ASHTON PARK SCHOOL POLICY ON RACIAL ABUSE AND HARASSMENT Compiled by: CG First written: May 1999 Amended: Summer 2010 Ratified: Summer 2010 Review: 2014 Personnel and Marketing Full Governors Ashton Park School believes all forms of racial abuse and harassment are wrong and should be dealt with firmly and fairly. We will work with pupils, parents/carers, staff, governors and LA officers to ensure we create and maintain an ethos that openly discusses and refuses to tolerate all forms of racial abuse and harassment. Ashton Park School’s Policy is drawn up to align with the Race Relations Act 1976, the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, circular 10/99, Part II of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and Bristol City Council’s guidelines on ‘Reporting and Dealing with Harassment in Bristol Schools’ and their ‘Equalities and Anti-Harassment Policy’. This policy should be read in conjunction with the School’s Racial Equality Policy’ which takes as the definition of a Racial incident, the one given in the Stephen Lawrence inquiry report “Any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person”. Ashton Park School will adopt in full the guidelines given by Bristol City Council to its schools. Copies of this policy will be placed in staff handbooks to ensure it is readily at hand if needed. Newly appointed staff will be briefed on this policy as part of their induction programme. Opportunities will be provided for all staff to discuss and receive training on elements of this policy when and where this is deemed desirable. As a school we will work to eliminating unlawful racial discrimination, promoting equality of opportunity and promoting good relations between people of different racial groups. In particular, we will (i) review our ‘Integrated Equalities Policy’ and ‘Racial Abuse and Harassment Policy’ as needed but at least once every four years, (ii) assess the important of policies and monitor the impact of the operation of policies on pupils, staff and parents from different racial groups through daily observations and, where needed, more formal/mechanical assessment and (iii) discuss the outcomes of the monitoring internally with staff, pupils and Governors, providing data for the Children’s Services Division of Bristol City Council and develop strategies to improve performance in, not only outcome measures, but in developing attitudes and empathy. Racial incidents can involve a variety of activities and new types regularly emerge (e.g. mobile phones, Internet chat lines [MSN] etc.) the following are examples of incidents we will act to eliminate in our school: verbal abuse and threats such as racial name calling, racist graffiti, provocative behaviour such as racist badges, racist comments during classroom discussion, ridicule of cultural differences (food, dress, language, etc.), racist jokes, insults and comments, physical assaults borne out of a person’s colour, ethnicity, nationality or religion, incitement of others to behave in a racist way, refusal to co-operate/work with other pupils because of their race, colour, ethnicity, nationality or religion and bringing racist material into school. As a school we believe that failure to deal with minor incidents could be seen as condoning racism, which might lead to more serious incidents in the future. In our busy day we will always endeavour to deal with such incidents to establish the correct ethos. Incidents of racial abuse and harassment will be reported to the Headteacher by any member of staff. Pupils will be encouraged to report such incidents to any adult but the normal route will be via their tutor, Head of Year or class teacher. All allegations of racial harassment will be taken seriously and dealt with as quickly as possible without rushing the investigation to ensure details are recorded accurately. The Headteacher will record all incidents of racial abuse and harassment in a separate book. He will complete the “Racist Incident Reporting Form” and send it to the Racial Equalities Officer in the Children’s Services Division of the City Council. Such records will be kept by the Headteacher for a minimum of 2 years. These records will be available for staff, governors, officers of the Children’s Services Division and OFSTED on request. He will keep Governors advised termly in his report and discuss any issues at the Full Governor’s meeting as felt necessary. The school will investigate fully allegations of racial abuse and harassment. Where racial abuse or harassment has taken place, the Headteacher will want to use this as a learning experience to reduce the likelihood of this reoccurring. This will also apply on the occasions where a false allegation is made, such as a pupil accusing a teacher of disciplining them unfairly due to their ethnicity when it is proven this was not the case. Parents of the victim and perpetrator will be informed of all incidents and how it has been handled and resolved. The school will comply with all Children’s Services Division’s requests for data on incidents of racial abuse and harassment. The Headteacher will endeavour to ensure that the victim feels happy with the way the situation has been handled and that they feel secure in continuing to be in school. The Headteacher will be required to use the school’s discipline procedures up to and including permanent exclusion as he sees appropriate on pupils who inflict racial abuse and harassment on others. Where the allegation of racist behaviour is against a member of staff, this could lead to serious disciplinary action. If the allegation is by another member of staff then the ‘Employee’s Complaints Procedure’ should be implemented. Where the allegation is by a pupil or their parents/carer, it should be dealt with via the school’s Complaints Procedure. Where a member of staff is the victim of racist behaviour they should be offered appropriate support, including the services of Occupational Health and Welfare. In cases where the member of staff felt the harassment was of a violent nature, it can be addressed under the Violence and Aggression Policy. Copies of this policy will be made available to any parent on request and reference made to the unacceptable nature of racial abuse and harassment in our Code of Conduct which every pupil and parent is required to sign when beginning at our school. All staff All staff are responsible for: dealing with racist incidents, and being able to recognise and tackle racial bias and stereotyping; promoting equal opportunities and good race relations, and avoiding discrimination against anyone for reasons of race, colour, nationality or ethnic or national origins; and keeping up to date with the law on discrimination, and taking up training and learning opportunities (as needed). Staff with specific responsibilities The Headteacher will lead the school approach on racial equality, supported particularly by the EMAS Co-ordinator and the Deputy Headteacher (Pupil & Staff Support for Achievement). The Deputy Headteacher will make termly reports to the Personnel and Premises Governors Committee. Co-ordinating work on racial equality; and Dealing with reports of racial incidents. Visitors and Contractors Visitors and Contractors are responsible for: Knowing, and following the School’s Integrated Equality Policy and which will be made available to them on request. Specific Duties The following elements outline how we intend to assess and monitor the effects of this and other policies on pupils, parents/carers and staff from different racial groups. a) Planning and Developing Policy When constructing or reviewing policies we will always seek to ensure we reflect upon our commitment to racial equality and put this into words as appropriate. We will monitor the academic progress of all groups of pupils, identifying if different strategies or additional support is needed as well as looking for trends over time that teachers need to address. Where appropriate, the school will set itself targets to redress inequalities/underachievement. (Raise-on-line will be a useful data source to support less quantitative outcomes/feelings). Should we feel racial inequality is an area that needs greater in-depth review we will seek the views of our pupils and parents/carers using our Student/Parent Voice Co-ordinator. b) Ethnic Monitoring Attainment and progress monitoring of ethnic minority pupils will formally be undertaken at the end of national examinations. However, our EMAS Coordinator will work alongside the Assistant Headteacher's (KS3, 4 and 5) to plot the progress of pupils throughout the year. She will arrange intervention strategies; mentoring and other support (within financial constraints) and keep staff informed of the needs of specific pupils (e.g. Morning Briefings, memos, discussions or at meetings). Data on sanctions, rewards and exclusions will be kept by Pastoral middle leaders and tutors. Exclusion data is passed onto Governors at their Personal and Premises Committee and in the Headteacher's Report. Pupils causing concern will be referred to the Deputy Head (Pupil and Staff Support for Achievement) and to the Headteacher where appropriate. If patterns arise staff are informed and asked to reflect on practice and identify strategies to address the issue. c) Putting the Policy into Practice The Headteacher will report each incident of racial abuse to the LEA Inclusion Team using the official proforma. He will interview the victim and perpetrator and make the school stance clear. He will write to both sets of parents/carers to inform them of the incident and the action he has taken and will take action should it reoccur. He will record the incident in the ‘racial abuse’ book, which remain live for 6 months but be recalled if a future incident occurs. Incidents of staff using racial abuse towards staff, pupils, parents or others will be dealt with through the schools disciplinary policy. The Governors will note the number of incidents recorded each term at the Personnel and Premises Governors Committee and via the Headteacher’s full Governors report. Exam analysis will monitor ethnic minority performance alongside other groups each autumn and Governors informed when Raise-on-line data is available. We embrace our role as an equal opportunities employer. We will not discriminate against anyone on the grounds of race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, or nationality. We will support the LA in monitoring data by racial groups, disability regarding applicants for employment, training and promotion. Training for staff and governors will be provided as and when it is perceived a need arises. Our Policy will be given to every governor. Staff are made aware of where a copy can be seen within the school for easy reference. Parents/Carers will be given a copy on request. Copies of this could be translated or made into a special format (e.g. on cassette, Braille) at parent/carer request providing the LEA can make these facilities available to us. Policy and guidelines will be reviewed once every four years or earlier if circumstances require it. The ‘Integrated Equalities’ Policy and Harassment Policy and guidelines will be reviewed once every four years or earlier if circumstances require it.