Introduction

Every school has a key role to play in eradicating prejudice and valuing diversity.  Prejudice exists in all communities and every school should take action to challenge and prevent it.  This policy should be read in conjunction with the Behaviour and Safeguarding / Child Protection Policies

Principles

• Discrimination on the basis of race, religion or belief, origin, gender, ability, circumstances or disability is unacceptable in this school;

• Every pupil and Teacher will endeavour to further this objective by personally contributing towards a happy and caring environment and by showing respect for, and appreciation of, each other as individuals;

• The primary objectives of this school will therefore be to educate, develop and prepare all our pupils, whatever their sex, race, origin or ability, for life in Britain and positively challenge discrimination and prejudice;

• As a Rights Respecting school, our ethos centres around children being provided with the knowledge and access to the rights identified in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child;

• An equal opportunities philosophy should be practised by all staff;

• The school acknowledges the complexity of British society and recognises that it would be failing all our pupils if it did not prepare them for their integral part in society;

• The school is committed to emphasising the common elements and values of our diverse society rather than highlighting conflicting areas, but also recognising and reflecting upon differences;

• The school is committed to promoting tolerance and defusing any underlying prejudices within the school through delivery of a broad and balanced curriculum including, in particular, citizenship;

• The school's arrangements for personal, social, health and emotional development and for pastoral care, discipline and supervision are also considered in relation to promoting harmony.

School Procedure

The school’s behaviour policy makes clear that harassment will not be tolerated and explains how staff and pupils should deal with it.  The policy is available on the school’s website and ensures that:

• Prejudiced behaviour is clearly identified as such;
• Preventative action is taken to reduce the likelihood of prejudiced incidents occurring;
• The victims of prejudiced incidents are supported;
• Perpetrators are dealt with effectively;
• The frequency and nature of prejudiced incidents are monitored within the school;
• There is regular reporting of prejudiced incidents to the Governing Body.

Identifying Prejudiced Behaviour

A prejudiced incident is any incident which is perceived as prejudiced by the victim or any other person - Prejudiced behaviour could involve any of the following activities:

1. Verbal abuse and threats;
2. Prejudiced graffiti;
3. Provocative behaviour such as wearing prejudiced badges or insignia;
4. Prejudiced comments in the course of discussions;
5. Ridicule of an individual's cultural differences, e.g. food, music, dress, language, religion, telling of prejudiced jokes, etc; bringing prejudiced materials such as leaflets, comics or magazines into school;
6. Attempts to recruit other pupils and students into prejudiced organisations;
7. Physical assault which is motivated by prejudice;
8. Damage caused to a person's property which is motivated by prejudice;
9. Incitement of others to behave in a prejudiced way;
10. Refusal to co-operate with other pupils because of their race, religion or belief, origin, gender, ability, circumstances or disability.

Failure to take action, even when an incident appears to be of a minor nature could be seen as condoning prejudiced incidents and may lead to more serious incidents in future. The response should be proportionate to the incident.

Prevention of prejudiced incidents

The named Teacher with overall responsibility for dealing with prejudiced incidents is:  Mr Painter.

The National Curriculum (1999) exhorts Teachers to create an effective learning environment where:

• The contribution of all pupils is valued;
• All pupils can feel secure and are able to contribute appropriately;
• Stereotypical views are challenged and pupils learn to appreciate and view positively differences in others, whether arising from race, religion or belief, origin, gender, ability, circumstances or disability;
• Pupils learn to take responsibility for their actions and behaviour both in school and in the wider community;
• All forms of bullying and harassment, including prejudice harassment, are challenged.

The ethos of the school is central to successful anti-prejudiced practice.  Making clear the Governing Body's expectations of how staff, children and young people should treat each other is paramount.

It is essential that parents/carers should understand and have confidence in the school's readiness to challenge prejudiced incidents.

Supporting Victims

It is important that staff are aware of the priority attached to supporting victims, and that prior to an investigation all allegations are taken seriously.  Prejudice harassment is intimidating and its victims can feel isolated and disabled in taking action.

It is clear that much under-reporting of incidents relates to victims' perceptions of the likely response to a complaint.  This, they often believe, will be:

• A lack of belief;
• Accusations of being troublemakers or having a chip on their shoulder;
• Ostracism by colleagues or fellow pupils;
• Assumptions about a lack of a sense of humour;
• A belief that the harassment was in some way provoked or invited.

Therefore, any person investigating an incident needs to be aware of these common perceptions. Whatever happens, it should never be implied that harassment or an attack is the victim's fault.

