TOWERS JUNIOR SCHOOL
Tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today
Name of School
Towers Junior school
Review Date
October 2014
Date of next Review
October 2017
Who reviewed this AUP?
HT / Governors
Promoting Race Equality
Towers Schools Governors’ Statement
Rationale
Towers Schools value their pupils equally. We recognise and value Britain’s rich multicultural heritage
and celebrate the diversity of its people. Therefore, we value and respect each other, whatever our
race, language, culture or religion. We view the world community as a source of inspiration and as a
means of shaping understanding and promoting fairness, tolerance and respect. Racial bullying is
when people are treated unfairly. We do not tolerate any racist behaviour or unfair treatment in our
schools.
What is racist behaviour?
Racism in any form is damaging to society and more specifically, to those groups and individuals
against which it is directed. Racial harassment is defined as any form of behaviour that has the effect
of threatening, intimidating, ridiculing, humiliating or undermining the perspective of a person or
groups on racial or cultural grounds. Race and culture relate to colour, race, ethnicity, traditions and
nationality. Although religious intolerance is not related to racial intolerance, it is a recognised factor
of potential conflict between groups.
Racist behaviour includes:
 Physical abuse including pushing or touching
 Verbal abuse including unfair comments, jokes, name calling and insults
 Graffiti including writing words or drawing pictures that hurt people
 Treating people differently and less favourably
 Refusing to cooperate with people from other ethnic groups
 Wearing racist badges or carrying leaflets which are offensive
 Recruiting or encouraging others to join a racist group
 Making unpleasant comments about people’s lifestyle or work within the school
 Making fun of someone for behaving in a different way or wearing different clothes which
reflect cultural individuality
 Making gestures or faces which are threatening, such as standing aggressively, staring or
whispering.
 Damaging someone’s property
 Encouraging others to do any of these things.
Promoting Race Equality Policy
Introduction
TOWERS JUNIOR SCHOOL
This policy sets out the school’s approach to promoting equality, diversity and community cohesion. It
is the statutory duties on schools to publish a race equality policy. This policy should be read in
conjunction with our Community Cohesion Policy.
Mission Statement: Transforming the way we think, learn and work together for tomorrow
belongs to those who prepare for it today.
Aims
We aim to ensure all children in our care become:
 successful learners who enjoy learning, make progress and achieve
 confident individuals who are able to live safe, healthy and fulfilling lives
 responsible citizens who make a positive contribution to society
We will achieve this by:
 Inspiring our pupils to enjoy learning for life, in a stimulating and creative 21st century learning
environment
 Encouraging high expectations, building on good relationships and shared goals to support and
guide our pupils towards achieving their full potential
 Providing a secure environment in which everyone feels valued, and is given equal opportunity to
flourish and succeed
 Maintaining a positive ethos which motivates pupils to succeed, and raises their confidence and
self esteem
 Establishing a culture of mutual respect and consideration, and encouraging a sense of
community
 Helping children to understand and value the wider world in which they live, to appreciate other
cultures and to develop moral, social, and spiritual awareness leading to an appreciation of a
diverse and pluralist society.
Promoting Equality
The overall objective of Towers Junior School’s Equality Policy is to provide a framework for the
school to pursue its equality duties to eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment, promote
equality of opportunity, and promote good relations and positive attitudes between people of diverse
backgrounds in all its activities.
Through the Equality Policy, Towers Junior School seeks to ensure that no pupils, staff, parents,
guardians or carers or any other person through their contact with the school receives less favourable
treatment on any grounds which cannot be shown to be justified. This covers race, ethnic or national
origin, language, religion or belief, gender and gender reassignment, sexual orientation, marital
status, disability, age, responsibility for children or other dependants, trade union or political
activities, social class, where the person lives or spent convictions.
The principles of this policy apply to all members of the extended school community, pupils, staff,
governors, parents and community members.
Context of the School
TOWERS JUNIOR SCHOOL
Towers Junior School is set in a leafy area of Hornchurch, not far from Romford in the London
Borough of Havering. At present the area has a low ethnic minority representation although this is
increasing.
