At Saint Joseph’s Infant and Junior Schools, we welcome our duties under the Equality Act 2010. We aim to reflect the views of the Catholic Church which universally teaches us Respect and Justice for all children in every aspect of their lives, irrespective of colour, culture, gender or ability. Christ did not give any exceptions for this love of our neighbour, therefore any kind of prejudice or discriminatory behaviour is incompatible with our faith.
We recognise that certain groups in society have been disadvantaged because of discrimination they have faced. Despite progress, unfortunately prejudice still exists today both explicitly and implicitly, and many still face discrimination due to their religion, race, sex, disability, gender, marital status, sexual orientation or age.
Our collective Church teachings on human dignity and dignity in work give us a very clear instruction that our communities must not only stamp out prejudice wherever we find it, but take positive steps to building a more equal society. Children are taught to recognise and be a part of our diverse community throughout all aspects of school life. We are committed to anti-discriminatory practice to promote equality of opportunity and valuing diversity for all children and families.
The school’s general duties, with regards to equality are:
- Eliminating discrimination.
- Fostering good relationships.
- Advancing equality of opportunity.
We will not discriminate against, harass or victimise any pupil, prospective pupil, or other member of the school community because of their:
- Sexual orientation.
- Gender reassignment.
- Religion or belief
- Pregnancy or maternity
Saint Joseph’s Infant and Junior Schools aims to promote pupils’ spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development, with special emphasis on promoting equality, diversity and eradicating prejudicial incidents for pupils and staff. Our school is committed to not only eliminating discrimination, but also increasing understanding and appreciation for diversity. We believe that a greater level of success from pupils and staff can be achieved by realising the uniqueness of individuals. Creating a prejudice-free environment where individuals feel confident and at ease is a commitment of the school.
This environment will be achieved by:
- Being respectful.
- Always treating all members of the school community fairly.
- Developing an understanding of diversity and the benefits it can have.
- Adopting an inclusive attitude.
- Adopting an inclusive curriculum that is accessible to all.
- Encouraging compassion and open-mindedness.
We are committed to having a balanced and fair curriculum. We believe that our pupils should be exposed to ideas and concepts that may challenge their understanding to help ensure that pupils learn to become more accepting and inclusive of others. Challenging and controversial concepts will be delivered in a way that prevents discrimination, and instead promotes inclusive attitudes. Saint Joseph’s Infant and Junior Schools do not tolerate any form of prejudice-related incident. Whether direct or indirect, we treat discrimination against all members of our school with the utmost severity. When an incident is reported, through a thorough reporting procedure, our school is devoted to ensuring appropriate action is taken and a resolution is put into place which is both fair and firm.
At Saint Joseph’s Infant and Junior Schools our pupils are taught to be:
- Understanding of others.
- Celebratory of cultural diversity.
- Eager to reach their full potential.
- Aware of what constitutes discriminatory behaviour.
The school’s employees will not:
- Discriminate against any member of the school.
- Treat other members of the school unfairly.
- The school’s employee’s will:
- Promote diversity equality.
- Encourage and adopt an inclusive attitude.
- Lead by example.
Equalities Objectives 2024-2025
Our equalities objectives are as follows:
Objective 1: To promote positive mental health through high quality PHSE, strong pastoral provision and good links with families.
Objective 2: To improve knowledge, skills and attitudes to enable pupils to appreciate and value difference and diversity, e.g. increasing understanding between pupils from different faith communities.
Objective 3: To promote gender equality and tackle gender stereotypes and discrimination to create a gender inclusive learning environment.
Actions to ensure that our equalities objective are met.