The identification of the victim of an incident may not at first be straightforward.  The investigation of its context and background must take account of the possibility of serious provocation lying at the heart of the responses of the individuals concerned.  This is not to condone retaliatory action, particularly the use of violence, but to recognise that where the victim of prejudice harassment has retaliated, the action, particularly the sanctions contemplated, should take account of the degree of provocation.

Principles for effective action

1. Victims and, where appropriate, their families should in the first instance contact the Head Teacher for advice and support.  As the named member of staff, the Head Teacher will have clearly designated responsibilities.
2. The option for alternative support should be offered in the event that the designated member of staff is unavailable or the victim expresses a wish to be supported by someone of his/her own choosing.
3. The procedures for reporting all incidents and/or making a complaint should be made known to pupils and staff.
4. Victims should be kept fully informed and if necessary advised where they can go for further assistance.
5. There should be clear opportunities for victims and/or their families to express their wishes.  These should always be treated seriously and acted on if appropriate.

Dealing with Perpetrators

Situations in which prejudice incidents occur vary enormously.  In every case the context in which the incident takes place will influence the school's response.  This may range from gentle but firm correction and explanation to the use of disciplinary procedures.  Incidents will need, therefore, to be assessed in terms of seriousness to assist everyone in gauging their response. The overriding need will be to ensure that a clear message is sent to perpetrators that the behaviour will not be tolerated.

As with other types of bullying and abuse, a pattern of seemingly minor events can have a cumulative effect on the victim and the victim's community.  It is important that staff and pupils perceive the response to be genuinely even-handed.  Firm rejection of the offensive behaviour needs to be combined with a framework of discipline that is perceived as fair.  Sanctions are not just punitive but may include counselling and training where appropriate.  Wherever possible a full apology to the victim will be sought from the perpetrator and will accompany any sanctions imposed.

Principles for effective action

1. In the first instance staff will express their disappointment that such an incident has been reported and inform the pupils concerned that the matter will be referred to the Class Teacher;
2. The Class Teacher will determine whether the incident should be referred on to be dealt with by a senior or designated member of staff / Head Teacher;
3. The Head Teacher will decide involvement of the Governing Body where necessary;
4. The Head Teacher in consultation with the Governing Body will decide upon the necessity to involve the Police and / or Social Care;
5. All prejudice incidents will be recorded;
6. Consideration will be given to the need to follow up an incident, including dealing with its impact on the school community;
7. All prejudiced incidents will be taken very seriously and dealt with as soon as possible after the alleged event.

Monitoring and Reporting of Prejudiced Incidents

It is important to record prejudiced incidents for the following reasons:

• To obtain a full picture of the frequency and nature of prejudiced incidents;
• To target additional resources to combat prejudiced incidents;
• To identify groups or individuals who are regular victims or perpetrators of prejudiced harassment;
• To monitor the effectiveness of measures taken to prevent prejudiced incidents.

Involvement of Parents

The school's procedures for dealing with prejudiced incidents are publicised on the school’s website. Parents will be informed if their child is involved in a prejudiced incident, either as victim or perpetrator.  If possible, it should be ascertained whether the incident is isolated or part of a pattern of prejudiced behaviour against the family in school or in the wider community.  Parents of perpetrators need to understand how seriously prejudiced incidents are taken.

Complaints

If a parent or member of staff is not satisfied with the steps taken as a result of a prejudiced incident, the complaints procedure is the same as for other complaints and can be found in the school’s Complaints Policy

Role of Governors

The governors will review annually the school policy on prejudiced harassment and ensure that all necessary measures and systems are in place, should an incident occur.  These processes fall in line with policies for Behaviour and Anti-Bullying.  Governors should be informed on an annual basis of prejudiced incidents, and this will be an agenda item for the Autumn Term governing body meeting.  

Awsworth Primary & Nursery School

Equality Objectives

Awsworth Primary & Nursery School aims to be proactive in ensuring equality for pupils, parents / carers and staff with regard to their protected characteristics.  To achieve this, we will endeavour to embed equality of access, opportunity and outcome for all members of our school community, across all aspects of life.  

School Population: 313 pupils

* Full-time pupils ** Information not obtained for 4 pupils.

Ethnicity Categories

Special Educational Needs or Disabilities Categories

Religion and Belief

Sexual Identity – The school has no data currently on any pupils questioning their sexual identity.  The school will seek further advice and guidance on how to monitor this information and use this data in a sensitive manner.

Gender Reassignment - The school does not have any pupils in this category at the current time.

Equality Objectives 2019-2022

The Equality Act 2010 requires schools to publish specific and measurable equality objectives.  Our equality objectives are based on our analysis of data and other evidence.  Our equality objectives focus on those areas where we have agreed to take action to improve equality and tackle disadvantages.  We will regularly review the progress we are making to meet our objectives.