Policies: Race Equality

WITHERNSEA JUNIOR SCHOOL

 

 

RACIAL EQUALITY & ETHNIC DIVERSITY POLICY

 

  

Reviewed March 2009

To be reviewed March 2012

 

 

WITHERNSEA JUNIOR SCHOOL

 

RACIAL EQUALITY AND ETHNIC DIVERSITY POLICY

 

Rationale

 

It is "the responsibility of every school to prepare young people for the reality of an ethnically and culturally diverse society." (OFSTED (1993)

 

Withernsea Junior School maintains the ideal of 'Education for All', appreciating that in our pluralistic society members of all ethnic groups, whether minority or majority, should be recognised and valued.

 

Children at our school are prepared for a life in a multicultural society.  They are helped towards an awareness that people in Britain today come from a variety of cultural backgrounds and ethnic origins and as such may have their own distinct language, religion and culture, including such aspects as music, food, literature and customs.

 

They are not born with attitudes and values; they learn them.  Attitudes and values, both positive and negative, are formed from what children see and hear around them.  Sometimes they pick up negative views about people based on such things as their skin colour, language, culture or way of life - sowing the seeds of racism.

 

This school promotes the view that education for a multicultural society should be an integral part of every pupil's whole school experience, irrespective of whether our school community is made up of families representing few or many ethnic backgrounds.  Incorporating multicultural perspectives into the curriculum is a way of enriching the education of all our pupils, thereby preparing them for life in a culturally, racially and linguistically diverse society.

 

Aims

 

1.    To recognise, challenge, and endeavour to eliminate racism in whatever form it may manifest, whether at an individual or an institutional level and to ensure that antiracism is embedded within the teaching of the National Curriculum subjects.

2.    To foster an environment which provides genuine equality of opportunity for every member of our school community and which ensures that they are treated as equals.

3.    To promote good relations between people of different racial groups.

4.    To ensure that the needs of all pupils are met and that each child has opportunities to achieve his/her full potential.

5.    To help children to understand that cultural and racial diversity is valued, respected and enriching and help to raise awareness of both issues in our school.

6.    To help children develop the necessary knowledge skills and attitudes to enable them to play a full and active part in our multicultural society.

7.    To ensure that the achievements, similarities and differences of all ethic groups, including white European, are featured in the curriculum.

8.    To develop and foster a sympathetic awareness and acceptance of cultural similarities and differences.

9.    To promote a curriculum which includes teaching about human rights and develops the pupils' understanding of and sympathy for vulnerable minority groups, including refugees and travellers.

10.To enhance the self-esteem of all pupils.

 

(In accordance with the Code of Practice, the weight given to race equality should be proportionate to its relevance).  (Guiding principles 3.2c).

 

Guidelines

 

·      A racist incident record will be kept and an analysis of any incidents will be done termly, to identify any patterns of behaviour whereby individuals or groups can be shown to be regular victims or perpetrators of racial harassment.  This information will be held on a confidential basis.

·      This school will carry out regular curriculum audits with regard to the Racial Equality and Ethnic Diversity policy, the findings from which will be addressed in the school's Action and Development Plans if found to be necessary.  Formal assessment data will be used in the same way.

·      Materials and resources used in all lessons will reflect our culturally diverse society and will avoid the use of any books with stereotypes about black and minority ethnic peoples and communities.

·      Multicultural awareness of staff, pupils and parents will be raised through teaching strategies, people in the community, the teaching of citizenship, links with other organisations, music and food.

·      All parents will be informed of, and encouraged to be involved in, the life of the school regardless of linguistic or ethnic background.

·      The school will ensure that a named co-ordinator for multicultural education and racial harassment exists at all times.  However, the maintenance of the Policy is the joint responsibility of all the staff,

·      Assemblies and collective worship should consistently emphasise the multicultual nature of society, underline the aims of equality, and tackle issues and incidents of racism, in a positive way.

·      The ethos of the school and especially the development of a positive attitude towards other languages and cultures will reinforce the respect and value given to ethnic and racial diversity.

·      In service training will be given to staff if necessary.

·      If the situation arises, special dietary requirements can be catered for sensitively without making the children involved feel they are stigmatised.

 

 

·      Wherever possible the pupils are involved in negotiating, deciding on what is and is not acceptable in our school. In this way the children feel a sense of ownership of and responsibility for the school's commitment to equal opportunities.  Sensitive issues and problems can be addressed through class circle time.

 

Identifying Racial Behaviour

 

All children and adults are encouraged to respect each other's cultural heritage and beliefs and practices and to understand that there are similarities and differences between all people.

 

There are occasions when a child or adult might exhibit racist behaviour towards another person.  These need to be swiftly identified and dealt with, in accordance with the school's behaviour policy.  Parents will be contacted if the racial incident is severe enough to warrant this and their support will be enlisted to ensure that such a situation does not recur.  If there are repeated and sustained incidents from one particular perpetrator, the Education Welfare Officer may also be involved.

