Our Equality Duties

Borough Road Nursery School and George Dent Nursery Schools are inclusive schools where we focus on the well-being and progress of every child and where all members of our community are of equal worth. We recognise that children and their families come from a wide range of backgrounds with individual needs, beliefs and values.

We aim to:

• provide a broad and balanced curriculum that meets the needs of all children and promotes their spiritual, moral, social and cultural development.
• promote equality and value diversity within our schools and foster good relations with the local community.
• actively include all families and value the positive contribution they make to our schools.
• promote a positive non-stereotyping environment that promotes dignity, respect and understanding of difference in all forms.
• provide a secure and accessible environment in which every child feels safe and equally included.
• improve our knowledge and understanding of issues relating to anti-discriminatory practice.
• challenge and eliminate discriminatory actions on the basis of a protected characteristic as defined by the Equality Act (2010) namely: age; gender; gender reassignment; marital status; pregnancy and maternity; race; disability; sexual orientation; and religion or belief.
• where possible, take positive action to benefit groups or individuals with protected characteristics who are disadvantaged, have a disproportionate representation within the service or need different things from the service.

The Equality Act 2010 requires us to publish information that demonstrates that we have due regard for the need to:

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

We believe that the Equality Act provides a framework to support our commitment to valuing diversity, tackling discrimination, promoting equality and fostering good relationships between people. It also ensures that we continue to tackle issues of disadvantage and underachievement of different groups.

Our approach to equality is based on the following key principles:

1. All learners are of equal value
2. We recognise and respect difference
3. We foster positive attitudes and relationships and a shared sense of cohesion and belonging.
4. We observe good equalities practice in staff recruitment, retention and development.
5. We aim to reduce and remove inequalities and barriers that already exist.
6. We have the highest expectations of all our children.

Our Objectives for 2020-2024 :

1. To ensure all children have access to a wide range of high-quality reading materials, in a variety of media, covering appropriate genres irrespective of race, gender, disability, belief, religion or socioeconomic background

2. To ensure all children experience an effective, sensitive and smooth transition into nursery regardless of race, need, disability or gender, focusing on early identification of individual need

3. Review SEND provision, including identification, provision, staff knowledge, policy and engagement with parents, to ensure the gap is narrowed between the highest and lowest performers, and all children have the positive start to play and learning that they need

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