Celebrating Equality and Diversity Booklet 2012 - Leeds City College

about us...play your partleedscitycollege.ac.ukLeeds City College is committed tomeeting the needs of all learnersregardless of; age; disability; genderreassignment; marriage/civilpartnership; pregnancy/maternityleave; race; religion or belief; sex;sexual orientation.All students at Leeds City Collegeare entitled to learn in a supportiveenvironment and we look to be an inclusivecollege that attracts students from all partsof the city and surrounding areas.Guidance and information in respect ofwhat we do in relation to all aspects ofequality and diversity, including how wemeet our legal duties, is available on thecollege website.We appreciate the need to continue towork hard to keep moving forward asequality is a continuing journey.What this booklet is about is providing aflavour of what that means in practice forour students by celebrating our diversity,some of our achievements to date and ourplans for the future.How we support our studentsCommitment to equality and diversity startsfrom the very top at the college with thegovernors taking their responsibilities veryseriously. All undertake regular equalityand diversity training and one is assignedlead responsibility and sits on our strategicequality and diversity committee, which ischaired by the college principal and includesboth staff and student representatives.To support their work the college has set uptask groups, open to all staff and students,who champion specific aspects of equalityincluding: age; disability, gender; racereligion or belief. This is complemented bythe work of our Student Support Services,Curriculum Equality Champions andworking groups.The college also has a dedicated Equality &Diversity Manager to support and provideguidance for the staff and students inrespect of all aspects of equality.The key element in our successfullysupporting our students however comesfrom the support and commitment of ourstaff, both in curriculum and support areas,in welcoming everyone irrespective of theirbackgrounds, celebrating the diversity ofthe student body and ensuring any instancesof bullying, harassment or discriminationare challenged and addressed. Curriculumand student support teams in particular takeleading roles in embedding equality anddiversity in the curriculum, so every studentis given the opportunity to make the mostof their time at college and prepare fortheir future roles in the community.The Student Union has an important partin supporting equality and diversity too.The Student President is a member of theequality and diversity committee and thestudent union appoint equality officersto support the promotion of equality anddiversity.