Public Sector Equality Duty Compliance Statement

At Russells Hall Primary School, we are committed to promoting equality and fostering an inclusive environment where every pupil is valued and supported. In line with the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) outlined in the Equality Act 2010, we strive to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations among all members of our school community.

Our Commitment to Equality: 

1. Eliminating Discrimination:

   • We actively work to identify and remove barriers that may hinder the participation of any pupil in our school activities, ensuring that all pupils, regardless of their background, have equal access to education and support.

2. Advancing Equality of Opportunity:

   • We regularly assess our policies and practises to ensure they promote equality and do not disadvantage any group. This includes monitoring the performance of different pupil groups and implementing targeted interventions where necessary.
   • Fostering Good Relations:
     • We encourage a culture of respect and understanding within our school. Our curriculum and extracurricular activities are designed to promote diversity and inclusion, helping pupils to appreciate and celebrate differences.

4. Engagement and Consultation: We believe that effective engagement with our pupils, parents, staff, and the wider community is essential. We consult with various stakeholders to gather insights and feedback, which informs our approach to equality and inclusion.

Transparency and Accountability: To demonstrate our commitment to the PSED, we publish relevant information on our website, including our equality objectives and progress towards meeting them. We review and update this information annually to ensure it reflects our ongoing efforts and achievements.

Equality Objectives: Our school sets specific and measurable equality objectives that align with our commitment to improving the educational experience for all pupils. These objectives are regularly reviewed and adapted to meet the evolving needs of our school community.

At Russells Hall Primary School, we believe that every pupil deserves the opportunity to thrive in a supportive and inclusive environment. We are dedicated to ensuring that our practises reflect our values and contribute to the well-being and success of all our pupils.

For more information about our equality policies and objectives, please contact us or visit our dedicated equality page.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Public bodies, including schools, have a duty, under the 2010 Equality Act, to ensure that they promote equality within their organisation and this statement sets out how we try to achieve this at Russells Hall Primary School.  We fundamentally believe that it is the right of every person to be treated with equal dignity and respect which is integral to our school ethos and underpins all that we do.

The Equality Act 2010 makes it explicit that we have a responsibility to have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate discrimination and other conduct that is prohibited by the Act
• 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

A protected characteristic could be one of a multitude of factors that are shared by particular groups of people, but will include characteristics such as sex, age, race, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, gender reassignment, pregnancy or maternity.  Central to a commitment to fulfil our responsibility is a recognition that all groups with protected characteristics fall within the human race as a whole and therefore have equal status and equal rights in light of this.  As a result, we believe that success can be achieved by realising the uniqueness of individuals.  As far as we possibly can, we ensure that we have a prejudice-free environment where no one will discriminate against, harass or victimise any member of our community or the wider human race for any reason linked to their individual characteristics, circumstances or beliefs.

Our governors, in their work to uphold their responsibility will:

• Ensure that equality information and objectives are explicit in our policies and procedures and that these are communicated clearly with all members of the school community and beyond
• Monitor, review and evaluate the effect and impact of these regularly and often (at a minimum, every four years)
• Seek ways to address physical or environmental barriers that get in the way of equality and inclusion
• Work closely with the Head Teacher, delegating responsibility to her for the day to day implementation of policies and procedures and for monitoring their effectiveness

Our head teacher will:

• Promote knowledge and understanding of equality amongst staff, pupils and parents
• Monitor the effectiveness of the curriculum in promoting equality and tackling inequality in order to encourage and develop learners who are understanding, accepting, tolerant, respectful and inclusive of others
• Ensure good support systems, including staffing, are in place for cohorts, groups or individuals in order to ensure that everyone has the potential to achieve highly
• Put in place and monitor support mechanisms to tackle inequalities that may impact on the education and life chances of our pupils for whole cohorts, groups and individuals

Our classroom staff will:

• Teach a balanced and fair curriculum that challenges knowledge and promotes understanding
• Support every individual to achieve highly and progress well from their individual starting points
• Promote a culture of mutual trust and support where everyone feels valued, comfortable and listened to in all aspects of school life, including when sharing concerns or worries, no matter how small
• Work effectively with a range of people who support our children eg. parents, medical colleagues and education support staff, to maximise potential and to overcome barriers to progress

Our whole staff group will:

• Promote equality and inclusivity
• Lead by example

Our pupils will:

• Be encouraged, taught and supported to understand one another and to accept respect and celebrate individual difference
• Be encouraged and supported to include everyone
• Be reminded of what to do if someone is unkind to another person in order to effectively support one another

Russells Hall Primary School prides itself of being a school where inclusion and equal opportunity is important, indeed central to our work with every individual.  Evidence of our impact can be seen in our monitoring and assessment outcomes, including statutory assessment outcomes at the end of Key Stages, Ofsted reports, local authority visits outcomes and pupil, staff and parent questionnaires.

Examples of our compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty can be seen in, but are not limited to, the following examples:

• Policies that deal with equality issues eg. Accessibility Plan, Equality Policy; SEND policy, Behaviour and Relationships Policy, Teaching and Learning Policy
• Promotion of understanding, respect, individual liberty and tolerance in assemblies, religious education lessons and through our curriculum
• Strong and consistent Code of Conduct for Behaviour
• Equal access to the curriculum including through the use of online teaching if needed
• Monitoring and evaluating the attainment and progress of cohorts, groups and individuals and support mechanisms and strategies to address underperformance or vulnerability
• Effective working with outside agencies such as counselling services, medical professionals and education support services
• Equal access to wider school activities such as clubs, visits and residential trips
• Charitable support and fundraising

For 2024-25 our overriding aim is to address any inequalities that have become apparent for cohorts, groups or individuals as a result of the pandemic and periods of school closure or absence.

Further detail about school improvement planning in relation to this can be obtained through the school office.