What is Equality and Diversity?

Equal Opportunities at school is about ensuring that all children and adults have equality of opportunity in terms of access and outcome throughout all aspects of school like and that their life chances for the present and future are not impeded or distorted by anything that happens during their participation in the process of education, but are in fact widened to allow them to achieve the whole scope of their potential.  It is important to note that equal access does not necessarily lead to equality of outcome.

Equal opportunity recognises and celebrates our similarities and our diversity as individuals and groups.  It recognises that all individuals have an intrinsic right to be nurtured in such a way as they are able to reach their full potential.

Equal opportunity accepts that while we all have something of value to contribute, we do not all start on a level playing field.  Consequently some individuals will be disadvantaged in their attempts to reach their potential.  We as an organisation will work hard to differentiate and maximise their personal achievement.

Issues of equality are applicable to us all, but there are a number of people about whom Equal Opportunity concerns are often more formally expressed.  Such groups are often referred to in terms of race, gender, sex and disability or with reference to their age, class, religion or educational achievement.  

Equal Opportunities covers the whole process of education but particularly embraces issues of multiculturalism, anti-racism, disability, ethnicity,gender and trans-gender, sexuality, and socio economic disadvantage. Strategies to combat inequality include those dealing with  issues of self- esteem and sense of self worth, school organisation, curriculum content and delivery, discipline, provision for those considered to have special educational and or English as an additional language needs, underachievement, and building social relationships within the school community.  Equal opportunity is about creating the structures and contexts for unlocking potential.

On 1 October 2010 new equality legislation came into force. The Equality Act 2010 has replaced all existing equality legislation, including the Race Relations Act, Disability Discrimination Act, and Sex Discrimination Act. This means that three equality duties schools are familiar with (Race Equality, Disability Equality and Gender Equality) have been replaced by a Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) which came into force on 6 April 2011.

Under the PSED, schools must show due regard to the general duty and its three “components” as well as complying with a set of specifications. The three components to the PSED are:

1. Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under this Act
2. Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it
3. Foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it

This means that schools are still required to take proactive steps to tackle discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and foster good relations.

Explicit incidents which contribute to inequality include racism, sexism, classicism or any kind of discrimination. Physical violence, verbal abuse, insults, name calling, jokes / ridicule, threats, bullying and graffiti are some of the manifestations of this.   Any such undermining of a person’s sense of worth or self esteem is unacceptable.

The school has a legal duty to implement and monitor an equal opportunities policy, and this is our latest update. Norton Road is proud of its excellent record of harmony, showcased by our zero permanent exclusion and very low general exclusion, bullying and racist incident record.