and to publish equality objectives.

This document is also based on Department for Education (DfE) guidance: The Equality Act 2010 and schools.

3. Roles and responsibilities

The Governing Body will:

• • Ensure that the equality information and objectives as set out in this statement are published and communicated throughout the school, including to staff, pupils and parents, and that they are reviewed and updated at least once every four years;
  • Delegate responsibility for monitoring the achievement of the objectives on a daily basis to the Headteacher.

The equality link governor is Mr. Edmund Sowah. They will:

• Meet with the designated member of staff for equality regularly and other relevant staff members, to discuss any issues and how these are being addressed;
• Ensure they are familiar with all relevant legislation and the contents of this document;
• Attend appropriate equality and diversity training;
• Report back to the full governing body regarding any issues.

The Headteacher will:

• Promote knowledge and understanding of the equality objectives amongst staff and pupils;
• Monitor success in achieving the objectives and report back to governors.

The designated member of staff for equality will:

• Support the Headteacher in promoting knowledge and understanding of the equality objectives amongst staff and pupils;
• Meet with the equality link governor regularly to raise and discuss any issues;
• Support the Headteacher in identifying any staff training needs, and deliver training as necessary.

All school staff are expected to have regard to this document and to work to achieve the objectives as set out in section 8.

4. Eliminating discrimination

The school is aware of its obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and complies with non-discrimination provisions.

Where relevant, our policies and procedures include reference to the importance of avoiding discrimination and other prohibited conduct.

Staff and governors are regularly reminded of their responsibilities under the Equality Act, for example during meetings.

New staff receive training on the Equality Act as part of their induction, and all staff receive refresher training every September.

5. Advancing equality of opportunity

As set out in the DfE guidance on the Equality Act, the school aims to advance equality of opportunity by:

• • Removing or minimising disadvantages suffered by people which are connected to a particular characteristic they have
  • Taking steps to meet the particular needs of people who have a particular characteristic
  • Encouraging people who have a particular characteristic to participate fully in any activities

6. Fostering good relations

The school aims to foster good relations between those who share a protected characteristic and those who do not share it by:

• • Promoting tolerance, friendship and understanding of a range of religions and cultures through different aspects of our curriculum. This includes teaching in RE and PSHCE, but also activities in other curriculum areas.