The Equality Act 2010 (Section 149)

At Peel Park Primary School, we pride ourselves on providing a centre of learning excellence based on positive relationships. Through these relationships, children’s curiosity about the world is ignited and a passion to pursue opportunities is unleashed.

Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, schools are subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). This requires schools, in carrying out their functions, to have due regard to the need to:

1. Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010.
2. Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
3. Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

The protected characteristics relevant to pupils in schools are disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

For us, this means:

• Decision-makers must be aware of their duty to have due regard to equality when making decisions, developing policies or taking actions, and must consider whether these may have implications for people with protected characteristics.
• Equality considerations should be addressed before and during the development of policies and the making of decisions, rather than being considered as an afterthought.
• The school should consider whether decisions or actions may disadvantage particular groups, whether reasonable steps are needed to remove or reduce disadvantage, and whether opportunities can be improved for those who may experience inequality.
• The PSED should be integrated into the everyday work and decision-making of the school. Equality considerations should be meaningful, rigorous and proportionate, rather than treated as a tick-box exercise.
• The impact of policies, decisions and actions should be kept under review so that the school can identify and respond to any emerging inequalities.
• In meeting this duty, the school will seek to promote an inclusive culture in which all pupils, staff, parents and members of the school community are treated with dignity, fairness and respect.

Our Objectives

To help eliminate discrimination, increase opportunities for all and foster good relations in the school through the following equality objectives:

• To avoid potential prejudice and increase understanding and practice of equality through direct teaching in all areas of the curriculum and behaviour modelling.
• To increase spiritual, moral, social and cultural development through all aspects of life at our school.
• To provide an environment that celebrates and respects diversity.
• To develop a culture of tolerance, avoiding labelling of learners based purely on a notion of fixed levels of ability.
• To narrow the gap between disadvantaged pupils and other pupils