Equality

The Equality Act 2010: how will it affect recruitment?

scameron — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:05:35 +0000

The Equality Act 2010 came into force on 1 October 2010, replacing a large number of discrimination statutes and statutory instruments dating back to 1975. For the most part, the Equality Act consolidates the law, but there are some changes to the law that employers need to be aware of.

What are the changes?

Ensuring equality for disabled staff

scameron — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:42:33 +0000

As business managers we are responsible for creating an open and supportive environment for all employees in the school and at times we may need to make changes or ‘reasonable adjustments’ to enable our staff to meet their objectives and performance targets and this includes any employee who has a disability.

The equalities law: implications for those working in education

scameron — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:19:50 +0100

There are major changes on the horizon in the employment sphere in the shape of the equality bill which completed the Commons Committee Stage in July 2009, and which contains a number of important proposed changes to equalities law. Sarah Houston looks at the implications for the education sector.

Disability equality – the duty in schools

scameron — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:26:38 +0100

The law relating to disability discrimination is complex, and an increasing number of schools are finding themselves subject to legal challenge on the grounds of disability discrimination. Susie Roome discusses your responsibilities and obligations towards disabled pupils, and how recent case law may assist in successfully defending these challenges.

What disability equality law applies to the education sector?

How to teach boys through play

scameron — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:11:09 +0100

Having taught largely in Key Stage 2 during my teaching career, I decided to try my hand with younger children for three very clear reasons. Firstly, in working with many schools and individual teachers around the country, I had come to realise that where the really important, ground- breaking stuff is going on in education at the moment, is in the early years. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that there is a revolution going on in the world of birth to five.

Gender differences in school: implications for education

scameron — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:40:48 +0100

We live in a world rich in data – possibly too rich! The statistics from the Foundation Stage Profile Results for England for 2007-08 show that girls continue to outperform boys in all 13 assessment scales. The gap is particularly wide in the following areas:

Case law: Religious dress and effective teaching

scameron — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:38:43 +0000

QUESTION: Can the school restrict a teacher’s religious observance if it interferes with her work?

ANSWER: The case of Azmi v Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council, [2007] ELR 339, concerned Mrs Azmi, a bilingual support worker at a junior school. Her job required her to work as part of a team to support the learning and welfare of pupils, and to assist with children from ethnic minority backgrounds.

When can a religious student be exempt from uniform policy?

scameron — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:15:22 +0000

Fortinbras, in Hamlet, goes to war over ‘a little patch of ground that hath in it no profit but the name.’ In the recent case of Watkins-Singh, which reached the High Court, war broke out between a school and one of its pupils over a plain steel bangle about 5 millimetres wide. The bangle was a Sikh Kara, which is worn by Sikhs as a sign of their identity and faith.

The Kara did not meet the uniform requirements of the school, which stipulated that no jewellery other than a wrist watch and one pair of plain metal studs in the ear were permitted.

Obligation to educate Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children

scameron — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:12:02 +0000

QUESTION:

How should their educational needs be balanced against those of the community at large?

ANSWER:

The case of Hughes v The First Secretary of State and South Bedfordshire District Council [2007] ELR 1, CA looked at this question.

Mr Hughes was head of one of four Traveller families who bought a site for their caravans. The site, in the green belt, was subject to stringent planning restrictions.

Girls from ethnic minorities: sports participation

scameron — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 11:47:42 +0000

Current research indicates that a significantly large proportion of females from ethnic minorities, particularly those from South Asian communities (e.g. Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, and Indians) are failing to participate in physical activity in the UK. Reliable data on participation trends which pertains to women from South Asian communities is scarce. The aim of this study therefore was to make a contribution that will help to shed light upon the real and lived experiences of South Asian females and their engagement with physical activity in the UK.

Introduction

Promoting equal opportunities at school: a case study

scameron — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 14:17:04 +0100

School context

Achieving gender equality in teaching and learning

scameron — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:57:56 +0100

It is now more than a year since the gender equality duty became compulsory for schools. But what has this meant to everyday practice? This article takes a look, beginning with a resume of gender equality issues that schools have had to address.

