Racial Equality Policy

Principles and values of our school

Our commitment

Scope of policy

Implementing the policy

Roles and responsibilities

Promoting the policy

Monitoring and Evaluation

Principles and values of our school

At Hexham Middle School

· We believe that everyone in our school is of equal value and should be treated fairly in life.
· We believe that everyone should have their culture and background treated positively and with respect.
· We will treat each other equally, with dignity and respect and seek to promote race equality at all times.
· We are aware that people in our society are discriminated against and treated as if they are worth less than others because of their race or culture but we are determined this will not happen in our school.
· We will identify and remove barriers in order to maximise participation and achievement of all.
· We will ensure high expectations of all.
· We will ensure a positive representation of a wide range of heritages from our community across the curriculum. Back to top

Our commitment

We are fully committed to:
· promoting race equality throughout the whole school;
· promoting good race relations at all times;
· challenging racial discrimination.

We fully recognise and accept the responsibilities placed on us by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 following the MacPherson Report 1999 which requires the school to promote race equality. Back to top

Scope of policy

The Governing body expects all those associated with the school to adhere to this policy and guidelines at all times in their work within and for our school. The policy applies to all colleagues who work in the school on a paid or voluntary basis, all pupils who attend it, together with any visitors or contractors who visit the site. Back to top

Implementing the policy

a) Promoting race equality and good race relations

The school wishes to meet its commitment by addressing as a matter of priority those aspects of practice that have the greatest effect on the school community:

· progress, attainment and assessment
· behaviour, discipline and exclusions
· pupils? personal development and pastoral care
· teaching and learning
· admissions and attendance
· curriculum
· staff recruitment and professional development
· partnerships with parents and communities
· achievement

To achieve this a race equality audit will be carried out and used to inform an Action Plan. This will be based on the auditing tool in ?Learning for All?.

b) Challenging racial discrimination

The MacPherson Report of the Stephen Lawrence inquiry defines a racist incident as: ?any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person?. This definition has been adopted by the County Council and the school.

The school wishes to meet its commitment by:

· challenging inappropriate behaviour and incidents of a racial nature where ever they occur in or outside school premises;
· recording incidents;
· reporting incidents to the Governing Body, parents, Education Directorate and police in an appropriate manner.

All racist incidents will be recorded and parents and governors will be informed of the nature of the incident and the action taken to deal with it. Governing Bodies will be expected to inform the County Council, on an annual basis, of the pattern and frequency of any such incidents. The purpose of the data for the County Council is to enable it to provide relevant support and training within the LEA. Individual school data will be confidential between the school and the County Council. Back to top

Roles and responsibilities

Area of responsibilities

The Governing Body will:

· ensure that the school fulfils its statutory requirements , including recording and reporting racist incidents;
· ensure that its policy is implemented.


The Headteacher will:

· along with the Governing Body, ensure the implementation of the policy;
· ensure all are aware of their responsibilities under the policy;
· ensure all are given appropriate training and support;
· take appropriate action against anyone who does not comply with the policy;
· ensure that there is a senior member of staff with responsibility for overseeing the implementing of the policy.

The staff will know how to:

· promote equality of opportunity, value different lifestyles, and promote good race relations in all aspects of their work;
· access support, guidance and training;
· support and provide access to counselling for victims of racist incidents;
· challenge and support perpetrators to change their behaviour ;
· identify and challenge inappropriate behaviour and incidents of a racial nature;
· record and report racist incidents.

Pupils will:

· respect and value one another within the school and the wider community;
· be helped to understand why antisocial behaviour will not be tolerated.

Visitors, contractors and members of the community will:

· comply with the school race equality policy. Back to top

Promoting the policy

a) Through communication:

· The policy is published and copies are provided to staff and governors.
· Pupils are made aware of the policy and its main purposes.
· Parents are made aware of the policy and its main purposes.
· Parents and pupils are consulted on the development and subsequent revision of the policy.

b) Through training:

· All staff and governors are aware of their responsibilities in respect of the policy and other race relations legislation. Back to top

Monitoring and Evaluation

Hexham Middle School will carry out its duties in relation to monitoring and evaluating the impact of its race policy on pupils, staff and parents from all racial groups. All school policies will also be monitored for their impact on racial issues.

The Governing Body will receive an annual report of the effectiveness of the school policy to promote racial equality. Back to top