Equality Statement
Rationale
Merstham Primary School is an inclusive school, providing education for pupils aged 2 - 11 years.
Equality of opportunity is a fundamental right for all members of the Merstham Primary School community. We are committed to developing the potential of all people associated with the school.
A new Equality Act came into force on 1 October 2010. The Act requires schools to demonstrate that they are taking action on equality in policymaking, the delivery of services and public sector employment.
Our Equality Policy covers:
- Sex
- Race
- Disability
- Religion or belief
- Sexual orientation
- Gender reassignment
- Pregnancy or maternity
- Marriage and civil partnership
- Age
Age is a protected characteristic within the Equality Act (2010), but not in relation to pupils of any age in a school.
Merstham Primary School ensures that no parent, carer, employee or anyone associated with the school is discriminated against because of their age.
The aim of the policy is to ensure that individual diversity is valued and that rights and beliefs are protected, respected and tolerated. In order to guarantee that this occurs, we must make it an integral part of our thoughts, words and deeds. This policy is intended to have a direct and positive impact on the ethos of the school.
The core values and beliefs of Merstham Primary Primary School are stated within our home school agreement and within our behaviour policy.
Aims
The pupils and staff come from a range of socio-economic backgrounds. Whilst the school is a cohesive community, we recognise the need to actively promote relationships between the various sections of society represented within the school.
Merstham Primary School aims to create a school community which has equality for all at the heart of all we do. We aim to embrace the diversity of the community we serve and as such celebrate all groups represented within it. We will eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment, promote equality of opportunity, and promote good relations and positive attitudes between all people in the school community and beyond.
The purpose of this Policy is to set out how our practice and policies have due regard to the need to:
- Eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation
- Advance equality or opportunity and
- Foster good relationships between groups
