At St Monica's, we take every possible opportunity to celebrate and promote equality and diversity in our ever changing world. We firmly believe that in order for children to grow up and be respectful towards each and every person they meet in life, this must be taught in school and be promoted amongst the wider community. Everyone who comes into contact with our school has the right to do so, feeling that they are a welcome addition to our family and that they will receive the respect that they deserve. Everyone who comes into our school talks about its special 'feel' - this is as a result of the strong ethos that all stakeholders share and believe in.

At St Monica's - everyone is welcome!

Public Sector Equality Duty

The Equality Act of 2010 requires us to publish information that demonstrates that we have due regard for the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010. As a school we pride ourselves in being able to:

• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it
• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and people who do not share it.
• Consult with a wide variety of stakeholders regarding the decisions that we make to promote equality and eliminate discrimination; including families, pupils, staff and members of the local community.

We understand the principle of the Act and the work needed to ensure that those with protected characteristics are not discriminated against and are given equality of opportunity.  

A protected characteristic under the act covers the groups listed below:

• age 
• disability
• race
• gender
• gender reassignment
• maternity and pregnancy
• religion and belief
• sexual orientation
• Marriage and Civil Partnership 

St Monica's is an inclusive school where we focus on the well-being and progress of every child and where all members of our community are of equal worth.  The children and all key stakeholders are at the heart of everything we do. 

The protected characteristics are weaved through our PSHE and Personal Development curriculum  and the day to day routines of life at St Monica's and also link to our work on British Values.  

Please see our PSHE and Personal Development Long Term Plan here to see how we interweave the protected characteristics into our curriculum.

We utilise Jigsaw for our PSHE lessons, this is a clear plan on how the protected characteristics are sequenced into our curriculum. 

We believe that the Equality Act provides a framework to support our commitment to valuing diversity, tackling discrimination, promoting equality and fostering good relationships between people. It also ensures that we continue to tackle issues of disadvantage and underachievement of different groups.

Our approach to equality is based on the following key principles - these help us to eliminate discrimination:

1. All learners are of equal value.

2. We recognise, respect and celebrate difference.

3. We foster positive attitudes and relationships and a shared sense of cohesion and belonging.

4. We observe good equalities practice in staff recruitment, retention and development.

5. We aim to reduce and remove inequalities and barriers that already exist.

6. We have the highest expectations of all our children.

Equality Objectives

We are committed to ensuring equality of education and opportunity for all pupils, staff, parents and carers, irrespective of race, gender, disability, belief, religion or socio-economic background. Should anyone feel any effects of inequality at St Monica's, we will seek to obtain the person's views and make the necessary adjustments to ensure that the feeling of inequality is eliminated. 

St Monica's Equality Objectives 2023 - 2025  

We will monitor and assess Equality in our school to ensure we continue to promote equality of opportunity for all. 

To demonstrate this commitment, we have developed the following equality objectives which will help us take forward equality and diversity matters as an educator and employer, over the next 4 years:

1. We will use performance data to monitor pupil achievement and respond to variations between groups of pupils, subjects, key stages, trends over time and comparisons with other schools  
2. Will will raise the awareness and skills of staff to promote fairness, equality and good relations in the context of their role  
3. We will provide an environment that welcomes, protects and respects diverse people 
4.  We will ensure that all pupils and other stakeholders are given the opportunity to make a positive contribution to school life  
5. We will increase pupil awareness and understanding of different communities through assemblies and cultural events such as celebrating Black History Month, Diversity Day and embedding a wide selection of diverse authors and topics in our curriculum
6. We will raise awareness of the impact of bullying, especially where this relates to protected characteristics (in areas such as Anti Bullying Week)  
7. We will monitor the incidence of breaches of Equality constantly