"Diversity is having a seat at the table, inclusion is having a voice, and belonging is having that voice be heard." – Liz Fosslien

Equality Statement 2025 - 2026

At St. Matthew’s CE Primary School & Nursery, measures are taken to create an inclusive culture to ensure equal educational opportunities for all our students and staff at all times.  We do not discriminate on basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation (protected characteristics) in admission or employment and in access to our educational and professional programmes and activities.  We take positive action to provide equal opportunity to all pupils and staff.

To achieve this, our equality objectives are:

• To actively promote cultural development and understanding through a rich range of experiences both in and beyond the school that enable pupils to appreciate their own culture and celebrate the diversity of other cultures.
• To tackle discrimination through the positive promotion of equality, by challenging bullying and stereotypes and by creating an environment which champions respect for all.
• To continually appraise how well the school evaluates equality of opportunities for all its pupils, staff, parents, carers and visitors, particularly in relation to the protected characteristics listed in the Equality Act.

Legal duties

• We welcome our duties under the Equality Act 2010 to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations among all members of the school community and particularly with respect to protected characteristics.
• We welcome our duty under the Education and Inspections Act 2006 to promote community cohesion.
• We recognise that these duties are essential for achieving the five outcomes of the Every Child Matters framework, and that they reflect international human rights standards as expressed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, and the Human Rights Act 1998.  

Public Sector Equality Duty requires us a school to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation 
• Advance equality of opportunity between different groups
• Foster good relations between different groups

Eliminating discrimination and other conduct that is prohibited by the Act

The information provided here aims to demonstrate that we give careful consideration to equality issues in everything that we do at St Matthew's. ‘Due regard’ ensures that we work towards eliminating discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct that is prohibited by the Equality Act.

We are committed to working for equality for all our staff, parents/carers and children to meet our duties under the Equality Act 2010.

We eliminate discrimination through:

• Adoption of the single Equality Scheme
• Implementing our behaviour policy which ensures that all children feel safe at school and addresses prejudicial bullying
• Reporting, responding to and monitoring all racist incidents
• Regularly monitoring the curriculum to ensure that the curriculum meets the needs of our pupils and that it promotes respect for diversity and challenges negative stereotyping
• Teaching of the highest quality to ensure children reach their potential and all pupils are given equal entitlement to success
• Tracking pupil progress to ensure that all children and groups of children make rapid progress, and intervening when necessary
• Ensuring that all pupils have the opportunity to access extra-curricular provision
• Listening to and monitoring views and experiences of pupils and adults to evaluate the effectiveness of our policies and procedures.
• We will work towards developing an equality profile of staff to help us to understand key equality issues in our workforce, including any evidence of pay gaps or ‘occupational segregation’ i.e. staff with certain protected characteristics being over-represented in particular roles, for example, women as cleaners, or at certain grades.  See BDAT Gender Pay Gap Information. Gender Pay Gap Report - Bradford Diocesan Academies Trust

Advancing equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

We advance equality of opportunity by:

• Using the information we gather to identify underachieving groups or individuals and plan targeted intervention
• Ensuring participation of  parents/carers and pupils in school development
• Listening to parents/carers
• Listening to pupils at all times

In addition, we note that it is likely to be useful to collect and consider information, appropriately disaggregated, about:

• recruitment and promotion
• numbers of part-time and full-time staff
• pay and remuneration
• training
• return to work of women on maternity leave
• return to work of disabled employees following sick leave relating to their disability
• appraisals
• grievances (including about harassment)
• disciplinary action (including for harassment
• dismissals and other reasons for leaving.

Fostering good relations across all characteristics – between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

We foster good relations by:

• Ensuring that St Matthew's is seen as a school for everyone within our local community
• Ensuring that equality and diversity are embedded in the curriculum and in collective worship.

We will consult widely:

People affected by a policy or activity should be consulted and involved in the design of new policies, and in the review of existing ones. Where possible, we consult and involve all including those of a protected characteristic.