Equality Statement and objectives 23-24 End of year review
What is the Public Sector Equality Duty?
The Public Sector Equality Duty is a duty on public authorities to consider or think about how their policies or decisions affect people who are protected under the Equality Act. Private organisations and individuals don’t have to comply with the duty.
Who is protected under the Equality Act?
People who are protected under the Act have what’s called protected characteristics.
The characteristics that are protected in relation to the public sector equality duty are:
• age
• disability
• gender reassignment
• marriage and civil partnership
• pregnancy and maternity
• race
• religion or belief
• sex
• sexual orientation
Marriage and civil partnership are also protected characteristics under the Equality Act but it's not covered by the public sector equality duty.
The Coop Academies Trust Equality Objectives (2018)
These equality objectives were approved by the Trust Board on 13 July 2018, and are published on the Trust’s website as part of our commitment to the Public Sector Equality Duty.
1 – Each academy will monitor and analyse pupil achievement and progress by ethnicity, gender and disability, and act on any trends or patterns in this data which identify the need for additional support for pupils with the aim of narrowing the gap for equality groups.
2 – Each academy will publish a statement setting out the actions they intend taking to advance equality, diversity & inclusion during the forthcoming academic year (or from their date of joining the Trust). A report will be provided by the Headteacher / Principal, on request annually, to enable Trust-wide reporting.
3 – The Trust will ensure, as it adopts a Trust-wide HR information system, that this incorporates the ability to provide robust reporting on and monitoring of equalities data.
4 – The Trust will further develop reporting on its gender pay gap and – in future – other pay gaps e.g. ethnicity. It will take positive action to reduce these gaps where possible.
5 – The Trust will take steps to address the risk of “unconscious bias”, initially by raising awareness of this facet of equality and diversity through leadership training, and by introducing ‘blind recruitment’ for all roles across the Trust.
Co-op Academy Nightingale
Our pupils are rich and diverse. The school community provides language, culture and experiences from around the world that creates our school setting - unique, diverse and vibrant. We strive to develop a sense of belonging: to our school, Leeds, Yorkshire and the United Kingdom. We are proud of our location in Harehills, Leeds and want our pupils and community to feel pride in who they are, what they are and who they represent irrespective of sex, race, colour ethnic or national origin, marital status, age, sexual orientation, disability, religious belief or socio-economic circumstance. Therefore,
our equality objectives for 2023-2024 are:
Equality Objective | To Achieve this objective, we plan to: | Progress toward achieving objective: |
To promote diversity to pupils, staff, visitors and parents and carers |
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To promote the involvement of all groups of pupils in the life of the school, including leadership opportunities. (‘life’ of the school means the every-day life of the school ie the operational running) | All groups are encouraged to participate.
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To further parental voice in the school | Opportunities for parental engagement through: - Workshops - Sharing afternoons - Assemblies - Parent Evenings _ coffee mornings. | |
To narrow the gap in attendance rates between children with protected characteristics and and other children in the school |
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At Co-op Academy Nightingale we:
- Believe that diversity is a strength, which should be reflected and celebrated by all who learn, teach and visit Co-op Academy Nightingale.
- Tackle discrimination by the positive promotion of equality, challenging bullying and stereotypes, creating an environment which champions respect for all.
- Provide an environment which enables every pupil to be safe and encourages health.
- Believe that every teacher is a teacher of every child or young person including those with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities (SEND).
- Value every individual and enable them to enjoy their learning, achieve their full potential and economic well-being.
- Enable every pupil to make a positive contribution to their school and community.
- Identify and respond to the diverse and individual needs of our community members.
- Identify and overcome potential barriers to learning.
- Set appropriate learning challenges for every pupil.
- Promote the development of staff to enable them to deliver an exciting, challenging and inclusive curriculum, whilst keeping abreast of local and national changes.
- We will review the progress towards achieving our objectives termly alongside the equality and diversity governor
Approved: September 2023
Last Reviewed: September 2023
Next Review: September 2024