Equality Objectives

The Beacon CE Primary School is an inclusive school. We are committed to ensuring equality of education and opportunity for all pupils, staff, parents and carers receiving services from the school, irrespective of race, gender, disability, faith, religion or socio-economic group and recognising the protected characteristics in the Equality Act. Working in partnership with parents, we provide a happy, stimulating environment rooted in Christian values.

All are cared for and nurtured spiritually, morally, intellectually, physically, socially and emotionally.

Click on a policy to read our:

• Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy 2021-2024 – Trust Policy
• Equal Opportunities Plan 2024
• Accessibility Plan and Policy 2024

Other policies are under Key Information – Policies on our website.

Under the Equality Act 2010, we welcome our general duty to –

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by The Equality Act 2010
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.

We recognise our specific duties which aims to assist us to meet our general duty-

• To annually publish information on how we are complying with the Equality Duty including to publish information on our school population.
• To publish equality objectives every four years, which show how we plan to tackle particular inequalities and reduce or remove them.

Our School Population

At the Beacon CE Primary School, we believe that diversity is a strength, which should be respected and celebrated by all those who learn, teach and visit here. Our school is a Church of England Primary School, however we welcome children from all backgrounds, abilities, races and religions.

Our school population evidences the inclusive nature of our school.

Our school is a two form entry school and in September 2024 we had 481 pupils on roll.

53% of our pupils are boys (254) and 47% are girls (227).

Our pupil population consists of children from British, Indian, White and Black Chinese, White European, Nigerian, Gypsy/Roma, Latin American, Pakistani, White and Black Caribbean, other Black African, other mixed background and other Asian ethnicities. We have 31 languages spoken as the children's first language in our school.

Although the majority of our pupils are from a Church of England background we also have pupils who are Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Catholic, Hindu, and others identified as other or no religion.

We have children who are Autistic; have been assessed as dyslexic, have ADHD or have hearing impairments.

Our school has 42% pupils (175) entitled to Pupil Premium (Rec-Y6).

We have adopted the LDST Complements and Complaints Policy 2024. In 2023-2024 the school received 0 complaints.

Governing Body and Staff Diversity

As a school we recognise that a diversity of thought, voices and perspectives is essential to good governance and the effective running of any organisation. We collect diversity information from our governors and staff and depending on current data, can use this to:

• target recruitment to address gaps in experience and diversity
• develop and adapt board practices to ensure full participation
• prioritise training and awareness in identified areas
• address potential 'blind spots' through seeking wider advice and perspectives on current upcoming opportunities, challenges and risks

However, we are unable to publish this information as it would mean that individual members of our governing body and staff are identifiable. The LDST, will publish in the near future, diversity information across the Trust schools. This will be available on their website.

Our actions to meet our Equality Duty

Each year, we evaluate what we have achieved against the Equality Act general duty to –

Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation

We

• Became a DFE recognised Behaviour Hub, supporting other schools in their journey
• Become a Centre of Excellence for Inclusion, this is an opportunity for us to build on our success and brings other schools together to share and build on their existing good practice in inclusion
• Achived the Rainbow Award in January 2024
• Achieved the School of Sanctuary Award in September 2023
• Achieved Silver in the Christian Aid Global Neighbours Accreditation Award - May 2022
• Achieved Silver in UNICEF The Rights Respecting School Award November 2022

Reviewed and updated

• Behaviour Policy September 2024
• Anti-Bullying Policy October 2024
• Admission Arrangements for 2024-2025
• RE curriculum revised - celebrating religious differences to challenge issues of prejudice and intolerance.
• Children visited various places of worship in the year including visits to a Hindu Temple, the Anglican Cathedral, Sikh  Temple, Buddhist meditation and a Mosque.
• Staff and Governor joint training on equality issues.
• We have celebrated Anti-Bullying Week, Black History Month, We Serve Week, Geography Day and World Autism Week.

Advance equality of opportunity

• Reviewed Pupil Premium Strategy 2024-2027 annual review, identifying issues and actions to be taken to tackle disadvantage.
• Accessibility Plan to improve access to the building, curriculum and information for disabled pupils and adults.
• LDST Staff Pay Policy 2024.
• Ensured recruitment procedures for staff encouraged applications from all communities.
• Ensured vacancies in the Governing Body were open to everyone eligible and encouraged interest from all, trying to reflect the community the school serves.

Foster good relations

• Parent’s questionnaire highlighted the school as a socially, racially and religiously inclusive school. 100% of parents responded that their child felt safe and were well looked after. Parents noted that the school has strong links with the Church and also demonstrates a wider understanding of different faiths and cultures.
• SEND parent meetings held throughout the school year and all parents have access to workshops held which offer SEND support.
• We supported parents with applications for Secondary and Reception admissions.
• We annually write a review of actions of the Governing body and upload on the school’s website.

We have agreed to set Equality Objectives annually as per LDST Policy.

Our objectives for 2024-2025 are:

• To provide a quality learning experience for each child in which all adults actively promote equality, inclusion and a celebration of diversity.
• Embed adaptive teaching to meet the needs of all children to further strengthen all teachers.
• Continue to develop our positive relationships with families to ensure learning is personalised to support children with SEND.

Actions and timescales to achieve these objectives are detailed in our SEN School Improvement Plan and are regularly monitored and reviewed.