Equal Opportunities and Diversity                                                                                                               

Valley Primary School is fully inclusive and values all children for their unique personality. Our school focuses on the well-being and progress of every child and we are committed to ensuring all members of our community are of equal worth.

Our Vision and Values and positive school ethos enable us to positively embrace  diversity and improve the quality of life across our communities by making our school, it’s curriculum and opportunities, openly accessible and welcoming for everyone.

We welcome our duties under the Equality Act 2010. The School positively embraces it’s general duties, with regards to equality, striving to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
• foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not, by encouraging people from protected groups to participate fully
• work ethically and with integrity, civility and respect

As a consequence, Valley Primary School:

• treats all individuals with equal value, abiding by the Equality Act and Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)
• does all in our power to eliminate discrimination, harassment or victimisation of  pupils and employees
• ensure equality of opportunity of pupils and staff who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
• promote positive attitudes and good relationships between all pupils and staff
• take reasonable steps to remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by all pupils or staff who have protected characteristics, including special educational needs or a disability
• consider equality implications when developing policy and/or practice
• regularly review our provision to assess the effectiveness of our policies and procedures
• contribute positively to the community we serve
• provide all our children and young people with the highest levels of expectation, educational provision and care

The act places a duty on academies to have “due regard” to equality considerations, for example, when significant decisions are being made, or policies are being developed. There is emphasis on transparency – i.e. making information available.

As a consequence, Valley Primary School:

• publishes information which shows compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty
• publishes attainment data and analyses data for learners with different characteristics to monitor how they are performing
• analyses the curriculum and enrichment offer to determine strengths and areas for improvement and implement actions in response
• make evidence available identifying improvements for specific groups as applicable (e.g. declines in incidents of homophobic and transphobic bullying)

Furthermore, in line with the Equality duty, as an employer we will not discriminate on any of the following:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender re-assignment
• Race
• Religion and belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation
• Marriage and civil partnership

Nor as a school or employer will we accept any of the following:

• Direct discrimination
• Indirect discrimination
• Associative discrimination
• Harassment
• Harassment by a third party
• Victimisation

Our Equality and Diversity Policy explains our commitment and responsibilities in more detail, please see our policy page: 

https://www.valleyprimaryschool.co.uk/school-policies

Leaders and Staff lead by example, ensuring that our commitment with regard to equal opportunities and diversity is embraced.

Children are positively encouraged to learn about Diversity and our SMSC curriculum and Enrichment opportunities incorporate a range of different activities which teach the children about differences and the importance of equality. We embrace opportunities to teach about different religions and cultures and to celebrate diversity. We actively condemn all acts of violence and radicalisation.

Our school is a fully inclusive, happy community where our school vision, ethos and values permeate all that we do. This is evident in our policies, provision and practice across Valley Primary School.