equal opportunities policy - Framlingham Sir Robert Hitchams CEVA ...

FRAMLINGHAM SIR ROBERT HITCHAM’SCEVAP SCHOOLCOLLEGE ROADFRAMLINGHAM WOODBRIDGESUFFOLK IP13 9EPTelephone: 01728 723354Fax: 01728 724834Headteacher: Mrs J Elphick BSc(Hons) Deputy Headteacher: Mrs J Colchester BEd(Hons)Web Address: www.hitchams.suffolk.sch.ukHead email: head@hitchams.suffolk.sch.uk School email: admin@hitchams.suffolk.sch.ukEQUAL OPPORTUNITIES POLICYMrs F Stevens and Rev. M VipondReviewed JM Elphick C MillerNovember 2002Reviewed November 2006Ref: Policies/Equal OppSuffolk County CouncilEducation DepartmentDavid PeacheyCounty Director of Education

At Framlingham Sir Robert Hitcham’s CEVAP School we are concerned with justice forall, raising expectations and enabling each individual to have a wider choice in life andthe opportunity to fulfil his or her potential.OUR GENERAL SCHOOL AIMS ARE TO:• Provide an environment that is caring, nurturing and supportive for all those who workin our school.• Provide a curriculum that enables children to acquire the knowledge and skills to fitthem for adult life.• Treat the children as individuals where each child will be encouraged to realise his orher full potential.• Relate the school to the wider community of the area it serves.• Encourage a spiritual awareness in the children through close links with local churches– in the villages as well as the town – assemblies, community linked charity eventsand formal RE lessons.STATEMENT OF MISSION IN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIESAt this school we endeavour to provide an environment where every member of the school isregarded as being of equal worth and importance; where there is freedom from discriminationon grounds of race, gender, language, religion, class, lifestyle, cultural background, age,disability or special learning needs.Equal opportunities are the right of everyone; pupils, teaching and non-teaching staff,parents, governors and those in the larger community in which our school is found.Such opportunities give equal chances to all, where each individual is valued and respectedfor who they are.Our buildings are arranged on several levels with connecting flights of stairs. We recognisethat these physical arrangements may be extremely difficult for people with some disabilities.However, all effort is made to accommodate them.CURRICULUM AND MANAGEMENT ISSUESThe staff at the school are careful to provide positive support for individual children in allareas of need be they linguistic, conceptual, social physical or pastoral.With this support all children are given equal access to the National Curriculum includingPhysical Activity. We realise that monitoring and recording progress are important aspects ofequal opportunity. SAT results, 6+, 8+, 10+ reading scores and teacher assessment arerecorded, monitored and evaluated. We are aware of the present national trend for girls toachieve relatively better than boys and we endeavour to assist and support all children who2

are underachieving through our programme of special needs support, both in the classroomand in the small removal groups, which at the moment appear to have a higher proportion ofboys in them than girls, and in our approach to those who appear disadvantaged.At this school the teachers recognise the importance of a broad and balanced curriculum forall the pupils and this may lead to some positive encouragement in certain areas of thecurriculum for gender groups.National research has pointed to the fact that on the whole boys appear to demand moreteacher attention in class time especially during discussions. We are aware of this trend andendeavour to encourage all to participate in class discussions; sometimes this may involvepositive discrimination towards the quieter, or less involved, members of class.Through a variety of core and foundation subjects children are encouraged to developattitudes that value all people, they develop the ability to discuss, evaluate, form opinions andmake comments using evidence rather than myths, preconceived ideas, stereotypes or bias.Through using these critical skills children become aware that there are many ways to look ata situation.In assemblies, RE lessons, history or geography topics pupils learn about the multi-culturalsociety in which we live in the UK and in the world, and in this way, learn to respect theachievements of a variety of cultures.We endeavour to encourage courteous play. Play areas are set aside for quieter play orsitting and chatting including a ‘Friendship Stop’ for Key Stage 1 children to nurture inclusivesocial interactions. Other areas are used for more lively play and running and ball games.The school has an active policy against bullying, name calling or any unkind commentstoward the more vulnerable members of our community, see both the Discipline Policy andthe Anti-Bullying Policy.RESOURCESBooks, radio and television programmes, collections of artefacts, displays around the school,library and classrooms, are monitored on an ongoing basis for bias towards or against anyone group of society eg gender, race, culture or class etc.Throughout all aspects of life at the school it is our policy to:• Broaden the horizons and understanding of children and to enrich theirexperience of the world in which they live;• To enable them to make informed choices about their lives;• To encourage respect and interaction between staff and pupil;• To develop celebration of diversity and difference.3