Equalities
Our school vision statement says:
At Carlton Hill, fair means that everybody gets what they need, not that everybody gets the same.
We all have equal rights but we have different needs and we recognise that to provide for these we need to ensure equality of opportunity for all pupils. We aim to build on our similarities and to seek enrichment from our differences and so promote understanding and learning between and towards others to create a cohesive community.
The Equality Act 2010 requires schools to publish information to show how we are working to:
- Eliminate discrimination
- Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic* and people who do not share it
- Foster good relations between groups of people
*Protected characteristic is the term used in the Equality Act to describe a range of different groups, including:
Disabled pupils and those with special educational needs
Gender, including gender reassignment and transgender pupils
Minority ethnic pupils
Pupils for whom English is an additional language
Sexual orientation
Gypsy, Roma and Traveller children
Religion or belief
In addition to these groups, we believe it is important to consider the specific needs of other vulnerable pupils such as those who are looked after, children from refugee families, those who have a carer’s role and children eligible for pupil premium funding.
Our school community is made up of a wide range of families and below is a summary of our census data showing the range of differing groups we have in the school:
Contextual information about our school community taken from Census data from October 2022
214 pupils: 119 boys and 95 girls
30% Pupil Premium (National 22.5% )
27% Free School Meals (National 20%)
15.8% Special Educational Needs (National 13%)
4.2% Education Health & Care Plans (National 2%)
1.8% Disability
51% Minority Ethnic background (National 34%)
23% EAL (National 21.2%)
22 languages spoken – the most common being English, Bengali, Arabic and Pashto.
Religions: 55% No religion, 15% Muslim, 13% Christian, 3% Hindu, 2% Other, 0.5%, Buddhist, 1% Jewish.
Gender identity-We are aware that there may be individual children in our school community who question their gender identity and may express their gender identity in a way that does not conform to stereotypical norms or the biological sex they were born as. We would work with any child and their family to support them if they were gender questioning.
We also know that our parents and carers will be represented across all the protected groups.
What we do:
We aim to give the best possible education to all children and make sure everyone feels equally welcomed and valued. In order to achieve this we have worked hard to ensure that the equalities agenda is threaded throughout all that we do. Our school motto is referenced by staff in all they do and understood clearly by children and families at Carlton Hill.
We have a carefully planned and full PSHE curriculum which includes lessons on gender and family diversity, disability education, democracy and citizenship, global education, protective behaviours, recgonising and challening prejuduiced behaviour, Young Carers and relationship and sex education in all year groups. As well as teaching the children about equality and diversity generally through the curriculum and particularly through our PSHE curriculum, we also regularly discuss these ideas with the children in assemblies and aim to reflect these values in our day to day interactions with the children.
We have developed a Relationaships & behaviour policy which priorities good relatiosnhisp between all the school community and works to ensure the safety and happiness of all and enable all children and adults to be able to work to their best ability. As well as a high ratio of adults on our playgrounds, we have a team of playground buddies who support pupils to use ‘Peaceful Problem Solving’ methods when needed. We have a robust system of recording and reporting racist, homophobic, religiously motivated and other prejudiced based incidents and where we see any patterns develop, will address these through our pSHe culrrlcum or direct work with groups of children. Our Anti-bullying work includes a high profile antibullying week in November, with recent themes focussing on being kind and the importance of standing up for others.
We have an active school council to give pupil voice a clear platform and who work to contribute to the outcomes of the School Development Plan as well as respond to issues raised by pupils throughout the year. Pupil, parent and carer, staff and governor questionnaires are carried out each year, and the findings of these are reported to the school community and inform our school development planning. Our Key Stage 2 children take part in the citywide biannual Safe and Well School survey in addition to our own annual pupil surveys, and the findings from this inform our planning for further work on wellbeing and anti-bullying at school
We promote Disability equality by
- Recognising the different abilities we all have whilst also acknowledging that some people have specific difficulties which require adjustments to be made.
- Teaching about Disability Equality in PSHE, encouraging all pupils to reflect on how to welcome and include everybody in our learning and play.
- Marking Disability History Month and other national events such as Diabetes Awareness week , Dyslexia Week and Autism week with special assemblies and learning in PSHE.
- Working closely with the family of any child with a disability to plan for their additional needs at school and to review any support plan regularly.
- All children at Carlton Hill have the same access to learning opportunities and to attend school visits and clubs, including the Y4 and 6 residential trips.
- Working to ensure better access to our school grounds and buildings for those with physical disabilities by installing ramps and rails and markings on the playground (see our school accessibility plan for further details).
- When appropriate, and with the consent of the child and parent/carer, we will support a child with disabilities, to talk to their peers about his/her specific needs, with the aim of promoting better understanding and relationships with the group.
- Children may become diagnosed with a learning disability during their time at our school (e.g. dyslexia). We have clear pathways to diagnosis of specific learning difficulties / disabilities and parents/carers will be involved with this process and given information about support offered as a result. Please see our SEND website page and policy for further information.
We promote gender and family equality by
- Avoiding using gender as a way of grouping in class or in PE, or by referring to ‘boys’ or ‘girls’, instead using more gender neutral terms such as ‘children’ or ‘Year 1’ etc.
- We are careful to use gender equal language when speaking, using terms such as firefighters, and also to ensure our resources do not promote gender stereotypes in either pictures or language. In addition we mark International Women’s Day use assemblies to help children to about the history of gender inequality and the need to continue to challenge this in everyday life.
