GEARIES INFANT SCHOOL
(1) PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE
(i) Member of staff for co-ordinating the development, implementation, evaluation and review of policy - Mr. R. Drew (Head Teacher)
(ii) Named governor for supporting the school, keeping up to date with relevant issues and attending any relevant training – Mrs Felicia Gonsalves
(2) CONTEXT
The school is situated in Gants Hill, Ilford, a part of the outer London borough of Redbridge. 85 % of the pupils on roll are of minority ethnic origin. The main minority ethnic groups are Indian, Pakistani and Black/Caribbean.
There are currently 19 refugee/asylum seekers on roll in the school.
· To build on the school’s core values and ethos to implement the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 as follows:
(i) to promote racial equality
(ii) to promote good race relations
(iii) to eliminate unlawful discrimination.
· To implement the CRE Standards for Racial Equality in Schools: Learning for All.
(4) STATEMENT
· The Governors and staff of Gearies Infant School are committed to ensure equal opportunities for all to succeed, prevent all forms of racial discrimination and promote good race relations.
· We are already committed to monitoring and promoting achievement of all ethnic groups and recording any racist incidents, monitoring them and responding quickly and effectively.
· We will continue to be vigilant in all aspects of school life which may hurt or disadvantage any member of the school community and racist bullying and harassment will not be tolerated. Racism in all its forms is not acceptable and will be challenged generally as emphasised by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.
· We will endeavour to ensure that our staff reflect the local community and that training and promotion opportunities are seen to be an equal possibility for all staff.
· We will work within the provision of the law and do our best to ensure that we meet the Standards for Racial Equality in Schools: Learning for All.
(5) RESPONSIBILITIES
The school’s Governing Body is responsible for:
- making sure the school complies with the amended Race Relations Act 1976
- making sure the race equality policy and its procedures are followed
The Head teacher is responsible for:
- making sure the race equality policy is readily available and that governors, staff, pupils, and their parents and guardians know about it
- making sure the race equality policy and its procedures are followed
- producing regular information for staff and governors about the policy and how it is working, and providing training for them on the policy, if necessary
- making sure all staff know their responsibilities and receive training and support in carrying these out
- taking appropriate action in cases of racial harassment and racial discrimination
- dealing with reports of racist incidents
- co-ordinating work on racial equality
All staff are responsible for:
- dealing with racist incidents, and being able to recognise and tackle racial bias and stereotyping
- promoting equal opportunities and good race relations, and avoiding discrimination against anyone for reasons of race, colour, nationality or ethnic or national origins
- keeping up to date with the law on discrimination, and taking up training and learning opportunities
Visitors and contractors are responsible for:
- knowing and following the race equality policy
(6) STANDARDS FOR RACIAL EQUALITY IN SCHOOL
· The school audited its provision according to the Standards. The seven areas for the standards are:
A. Policy, Leadership and Management.
B. Curriculum, Teaching and Assessment.
C. Admissions, Attendance, Discipline and Exclusion.
D. Pupils – Personal Development, Attainment and Progress.
E. Attitudes and Environment.
F. Parents, Governors and Community Partnerships.
G. Staffing – Recruitment, Training and Professional Development.
· We have chosen four areas to work on as a matter of priority. These are:
(i) Assessment
(ii) Communication
(iv) Training
(v) Evaluation and review
(6) ACTION PLAN FOR CRE STANDARDS
|
AREA 1: Assessment |
|||||
|
Issues focused on |
Tasks |
Led by |
Date by |
Success Criteria |
|
|
Pupil attainment |
(i) collect data on SATs, Year One and Reception year group end of year assessment data, cross referenced to ethnicity (ii) produce sets of data that analyse attainment within ethnic groups (iii)Analyse information, review provision and create an action plan to address any issues |
Annually in October |
|||
|
AREA 2: Communication |
|||||
|
Issues focused on |
Tasks |
Led by |
Date by |
Success Criteria |
|
|
(i) translate key communications to parents into target languages (Lithuanian, Mandarin, Tamil, Bengali, Somali) to aid better communication, especially reports, invitations to consultations and questionnaires (ii) develop contacts with parents and carers who are willing to translate for the school |
Ongoing |
The school communicates effectively with all families. Parents and carers from all ethnic groups communicate successfully with the school. |
|||
|
(i) monitor attendance of parents and carers at consultation meetings by ethnicity (ii) analyse attendance and review school’s success at reaching families from ethnic minorities |
Ongoing |
Families from all ethnic groups are equally involved in their children’s education |
|||
|
AREA 3: Training |
|
||||
|
Issues focused on |
Tasks |
Led by |
Date by |
Success Criteria |
|
|
Staff training |
All staff to receive training on second language acquisition and how to effectively support the English language development of their pupils. |
EMA teacher |
Ongoing |
Staff are able to meet the needs of children from ethnic minorities |
|
|
AREA 4: Evaluation and review |
|
||||
|
Issues focused on |
Tasks |
Led by |
Date by |
Success Criteria |
|
|
The impact of the policy |
(iii) review the policy at regular intervals (iv) analyse the relative success of ethnic groups in SATs (v) monitor complaints received (vi) monitor recorded racist incidents (vii) consider action necessary to counter racism |
Head Teacher and the Governing Body |
Annually |
The policy has a positive impact of promoting tolerance and reducing racist incidents |
|
When reviewing all other school policies, we will use the Race Equality Policy to underpin and inform future editions.
Incidents of racial harassment will always be taken seriously. All incidents will be reported to the Head Teacher.
Incidents involving children:
- these procedures are documented in the school’s Behaviour Policy – refer to this for detail
Incidents involving members of staff and governors:
- the Head Teacher or Chairman of the Governing Body will investigate all complaints in line with the school’s Complaints procedures – see this document for detail
Incidents involving parents and carers:
- all incidents will be investigated by the Head Teacher.
- following investigation if allegations are substantiated, inappropriate behaviour will be challenged and if necessary a reprimand will be given
- if incidents are recurrent a ban from school premises may be considered
In all cases where racial harassment is confirmed, the school will rigorously challenge all inappropriate behaviour and attitudes, and record all incidents. Support will be sought for victims and appropriate measures will be taken with perpetrators. All incidents will be reported to the Governing Body and the LEA at regular intervals. Support for children within the curriculum will be offered via the PSE and RE curricula.
(6) HANDLING COMPLAINTS
|
Issue |
Personnel to be trained |
Date by |
Organised by |
|
All staff to receive training on second language acquisition and how to effectively support the English language development of their pupils |
Teachers and Teaching Assistants |
Ongoing |
EMA teacher and Head Teacher
|
(10) REVIEW
Date policy drawn up: April 2002
Date of last review: November 2005
Date of next review: 2008
Signed (Head Teacher) ………………………………………………………………
Signed (Chairman of Governors) …………………………