Race Equality Policy

Introduction

Burleigh Community College is fully committed to equal opportunities and to enabling all staff and students at the college to develop their potential to the full, irrespective of their race, colour or creed. We are similarly committed to developing good relationships with parents and to promoting their involvement in, and support for, the college.

This policy applies to all aspects of Burleigh Community College including our Extended Schools programme, the Early Years provision and the Boarding House.

Burleigh Community College is opposed to all forms of racism and xenophobia, including those forms that are directed towards religious groups and communities, for example Islamophobia, and against travellers, refugees and asylum-seekers.

The prime purposes of the Race Equality Policy are:

to promote respect for others and harmonious race relationships between members of different racial, cultural and religious groups in the college and in the wider community;
to eliminate racial discrimination; and
to ensure that students, adult learners, staff and parents are not adversely affected in any area of the college’s activities on grounds of ethnicity.

Students

We are guided by three essential principles:

Every student should have opportunities to achieve the highest possible standards, and the best possible qualifications to support them in transition to life and education beyond Burleigh Community College .
Every student should be helped to develop a sense of personal and cultural identity that is confident and that is receptive and respectful towards other identities.
Every student should develop the knowledge, understanding and skills that they need in order to participate in a multi-ethnic society and interdependent world.

We ensure that the principles above apply to the full range of our policies and practices, including those that are concerned with:

Students’ progress, attainment and assessment
behaviour, discipline and exclusions
students' personal development and pastoral care
anti-bullying
teaching and learning
admissions and attendance
the content of the curriculum
partnerships with parents and communities

Staff

All suitably qualified people are encouraged to apply for vacant posts at Burleigh Community College : equality of opportunity underpins all aspects of the selection and recruitment process. Applications and appointments are monitored according to ethnic origin to provide information over time. Positive action will be undertaken if monitoring identifies any issues such as under-representation. All members of staff have equal access to professional development opportunities.

Governors

The governing body is responsible for ensuring that the college complies with legislation, and that this policy and its related procedures and strategies are implemented.

The following information is available to the Governors:

Statutory Code of Practice;
non-statutory Guide for Schools;
The Duty to promote Race Equality: A Guide for Public Authorities; and
Ethnic Monitoring: a Guide for Public Authorities and Learning for All: Racial Equality Standards for Schools.

School Principal

The School Principal is responsible for implementing the policy; for ensuring that all staff are aware of their responsibilities and are given appropriate training and support; and for taking appropriate action in any cases of unlawful discrimination.

The School Principal will ensure that this policy is distributed to all students, adult learners, parents, staff and governors.

The School Principal will report at least annually to the governing body, and will ensure that the Student Affairs committee of the Governors receives regular updates.

The Principal will work with the Equality and Diversity Group to develop positive equal opportunities and racial harmony strategies, to implement staff training, and to maintain a record of racial incidents.

Staff

All members of staff are expected to deal with racist incidents that may occur; to know how to identify and challenge racial and cultural bias and stereotyping; to support students in their class for whom English is an additional language; and to incorporate principles of equality and diversity into all aspects of their work. (NB: A racial incident is one in which the 'victim' or any other person directly involved, perceives as being of a racial nature, regardless of the race of the person who is the victim, that is minority ethnic or majority ethnic.)

Staff Training

The college is committed to ensuring that all staff understand the importance of the policy, and the necessity to deal with each and every incident.
All teaching and support staff have training regarding the religious and cultural backgrounds of the main groups of students attending the college.

Teaching and Learning about Racial Equality

The college is committed to including active teaching and learning about racial equality in its daily life. This is reflected in the relationships and attitudes of staff and students, the formal curriculum, and the monitoring of equality of opportunity.

For example:

In all teaching and learning activities a full range of styles is employed to ensure that no student is excluded from learning.
Formal teaching about racial equality takes place in the college’s PD/Citizenship programmes of study.
Relevant issues are discussed in the pastoral programme in tutor periods and in the residential accommodation. Uniform requirements are reviewed routinely to ensure that there is no cultural or religious discrimination or conflict.
All students will learn in the college’s citizenship programme how cultural diversity can contribute to cultural and racial harmony.
In publications we ensure that the racial mix of the college is shown.

Religious observance

We respect the religious beliefs and practice of all staff, students, adult learners and parents, and comply with all reasonable requests relating to religious observance and practice.

Although religion is not synonymous with race, it is an important element, and all students will learn about the basic beliefs, ceremonies, and festivals of the major world religions in RE and/or in assemblies.

The College will celebrate a mix of religious ceremonies that reflects the ethnic mix of the College and will encourage, monitor and evaluate participant involvement.

Liaison with Parents

Each year the College will report to Parents to indicate how the governing body monitors what is done, any trends arising and subsequent action/s in response to any trends identified;
The college will continue to ensure close liaison with families of all students;
When students join Burleigh Community College , additional liaison time is given for students and their families if their first language is not English; and
Careful consideration will be given to ensure effective communication with parents, both in writing and in person, when English is not the preferred medium.

Action plan

Actions relating to the implementation of this policy and continuous improvements in relation to race equality will be included in the Equality and Diversity Action Plan.

Monitoring/Evaluation and Review

Burleigh Community College will assess and monitor and evaluate the impact of the race equality policy, on students, staff and parents of different racial groups including, in particular, the impact on attainment levels of such students. This will form part of the work of the Equality and Diversity group.
The college will monitor and evaluate separately the attainment and exclusions of students of minority ethnic backgrounds, as we do for majority ethnic students, students with disabilities other than visual impairment and by gender.
The Student Affairs Committee of the Governing Body will monitor and evaluate annually the above statistics and information.
The effectiveness of this policy will be reviewed annually by the School Principal and the Equality and Diversity Group and by the Governing Body within the Governors’ policy review schedule.

Roles and Responsibilities

Repeated racist incidents or a single serious incident may lead to consideration under safeguarding children procedures.

The Governing Body

The Governing Body has the responsibility to ensure that the College complies with legislation and that this policy and its related procedures and strategies are implemented.

The School Principal

The School Principal is responsible for:-

implementing this policy
ensuring that all staff are aware of their responsibilities
ensuring that appropriate training is given
distributing the policy to stakeholders
reporting to Governors at least annually
reporting to parents

for convening an equality and diversity action group to develop positive opportunities and support in regard to this policy and the associated policies (Community cohesion, race equality, gender equality, disability equality and equal opportunities policies).

Staff Responsibilities

All staff are expected:-

to be aware of this policy
to deal with incidents that may occur that are covered by this policy
to include teaching strategies related to this policy in their teaching plans and schemes of work
act as good role models for this policy and the associated policies
help to prepare students to play a part in the local community and the wider national and international communities.