Equality Statement

Equality Statement

At Darlinghurst Academy we believe passionately in the importance of equality and inclusion for all children and adults and strive to ensure that these values are at the heart of our practices.

The Academy has a wonderfully diverse community and welcomes and values everyone whatever their ability, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or background. As a primary school, we believe we have a vital role in combating discrimination and promoting fairness, justice and equality through our teaching and in the role models we offer.

At Darlinghurst we are committed to valuing diversity, tackling discrimination, promoting equality and fostering good relationships between people. We aim to provide an education which is sensitive to individual needs and accessible to all children regardless of special educational need, sexual orientation, sex, gender assignment, race, religion and belief or disability. The Academy seeks to promote awareness, understanding and respect for diversity in our world. This is achieved through celebration of special days and festivals, an engagement with awareness-raising events such as Black History Month, e-safety day and Anti-Bullying week and the embedding of lessons learned through the achievements of individuals from diverse backgrounds across disciplines and through history.

Darlinghurst Academy is an inclusive school where we focus on the well-being and progress of every child. We have high expectations of all our children and strive to ensure that they achieve their potential through engagement with a range of strategies employed to issue challenge at an appropriate level, together with appropriate support to overcome barriers to learning. Children with special educational needs are catered for within their own class and, where useful, may be withdrawn for short periods to work with an adult, individually or in a small group.

Aims

Equality and Inclusion is about making a difference to the lives of the people we teach, treating all people with dignity and respect, and recognising the value of each individual. We are committed to ensuring that our provision meets the varied and individual needs of the children in our school, that our employment practices are fair and promote equality and that we respect the wide variety of lifestyles and cultures.

We work hard to build strong and trusting relationships with our pupils and their families in order to harness their engagement and enjoyment in all aspects of school life. We recognise that pupils and their family members may experience a range of different needs in their lives and we endeavour to meet these needs by working in close relationships with relevant agencies.

We aim to provide a happy, healthy and safe school by:

  • Recognising, reflecting and celebrating the skills, talents, contributions and diversity of all our pupils
  • Providing high quality pastoral care, support and guidance
  • Safeguarding the health, safety and welfare of pupils with linked policies
  • Listening and responding to the concerns of children and parents
  • Taking care to balance the needs of all members of the school community
  • Ensuring all children have access to learning
  • Creating an environment of mutual respect and tolerance
  • Helping children to understand that discriminatory behaviour and remarks are hurtful and unacceptable Equalities and Inclusion
  • Recognising the different learning styles of children, making appropriate provision within the curriculum to ensure each child receives the widest possible opportunity to develop their skills and abilities

We strive to secure inclusive education for our pupils by constantly reviewing and evaluating what we do:

  • Does each pupil achieve as much as they can?
  • Are there differences in the achievements of different groups of pupils?
  • What else can be done for pupils who are not achieving their potential?
  • Are our actions effective?
  • Are all of our pupils happy to be in school?
  • Are all of our staff happy to be in school?

This policy has been developed to

  • Provide clear guidance for the future work of the school on matters of equality and educational inclusion issues
  • Make sense of the wide range of initiatives that promote inclusion and to enable them to operate within a coherent framework that is explicit about the meaning of inclusion, and the principles that should underpin it
  • Bring some cohesion to the different requirements that relate to the groups at risk of social exclusion
  • Challenge discrimination and celebrate diversity
  • Ensure that incidents of racism, racial harassment, bullying or harassment related to sexual orientation or gender, along with any other equalities issues, are dealt with firmly and sensitively
  • Ensure all pupils and staff feel valued and able to contribute fully to all aspects of the school

Please visit the policies page to read the full Equalities and Educational Inclusion Policy