Equality Objectives: Aims

Westbourne Academy is committed to embracing diversity and improving the quality of life across the community by making educational, recreational and social facilities and opportunities, openly accessible and welcoming for all.

We welcome our duties under the Equality Act 2010. The academy’s general duties, with regards to equality, are to:

  • eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act
  • advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
  • foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not, by encouraging people from protected groups to participate fullyAs a consequence, we will:
  • treat all individuals with equal value, abiding by the Equality Act and Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED)
  • do all in our powers to eliminate discrimination, harassment or victimisation of a student or potential student or employee
  • ensure equality of opportunity of pupils and staff who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
  • promote positive attitudes and good relationships between all pupils and staff
  • take reasonable steps to remove or minimise disadvantages suffered by all pupils or staff who have protected characteristics, including special educational needs or a disability
  • consider equality implications when developing policy and/or practice
  • carry out equality impact assessments regularly to assess the effectiveness of our policies and procedures

The act places a duty on academies to have “due regard” to equality considerations, for example, when significant decisions are being made, or policies are being developed. There is emphasis on transparency – ie making information available.

As a consequence, we will:

  • publish information which shows compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty
  • publish Equality Objectives for 2021- 2024

Equality Objective 1

To eliminate all forms of prejudice-based incidents towards people who share a protected characteristic* and implement an open culture of understanding, acceptance and positivity.

*race, disability, sex, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment

Why we have chosen this objective: 

The Equality Act 2010 introduced a single Public Sector Equality Duty, which applies to all schools, including both LA maintained and Academies.

It requires that the academy must have due regard to the need to:

  • eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010
  • foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic* and people who do not.

Furthermore the Education Act requires academies ‘as part of a broad and balanced curriculum, to promote the spiritual, moral, cultural, mental and physical development of pupils and of society’

Through our academy vision, which states “Westbourne is an inclusive academy”, we celebrate the fact that our students speak, between them, 32 different languages and therefore we have a high proportion, 40%, are non-white British.

To achieve this objective, we plan to: 

  • positively reinforce and promote it through discrete Religious Studies and Enrichment/PSHE lessons, in addition to tutor and assembly programmes that will focus upon protected characteristics
  • positively reinforce and promote it through implementation of the academy behaviour policy, in addition to focused interventions, aimed at addressing and educating students, through the pastoral system

Equality Objective 2

To close the achievement gap by ensuring there is no significant difference in the progress made by different groups of learners.

Why we have chosen this objective:

The Equality Act 2010 introduced a single Public Sector Equality Duty, which applies to all schools, including both LA maintained and academies.

It requires that the academy must have due regard to the need to:

  • advance equality and opportunity between people who share a prohibited characteristic and people who do not share it

Westbourne has more boys than girls on roll. Approximately 30% of our students are from low-income families and so qualify for the pupil premium. Ipswich is one of only 12 areas in the country to be included in the DfE’s Opportunity Areas programme, meaning we receive additional funding aimed, at improving social mobility.

A substantial proportion of our students are from minority communities: 15% of our students are on the SEND register; and 29 students have an Educational Health Care Plan (EHCP). There are currently eight looked after students. A key area of improvement for the academy remains to raise the achievement of boys and disadvantaged students.

To achieve this objective, we plan to:

  • demonstrate high expectations and operate consistent routines and protocols
  • deliver a powerful, knowledge-rich curriculum for all
  • have a whole school focus on literacy
  • have an unwavering focus on outcomes and overcoming the barriers to achieving them
  • offer the very best teaching and support
  • use the Pupil Premium effectively for closing identified gaps

Equality Objective 3

To ensure 100% of Year 7 – 9 students participate in, at least, one extra-curricular activity.

Why we have chosen this objective:

The Equality Act 2010 introduced a single Public Sector Equality Duty, which applies to all schools, including both LA maintained and Academies.

It requires that the academy must have due regard to the need to:

  • foster good relationships across all characteristics, between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it

Research indicates that participating in after school programmes improves performance on measures of academic achievement. There is also evidence that there are wider benefits for low-income students in terms of attendance at school, behaviour and relationships with peers (Education Endowment Foundation).

Approximately 30% of our students are from low-income families and so qualify for the pupil premium. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to be encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities. We want to ensure that every child at Westbourne Academy regularly participates in at least one extra-curricular activity.

To achieve this objective, we plan to:

  • offer students a range of subjects, such as: art, drama, cadets, dance, debate, chess, music, gardening and a wide variety of sports; many of which take place during lunchtime
  • use a proportion of our pupil premium funding to help cover the costs associated with delivering extra-curricular activities
  • look to expand the programme and pay for coaches and experts to deliver sessions outside of the interests and expertise of our staff body. For example, this may include mixed martial arts, Boxercise and sign language
  • as part of any readmission programme, encourage students to commit to an extra-curricular activity

 

Research indicates that participating in after school programmes improves performance on measures of academic achievement. There is also evidence that there are wider benefits for low-income students in terms of attendance at school, behaviour and relationships with peers (Education Endowment Foundation).

Approximately 30% of our students are from low-income families and so qualify for the pupil premium. Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are less likely to be encouraged to participate in extra-curricular activities. We want to ensure that every child at Westbourne Academy regularly participates in at least one extra-curricular activity.

To achieve this objective we plan to:

  • students can choose from a range of subjects, such as: art, drama, cadets, dance, debate, chess, music, gardening and a wide variety of sports; many of which take place at lunchtime
  • we will use a proportion of our pupil premium funding to help cover the costs associated with delivering extra-curricular activities
  • we look to expand the programme and pay for coaches and experts to deliver sessions outside of the interests and expertise of our staff body. For example this may include mixed martial arts, boxercise and sign language
  • as part of any readmission programme we will encourage students to commit to an extra-curricular activity