Cotmanhay Infant and Nursery School

 Public Sector Equality Duty Statement

Introduction

This document describes how the Governing Body of Cotmanhay Infant and Nursery School intends to fulfil its responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty with regard to its workforce. The Equality Objectives will be part of the School Improvement 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 we 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.

We will work towards developing an equality profile of staff to help us to understand key equality issues in our workforce, including any evidence of pay gaps or ‘occupational segregation’ i.e. staff with certain protected characteristics being over-represented in particular roles, for example, women as cleaners, or at certain grades.

In addition, we note that it is likely to be useful to collect and consider information, appropriately disaggregated, about:

• recruitment and promotion
• numbers of part-time and full-time staff
• pay and remuneration
• training
• return to work of women on maternity leave
• return to work of disabled employees following sick leave relating to their disability
• appraisals
• grievances (including about harassment)
• disciplinary action (including for harassment)
• dismissals and other reasons for leaving.

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.

Overall Equality Objectives 2021-2024

There are a number of statutory duties that must be met by every school in line with legislation from the Race Relations (Amendment) Act (2000), Disability Equality Duty (2005) and Equality Act (2010).

Cotmanhay Infant and Nursery School is committed to meeting its public sector duties and acknowledges that we have a statutory duty to:

• Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation;
• Promote equality of access and opportunity within our school and within our wider community;
• Promote positive attitudes to difference and good relationships between people with different backgrounds, genders, cultures, faiths, abilities and ethnic origins.

The Leadership Team and Governors at Cotmanhay Infant and Nursery School regularly review the progress we are making to meet our equality objectives with regard to the protected groups (race, disability, gender, gender re-assignment, age, pregnancy and maternity, marital status, sexual orientation, religion and belief and sexual orientation) under the Equality Act (2010).

Equality Objectives:

At Cotmanhay Infant and Nursery School, we are committed to ensuring equality of education and opportunity for all pupils, staff, parents and carers, irrespective of race, gender, disability, belief, religion or socio-economic background.

In order to further support pupils, raise standards and ensure inclusive teaching, we have set ourselves the following objectives:

Objective 1:  To monitor and analyse pupil achievement by group and act on any trends or patterns in the data that require additional support for pupils.

Objective 2:  To allow equal access to information for all parents and carers.

Objective 3:  To ensure the school environment is accessible as possible to all pupils, staff and visitors.