 

Racist behaviour can take a variety of forms.  Some of these are more obviously offensive than others.  However, some apparently harmless incidents can be damaging in the long term.  Below are examples of the kinds of incidents that we may encounter.

 

·      Derogatory name-calling insults racist jokes and language.

·      Racist comments during discussions in lessons.

·      Ridicule of an individual for culture.  Differences for example of food, music, and dress.

·      Refusal to co-operate with others because of their ethnic origin.

·      Verbal abuse and threats.

·      Physical assault against a person or group because of colour and/or ethnicity.

·      Racist graffiti.

·      Incitement of others to behave in a racist way.

·      Bringing racist material such as leaflets, comics or magazines into school.

 

Racial Tension

 

It is important that teachers are sensitive to all signs of possible victimisation of individual pupils or groups of pupils and that this should also be reported even where there is no identifiable incident.  Similarly, all behaviour which can be seen as possibly reflecting racial tension within the school as a whole should be reported, for example small groups of pupils form isolated groups within the playground or the classroom.

 

 

 

 

 

Incidents involving Staff

 

An allegation of racist behaviour on the part of any member of the teaching or non-teaching staff is a serious disciplinary matter and will be the responsibility of the Governing Body.  In addition there are specific procedures for dealing with racial harassment as part of staff grievance procedures.

 

Where the victim of alleged racist behaviour is a pupil, the Headteacher should, after careful investigation, seek to resolve the matter informally.  If the matter cannot be resolved satisfactorily at this stage then the parents/guardian should submit the complaint in writing to the Headteacher who will investigate the case further and take the appropriate action.  This should involve the use of formal disciplinary procedures.  Guidance is available from the LEA setting out procedures to be followed in all cases.  Where a member of staff is the victim of racist behaviour by pupils, it is important that full support is given to the member of staff concerned.

 

Incidents Outside School

 

There may well be occasions when racial incidents outside school, or involving perpetrators, are brought to the attention of the Headteacher.  These incidents should be reported to the appropriate authorities and opportunities should also be taken to condemn such incidents publicly.

 

Supporting the Victim

 

It is important that the school creates a climate in which victims of racial incidents feel able to report them.  All staff and pupils should be encouraged to report incidents that they witness and all such reports should be followed up.  Withernsea Junior School recognises the particular vulnerability of pupils with special educational needs who may also be prey to racism within the school but find communication on their position and feelings difficult.  Staff dealing with such incidents should also be sensitive to the issue of retaliation on the part of the victim, which may be a reaction to a long series of relatively minor incidents that have not been reported or dealt with appropriately.

 

Withernsea Junior School will involve parents when offering support to victims and it may be appropriated, in some cases, to involve the Education Welfare Service and other agencies.  Schools need to recognise that the victims of racial incidents may require pastoral support over a long period in order to regain personal confidence.  In addition the school needs to demonstrate its willingness and ability to address the issue of racial harassment.

 

Where the victim of a racial incident is a member of staff, support is available through the staff Welfare Section in addition to support from colleagues.

 

 

Wider Implications

 

In dealing with a racial incident, it is important to recognise the wider implications for the school and the local community.  The school will ensure that all appropriate members of staff are aware of any incident.

 

Reporting Racial Incidents

 

A report will be made to the Governing Body on an annual basis.

 

Links with other school policies

 

The following policies will be amended to include a section that addresses multicultural issues:

 

·      All Curriculum Policies

·      Special Educational Needs

·      Spiritual, Moral and Social and Cultural Development

·      Personal, Social, Health Education and Citizenship

·      Anti-Bullying and Equal Opportunities

 

Reference to this Policy will also be made in consideration of the recruitment and training of staff.

 

Criteria for Evaluating the Success of the Policy

 

Each of the areas of this policy will form the criteria by which its success will be evaluated.

A review of the policy will be carried out annually.

 

APPENDIX 2

 OFSTED EXPECTATIONS

 

Schools should "teach pupils to appreciate and develop their own cultural traditions and appreciate the diversity and richness of other cultures".

 

Attainment and Progress

 

·      analysis of test and exam data by ethnicity

·      evidence of differences by ethnicity

·      how the school responds to the findings of the above

 

 

 

 

Attitudes, Behaviour, Personal Development and Attendance

 

·      analysis of exclusions and attendance by ethnicity

·      evidence of differences by ethnicity

·      differences in pupils' attitudes to work

·      evidence of racial harassment and bullying

·      school's response to each of the above

 

Teaching

 

·      teaching that engages all pupils

·      high expectations of all pupils

·      teaching resources that avoid stereotypes

 

Curriculum

 

A curriculum framework that:

 

·      promotes positive attitudes

·      reflects and values cultural diversity

·      promotes equality of access

 

Leadership and Management

 

·      support for cultural diversity and promotion of good race relations

·      arrangements to monitor and review policies to promote equal opportunities

·      systems to respond effectively to differential attainment behaviour, attitudes and attendance

·      strategies to encourage effective links with all parents and with the wider community.