It is important to support participation and equality of access so that all pupils’ have the same opportunities regardless of personal background, culture or anyone who may suffer a physical problem or have learning difficulties(SEN). In order to achieve this we have to involve the children in finding out what works well in school and what does not.
It is vey important that involving the children in this process would make them more confident, feel more valued and part of the school.The Equality Act 2010 states that there are seven different types of discrimination, which are: - direct discrimination: discrimination because of a protected characteristic. - Associative discrimination: direct discrimination against someone because they are associated with another person with a protected characteristic. (This includes carers of disabled people and elderly relatives, who can claim they were treated unfairly because of duties that had to carry out at home relating to their care work.It also covers discrimination against someone because, for example, his or her partner is from another country.
) - Indirect discrimination: when you have a rule or policy that applies to everyone but disadvantages a person with a protected characteristic. - Harassment: behaviour deemed offensive by the recipient. Employees can claim they find something offensive even when it's not directed at them. - Harassment by a third party: employers are potentially liable for the harassment of staff or customers by people they don't directly employ, such as a contractor.- Victimisation: discrimination against someone because they made or supported a complaint under Equality Act legislation.
- Discrimination by perception: direct discrimination against someone because others think they have a protected characteristic (even if they don't). If we just ignored these guidelines we would not be offering the children the same opportunities as those we didn’t discriminate against.It is important that the school has regular reviews of its policies. A school should have a mission statement that will be shown on the website and a written policy. These will set out the rights and responsibilities of everyone within the school. There may also be a set of separate policies that could include:- Race/cultural, diversity- Equality of opportunity/inclusive practice- safeguarding/bullying- Gifted and talented pupils- SEN- Disability and access.