Despite the best efforts of schools, there are still inequalities in the aspirations, achievements and expectations of boys and girls.

Audit tool for promoting racial equality

scameron — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 15:08:22 +0100

It includes an extensive audit tool for you to print and fill out to help in reviewing your whole-school approach to promoting racial equality.

Written by Simon Blake and Patrice Lawrence

Taken from Management Briefing (no longer published)

Self-evaluation for school improvement: steps 1 & 2

scameron — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 14:49:13 +0100

The first step outlines how to establish what your school should focus one when making improvements, while the second helps you to determine what evidence should be collected when carrying out the process.

Each section includes questionnaires and SWOT analysis sheets to steer you in the right direction.

Written by Gill Bracey

Activity: Identifying and challenging stereotypes

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:28:26 +0100

Identifying stereotypes

Written by Tina Rae, Nisha Nakarja & Patricia Velinor

Secondary Assembly: Charity appeals

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:42 +0100

Resources

A leader and two readers. (The record: Let them Know it's Christmas may be used.)

Sources:

The Times, 22 and 27 May.

The Observer, 17 Oct, 2004, located by the Guardian website.

Engagement

Secondary Assembly: The Epsom suffragette

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:42 +0100

Resources

You will need six readers.
Reader 1 should be a girl, if possible draped with sashes of purple, white and green ribbons. This is Emily Wilding Davison.
You also need a male reader to read the words of the King, Reader 5, and a female reader to read the words of the Queen, Reader 6.

You can also download the original film

Engagement

Secondary Assembly: A woman's place is in the lab

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:41 +0100

Resources

a lab coat
three readers
the assembly is based on a news story in the Sunday Times on 11 May 08.

Engagement

Primary Assembly: The Birdman of the Alps

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:41 +0100

Birdman of the Alps

Resources

It will be useful to have access to these web pages:

Watch Yves launching himself, flying and landing – to the tune of Elton John’s Rocketman. It lasts 1 minute, 42 seconds.

Primary Assembly: Lost and found – the £2 million violin

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:40 +0100

Assembly Plan

Lost and found – the £2million violin

This assembly highlights the feelings of a person losing something precious and the honesty of the cab driver. It makes the point, too, that both the violinist and the cab driver are immigrants, working hard to make their way in a new land, each adding value in his own way.

Resources

Quint’s website has pictures of him.

Enrichment Activities: Listening and Citizenship

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:39 +0100

This week's primary enrichment activity gets pupils to think about sounds, using the example of scientists who are recording the noises from under the ice shelf in the Antarctic sea.

This week's secondary enrichment activity uses the example of a pensioner who has successfully put up a roadblock on his street, to get pupils to consider community and citizenship.

***Primary Enrichment***

KS2: Listening, and applying knowledge and understanding

Secondary Assembly: Martin Luther King - 40 years on

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:39 +0100

Summary:

This assembly looks at the influence of Martin Luther King, forty years after his assassination.

Resources

You will need two readers.

Engagement

Reader 1: Forty years ago, on 4 April 1968, the black preacher and leader, Martin Luther King, was assassinated. The night before he had died, he had given a speech in which he had to compare himself to Moses, looking over to see the promised land but never getting there with his people, as Moses died on the mount overlooking it.

Secondary Assembly: Loyalty

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:38 +0100

Summary

This week's assembly examines the issue of loyalty. It challenges listeners to question where their loyalties lie and whether the whole idea of loyalty still stands in the twenty-first century. It also explores what people might consider being loyal to.

Resources

Six readers.

Engagement

All readers to say the following, one by one:

Legal obligations on uniform policy

sara — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 12:21:33 +0100

In the first issue of Legal Expertise we have decided to look at school uniform. Over the last two years there have been a number of legal challenges mounted to aspects of school uniform policies and in response the DCFS issued new comprehensive guidance to schools last month. However, last week news broke of a further legal challenge relating to the rights of pupils to wear religious symbols, this time from a 14-year-old Sikh pupil whose school has barred her from wearing a silver Kara bangle, one of the five symbols of Sikh identity.