- We analyse all our data by gender to check if there is a gender imbalance in any subject (e.g. improving the attainment of boys in writing).
- While sports teams are generally mixed, we do provide weekly girls only sessions on the MUGA as we recognise that some girls are less likely to join in mixed football sessions. This was agreed through the school council.
- We respectfully challenge any stereotyping or gender based comments made, and our pupils are also encouraged to challenge and report any sexist comments or behaviour.
- Our PSHE curriculum includes learning about gender and family diversity, same sex relationships and Allsorts, a LBGT Youth group provide workshops for Y5&6 as part of their LBGT equality PSHE topic.
- We celebrate family diversity through marking LBGT month in February with a range of assemblies and class based work using local and National resources such as those produced by Stonewall.
- We try to talk about our’ grownups’ rather than our ‘mums and dads’ to acknowledge the different family groupings our pupils live in
- Our relationship education includes teaching that that babies are conceived in different ways (key stage 2) but questions can begin before then and will be answered in an age-appropriate way and details of the RSE curriculum can be found on our website
- We recognise that children who are adopted or fostered often have specific needs and may need additional care. A key adult, usually one of our learning mentors, will be assigned to a child when they start at our school, and this adult will provide the consistent link between school and home throughout the child’s time at our school.
We promote Race, Religious and Cultural equality by
- Ensuring there are regular opportunities to reflect on and celebrate the wide range of cultural backgrounds and languages spoken within the school. We regularly encourage pupils to share details about their identities and cultural links and share this with our whole school community via PSHE topic work, assemblies and displays and family events such as our Harvest and EID celebrations
- Planning a balanced programme of assemblies throughout the year celebrate important festivals from all religions, key national events such as Holocaust week, Black History Month, Refugee week, and other local community and cultural events.
- Making sure toys, displays, books and other topic resources etc. reflect a range of people from different cultures and avoid stereotypes.
- Regularly reviewing our Realtionship & Behaviour policy and processes and remind children of the importance of reporting any racist or religiously motivated incidents. These would be recorded on CPOMS , shared as part of the council monitoring process, and used to help us inform future staff training and PSHE curriculum planning
- Aiming to ensure signage in schools is clear and supported by visuals to add understanding. We have close links with Ethnic Minority Advisory Service (EMAS) to provide support and translation for pupils for whom English is not a first language.
- Linking our pupils with English as an additional language with someone else in the school who is able to speak their home language, or providing another system of translating to help them communicate especially when they are new to the UK.
- Developing our Brighton Schools of Sanctuary Welcome pack for new children and adults, which includes a buddy system to help them settle and become familiar with school routines.
- Teaching children about migration, and why families may leave their home countries and travel so they have an understanding of the challenges refugees would face
- Celebrating Gypsy, Roma, Traveller month in June and learning about Gypsy Roma Travellers and the discrimination this community face,
- Actively involving our EAL families in school events via our Multicultural Women’s group who meet weekly
- Following an RE curriculum which includes visits and visitors from a range of religions, and take care to ensure a balance of displays celebrating different religious festivals over the year
- Linking with a local church and have regular assemblies lead by the vicar and also by other members of our school community from a range of faiths
- Embedding children’s rights and rights and responsibilities in our PSHE curriculum.
What other say about us:
There are good opportunities for pupils’ spiritual, moral, social and cultural development. Pupils engage in creative work, which is represented in many artistic displays. The school’s charitable work, ‘eco club’ and link with a school in Kenya help develop pupils’ moral understanding and sense of responsibility. The school actively works against discrimination and promotes equality through, for example, annual ‘family diversity weeks’ which demonstrate how the school values its pupils and their families. A wide range of clubs provides creative and sporting opportunities.
The behaviour of pupils is good. Pupils are keen to learn and are proud of their work, their achievements and their school. Their positive attitudes to learning contribute to the good progress that they make.
Pupils’ conduct in lessons, in the playground, during lunchtime and when travelling around the school is good. They work and play co-operatively and are friendly and courteous to each other. Pupils from different ethnic groups mix well together.
Staff have consistently high expectations of pupils’ behaviour and manage it well. The school has supported some pupils in difficult circumstances and has helped them to improve their behaviour.
An overwhelming majority of parents who expressed an opinion thought that behaviour in the school was well managed, that the school dealt effectively with bullying, and that their children were happy and well looked after in school.
Ofsted May 2018
I love the feeling of inclusiveness within the school and the drive the teachers clearly have.
We feel very blessed that our child is at such a wonderful, supportive, community lead school.
Carlton Hill is such a great school and community for us and our child.
Parents/Carers July 22
It includes everyone and the teachers are kind.
It is very good at dealing with bullying.
We learn more about life and helping others out.
An adult is there to listen to you when you need it.
It includes everyone all the time.
I have lots of friends and without this school I wouldn't have them.
Ks2 Pupils July 22
In order to further meet our Equalities Objectives, between now and 2025 we will be:
- Continuing to develop our Welcome policy to ensure all new members of the school feel a sense of belonging and inclusion
- Undertake staff training in Racial Literacy and ensure we are following the council's Anti racist School strategy
- Continue to audit our guided reading books , and class library books, to ensure a good range of positive representations of all types of families, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities
- Review our foundation curriclum subjects to ensure that all protected groups are well represented in the people we learn about
- Following an accessibility audit with local authority, we will be investigating further reasonable adjustments we could make to our school grounds and building
