Public Sector Equality Duty

The PSED was introduced by the Equality Act 2010 and applies to all schools, including maintained and independent schools, academies, maintained nursery schools, and maintained and non-maintained special schools.

The PSED has 3 main elements

These are:

  • Eliminating discrimination and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
  • Advancing equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it
  • Fostering good relations across all characteristics – between people who do share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

The protected characteristics are:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Race
  • Disability
  • Religion or belief
  • Sexual orientation
  • Gender reassignment
  • Pregnancy or maternity
  • Marriage and civil partnership

Paragraph 5.4 of the DfE’s advice says that ‘due regard’ has been defined in case law and means giving “relevant and proportionate consideration to the duty”.

For schools, this means:

  • Decision makers must be aware of the duty to have due regard when making a decision or taking an action, and must assess whether it may have implications for people with particular protected characteristics
  • Schools should consider equality implications before and at the time that they develop policy and take decisions, not as an afterthought, and they need to keep them under review on a continuing basis
  • The PSED has to be integrated into the carrying out of the school’s functions, and the analysis necessary to comply with the duty has to be carried out seriously, rigorously and with an open mind

We have a clear vision and values which makes clear the expectation that all staff act in a non-discriminating manner and are mindful to avoid actions that will be deemed as such to the public and our wider community.

We have up-to-date and ratified policies which set out a clear message that discrimination is not tolerated: staff code of conduct, behaviour, anti-bullying, safeguarding and child protection. 

We understand that it is unlawful to fail to make reasonable adjustments to overcome barriers to using services caused by disability.

The governing body and school leaders involved in recruitment will avoid unlawful discrimination in all aspects of employment including recruitment, promotion, opportunities for training, pay and benefits, discipline and selection for redundancy. 

Through a structured PSHE curriculum offer, literacy texts, assemblies, workshops and visits, equalities will be discussed with and taught to the children, exemplifying the British Values and school values that we believe in. 

We provide equality of opportunity by:

  • Collecting data based on pupils who share protected characteristics in relation to attendance and performance.  This information is used to inform policies, plans, support, training and spending.
  • Our curriculum provides opportunities for pupils to develop understanding about issues related to race, disability and gender.
  • All pupils are encouraged to participate fully in school life.
  • Incidents of bullying based on race, disability or gender are recorded and monitored.  Incidents are reported to the governing body and the Local Authority.
  • Role models which reflect differences in race, ability and gender are actively promoted within school.
  • Resources used in school reflect the diversity of modern Britain as can be seen in the range of texts used by pupils in class and on offer in our library. 
  • Parent governor elections are open to all parents.