Elective home education: parental rights and constraints

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:49 +0100

Human beings are often characterised by seeking perfect solutions to intractable problems. This is manifested in many forms according to the situation. It can range from looking for the crock of gold at the end of the rainbow to a Valhalla which will satisfy all needs and wants.

'Racism' challenge to exclusion decision

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:46 +0100

The case of Appiah and Another v Governing Body of Bishop Douglass Roman Catholic High School [2007] ELR 217, CA, concerned a fight in the sixth-form common room between two black pupils and two white pupils.

The black pupils, R and F, were in their final year, and were due to complete their GNVQ courses in the summer. One of the white pupils sustained a head injury, and had to be taken to hospital.

Sports world: South Africa

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:44 +0100

In 1992 I met an African National Congress sports spokesman exiled in London to discuss how the changing political situation might end South Africa’s isolation from world sport.

For a young boy who grew up in the English Midlands city of Worcester in the 1960s and whose first sporting hero was Worcestershire and England cricketer Basil D’Oliveira, I had always been dismayed by apartheid and the need for sporting sanctions against South Africa.

School uniform policy and religious belief

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:43 +0100

The case of P v A Local Authority (2007) (not yet reported) looked at the issue of uniform policy and religious belief. The school uniform policy stated that jewellery was not part of the school uniform, and was not to be worn. A new female pupil joined the school. Before she joined, she and her parents signed a home-school agreement acknowledging that the school uniform policy had been explained to them, and that they would comply with it.

Legal basics for teachers: pupils in care

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:43 +0100

The White Paper Care Matters — Time for Change sets out steps that the Government will take, with local authorities and schools, to improve the outcomes of children and young people in care. It builds on responses to the Green Paper Care Matters: Transforming the Lives of Children and Young People in Care.

Managing gender difference issues in the D&T workshop

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:39 +0100

My research project was undertaken as part of a Gatsby Fellowship relating to a Master’s degree research study. It was conducted at Cottingham High School, an 11-18 mixed comprehensive in the East Riding of Yorkshire. Year 7 students were used as the focus for the research, which involved academic study, surveys and lesson observation using new media technology.

Project aims
The aims of my project were to:

understand the theory behind gender difference: Do girls and boys learn differently? Why?

Settling disputes in school

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:33 +0100

Many teachers believe that young people are becoming more difficult and less deferential. This may be so, although we all have read quotes from different historical eras making exactly the same complaints. Public debate on school behaviour exclusions focuses largely on the powers of heads and the rights of the community and individual. The complex bureaucratic rules on exclusion make only implied reference to fundamental values.

African-Caribbean views on slavery

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:33 +0100

The bi-centenary of the passing of the Abolition of the Slave Trade Act and QCA’s recent announcement about the inclusion of slavery in the curriculum present teachers with a variety of opportunities to explore the legacy of the slave trade both past and present within society. For students of African-Caribbean descent the topic may be one to which they are particularly sensitive. If taught badly it can create feelings of hurt, alienation and discomfort and students may find themselves silently seething.

Living together in the UK

Uniform and religion: is your school policy watertight?

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:32 +0100

One of the functions of a school governing body is to decide whether there ought to be a school uniform, and to consider other rules relating to appearance (for example hair colour and style, the wearing of jewellery and make-up).

But governors do not have a free rein — they must take law and guidance into account, and be aware of religious and racial discrimination issues. This article sets out the latest law.

Religious belief

Promoting disability equality

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:31 +0100

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) sets out a general duty to promote disability equality with a specific duty which applies to local authorities and publicly funded schools. This includes a requirement to prepare and publish a disability equality scheme showing how a public authority is meeting its general duty.

Ensuring race equality in education

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:30 +0100

‘Education has a key role to play in eradicating racism and valuing diversity.’ This was one of the conclusions announced by Sir William Macpherson in the wake of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry published in 1999.

Educational equalities: raising the stakes

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:29 +0100

Without doubt the educational attainments of young people have a profound influence on their futures and it is still the case that discrimination has a major impact on educational outcomes.

Helping gifted and talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:25 +0100

NAGTY believes that the at-risk cohort of gifted students, drawn from the lowest social/economic backgrounds and ethnic minorities traditionally under-represented in higher education, would benefit greatly from targeted intervention to support their educational progress.

