The Governors and staff of Upwell Academy are committed to the principle and practice of equality of opportunity.
We have an inclusive ethos which means all staff, pupils and parents work together to ensure that everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, disability or social background can thrive.
Our community is predominately white British but we also serve pupils and their families from other backgrounds. Alongside our commitment to valuing the cultural inheritance of all the pupils in the school, the lack of diversity in our immediate area highlights the need to develop our pupils understanding and appreciation of equality and diversity in both the school and wider British society.
Through our PSHE, RE and assemblies, we ensure our pupils consider and value diversity and celebrate different cultural inheritances, even if they have little direct experience of them.
Pupils are taught to respect and celebrate difference and understand that everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or disability has equal value. Staff model respect and understanding in all their dealings within school. Empathy and care for others are part of our core values.
At Upwell Academy, we see our diversity as one of our key strengths. Everyone who enters our academies (whether they be children, parents, staff and visitors) brings with them a unique experience and perspective and by allowing these experiences to be shared, we believe we are made stronger.
Schools are required to publish information which is updated annually showing how they comply with the equality duty and to set at least one equality objective every 4 years (this can be found on our policies page here)
The need to advance equality of opportunity is defined in the Equality Act 2010 as having due regard to the need to:
- Remove or minimise disadvantages.
- Take steps to meet different needs.
- Encourage participation when it is disproportionately low.
The public sector equality duty extends to the following protected characteristics:
- Race
- Disability
- Sex
- Age (as an employer, not regarding pupils)
- Religion/Belief
- Sexual Orientation
- Pregnancy and Maternity
- Gender Reassignment
What we do:
Our curriculum has been developed to ensure that children are taught about a wide range of topics from all round the world. When planning a unit of work, we ensure that we take into consideration the impact on the protected characteristics listed above. This could include ensuring that a history topic includes learning about the role of women in Anglo-Saxon society or the impact of empires on the indigenous people.
We have developed an open culture at the Academy where children feel comfortable asking questions. We feel this is a key part of misconceptions being challenged.