Introduction
Schools, colleges (and universities) as public bodies are all required to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty within the Equality Act 2010 in terms of both the general and specific duties.
More information and guidance for Somerset schools and colleges around understanding the legislation and practical guidance on how to best meet these duties can be found on the School Equality Page.
Equality and Diversity in the curriculum
Education has an important role to play in both providing equality of opportunity in learning as well as fostering good relations and understanding and appreciation amongst pupils and students of the rich diversity of modern British society. How equality and diversity are represented in the curriculum and more generally in the school environment is also a key facet that Ofsted will seek to understand when considering factors such as the behaviour and attitudes, inclusion, personal development and wellbeing and achievement.
Information to support schools in evaluating and improving how equality and diversity are represented in their curriculum and more generally in the school can be found on our Schools Equality page.
Diversity and Inclusion calendars
Varying organisations produce annual Diversity and Inclusion Calendars to support with curriculum planning.
The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) also produce free resources that schools may wish to access.
Evaluation and standards
- National Education Union – Anti-racism charter – A framework created by the National Education Union to help education settings to explore ideas around race equality and plan how to tackle racism with children, young people and staff.
Guidance on School Uniform and Preventing Hair Discrimination
Fostering good relations and discussing global events
Educate Against Hate provides a wide variety of resources to support schools and colleges to support with discussions and debate around sensitive topics in the news, including ongoing global conflicts, managing difficult classroom discussions and misinformation.
Resources are clearly categorised based on subject area and Age group ranging from Early years through to KS5.
They also provider information that can be shared with Parents.
Reporting discrimination incidents
Education settings should report child-on-child discrimination between children aged 4 to 18 years relating to any of the following categories:
- race
- disability
- sexual
- sexual orientation
- faith and belief
- gender reassignment
- gender fluidity
The incident reporting form can be found on the Support Services for Education website.
Reporting hate crime
If you think the incident could be reported as a hate crime, please contact Avon and Somerset Police.
Support for those victims of a hate crime can be provided through Stand Against Racism and Inequality (SARI).