Speaking school finances: support staff

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:25 +0100

By Ruth Bradbury

A friend of mine, a qualified and experienced accountant, was recently lucky enough to be appointed as a business manager at a high school recruiting for the post for the first time.

The selection process was rigorous; the competition was stiff and, on the day of the interviews, the headteacher and governors were keen to put across what an important strategic role they had created.

Mismatching in school sport

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:24 +0100

Physical mismatching in school sport is something we have looked at previously (see this article from October 2006). Mismatching occurs when pupils are teamed with others who are physically inappropriate partners or opponents. Such inappropriate matching can result in injury — for which the school, if it has not followed legal guidelines, could be held negligent.

Teaching global citizenship in school

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:23 +0100

The UN Convention of the rights of the child states that: ‘All children and young people have the right to have a say in the decisions that affect them, to access relevant information and to express their feelings. This statement includes all the children in the world.’

Including disabled children

jlee — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:23 +0100

The law requires everyone providing early years services not to discriminate against those with disabilities. Current relevant legislation includes the Disability Discrimination Act 1995; the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001; and the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (which amends and strengthens the 1995 Act).

How well is diversity promoted in the curriculum?

ewtemp — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:22 +0100

Particularly pertinent after the debates surrounding Celebrity Big Brother, the report advises that there needs to be greater consideration by schools of what is meant by cultural diversity, how it can be achieved through curriculum innovation and how it should be linked to teaching and learning.

Challenging homophobia

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:17 +0100

Homophobia is a real problem in many schools for pupils who are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT). Homophobic bullying destroys lives and shying away from discussion about homosexuality can help fuel a culture of non-acceptance that sets precedents for behaviour in adulthood. One way of tackling homophobia is to talk about homosexuality. Yet for many teachers, gay and straight, talking about same sex relationships with pupils, parents and colleagues, may seem like the hardest thing to do.

Family-friendly working: do you know the rules?

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:14 +0100

The Work and Families Act has now completed its parliamentary stages and received royal assent. Already in effect, it enhances the rights of employees who are pregnant, and whose baby is due on or after 1 April 2007. It also extends the right to request flexible working.

In this article, we will explain how school managers are affected by the new law. Extended rights may seem daunting, but they need not prevent effective workforce management.

Why the changes?

Inclusion and homosexuality

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:14 +0100

The majority of schools and colleges acknowledge that homophobia needs to be challenged alongside other forms of prejudice. However, in this article I argue that few do enough to ensure that gay relationships are recognised as being equally valid as heterosexual ones.

All children are equal…

The veil case, employment, and religious discrimination

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:11 +0100

The media spotlight has recently focused on the issue of religious discrimination in the workplace. The education environment has been particularly under its glare following the suspension of the school teacher Aishah Azmi, and her subsequent tribunal claim.

Ms Azmi, a teaching assistant in a West Yorkshire school, was asked to remove her niqab, a face veil worn by some Muslim women that leaves only the eyes visible, because pupils found it hard to understand her during English language lessons.

Encouraging more male primary teachers

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:11 +0100

In autumn 2005, the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) surveyed 1,000 parents of primary age children and found:

Who says girls can't play on the same team as boys?

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:20:05 +0100

Girl who challenged the football association

Minnie Crutwell is a 10-year-old girl from South London who plays football for the Balham Blazers. In March 2006, she reignited the debate over whether girls should be allowed to play football in mixed teams after they had reached the age of 12.

Your equal opportunities policy - an audit

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:19:58 +0100

Ask yourself these questions and then discuss them with your staff. You should be able to change your policy from a filed-away document to a living reflection of your values.

Do you know where it is?

Is multiculturalism an idea that's past its sell-by date?

admin — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:19:56 +0100

We live in a multicultural society. Schools need to prepare their students for life in such a society. These seem to be truisms. But multiculturalism has had a bad press recently. Trevor Phillips, chair of the Commission for Racial Equality, has suggested that multiculturalism in Britain is leading towards ghettoisation. The underlying concern is that policies designed to recognise and respect different cultural groups may tend to keep these groups separate rather than integrated.