Equality Objectives

The Equality Act 2010 was introduced to ensure protection from discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of specific characteristics (referred to as protected characteristics). For schools, this means that it is unlawful to discriminate against students or treat them less favourably because of their gender; race; disability; religion or belief; gender reassignment; sexual orientation; pregnancy or maternity.
Marriage and civil partnerships and age are also 'protected characteristics', but do not apply to our provision for students.
Under the Act, the school is expected to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty. This requires us to:

Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
Advance equality of opportunity between different groups
Foster good relations between different groups

As a public organisation, we are required to:

Publish information to show compliance with the Equality Duty. This is done via our Equalities Policy
Publish Equality Objectives which are specific and measurable

Our Equalities Policy is in line with national guidance and contains information about how the school complies with the Public Sector Equality Duty. We also give guidance to staff and outside visitors on our approach to promoting equality.
Our Equality Objectives reflect the school's priorities and draw upon available data and other evidence. Careful analysis of this is undertaken in order to ensure that we are working to achieve improved outcomes for different groups.

Our Equality Objectives are:

To use performance data to monitor student achievement and respond to variations between groups of learners, subjects, courses and key stages, trends over time and comparisons with other schools

To raise the awareness and skills of staff to promote fairness, equality and good relations in the context of their role
To provide an environment that welcomes, protects and respects diverse people
To ensure that all students are given the opportunity to make a positive contribution to the life of the school
To address cultural events through year assemblies to increase student awareness and understanding of issues in different communities

Specific tasks relating to these objectives can be found within the School Improvement Plan.