The ethnic composition of pupils at Towers Junior School is mainly White British at 81% with 19% of
children from a range of ethnic minority groups. Whilst there is some linguistic diversity in a school
this is minimal in comparison to some schools. Therefore we have a strong commitment to enrich the
linguistic experience of all pupils. To this end MFL has high priority in the curriculum and the linguistic
background of local community members is, and has been, used to offer OSSHL activities. The
religious diversity of pupils is reflective of the community the school serves. Parents may, in
consultation with the Headteacher, withdraw their child from assembly, collective worship and faith
related curricular activities on religious grounds.
Towers Junior School is an inclusive school therefore there is no discrimination applied regarding
admissions. The admissions policy for Towers is determined by the local authority.
Statement of Values
We value all members of the school community equally; we celebrate their diversity and work to meet
their individuals.
We believe that discrimination on the grounds of colour, race, ethnicity, culture, traditions and
nationally are totally unacceptable and will work to combat and prevent such behaviour within the
school. We also recognise that religious intolerance even when not necessarily related to racial
intolerance, is discriminatory and is also unacceptable.
We recognise that racism is damaging to society and more specifically to groups and individuals against
which it is directed. In any instances of racism we will work with both the victim and perpetrator to
support and counsel.
We share concerns about institutional racism and will work to ensure that neither our school, nor any
organisation with which we work, is institutionally racist.
Teaching and Learning
We actively seek opportunities within our teaching programme to promote positive attitudes to ethnic
difference, cultural diversity and racial equality through:
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Raising awareness and appreciation of the richness of different cultures
Challenging prejudices and stereotypes
A classroom ethos of mutual respect between all children.
Celebrating differences
Careful consideration of groupings within the class for activities encourages children from different
backgrounds to work together harmoniously. A variety of teaching methods and styles take account of
the different needs of pupils. Class teachers work closely with TA’s to support children from other
linguistic backgrounds where English is a second language.
Curriculum Aims
The curriculum seeks to widen the horizons of all, and the choice of content in all subject areas aims to
develop positive understanding and celebration of the world around us including the diversity of world
cultures. Through the curriculum our own cultural heritage and diversity is promoted and prejudice,
bias and racism is challenged. We draw on the cultural backgrounds and experiences of all members of
the school community making experiences positive and real. When appropriate, the experience and
expertise of people from local ethnic minority groups is also utilised to further knowledge and
understanding and also provide a role model for children within the school.
The school’s PHSCE programme emphasises and supports the personal development of all pupils.
Within that, every pupil is offered the support and guidance they need at the time they need it.
TOWERS JUNIOR SCHOOL
Individual support takes account of personal and cultural needs specific to ethnic groups.
Assemblies in school reflect our visions, aims and ethos. They include celebrations of key religious
festivals and many assemblies are based on themes within the community cohesion policy. Awareness
of human rights, particularly children's rights, is highlighted through specific assemblies during Black
History month, Red Nose day, Child Line assemblies etc.
Faiths are studied through the agreed SACRE syllabus in RE and children from all faiths are encouraged
to share their culture heritage using their first hand experiences bringing to school artefacts and
traditional clothing.
Withdrawal of Pupils
The school ensures that parents are aware of their rights to withdraw their child from RE, Assemblies
and Sex Education and respects the parental decision made by any parent who chooses to exercise this
right.
Resources
The school takes active steps to ensure that resources which promote a greater understanding of
cultural diversity and racial equality are used throughout the curriculum. Displays reflect the worlds and
our own, rich and varied cultural heritage. Positive images of people from various ethnic groups are
displayed in the school and stereotypes or non-inclusive items are used as a discussion point.
Tracking Attainment and Pupil Progress
We endeavour to ensure equality of opportunity for all our pupils to strive towards excellence. To this
end the achievement and attainment of various groups is closely tracked and monitored. Monitoring
pupil outcomes by ethnicity allows us to check for any disparities in attainment and progress between
and within ethnic groups. The attainment and progress of individual pupils and groups of pupils are
tracked as they move through the school so that any underperformance can be identified and
intervention programmes initiated.
Tracking Attendance and Punctuality
All pupils’ attendance and punctuality is monitored regularly. Any issues arising from monitoring are
followed up on an individual basis. Steps are taken to address issues that could adversely affect the
attendance of pupils.
The school recognises the right of pupils to take time off for religious observance and action is taken
to minimise the disruption to the education of these pupils.
Behaviour Policy
The school’s procedures for managing behaviour and disciplining pupils are fair and applied equally to
all pupils irrespective of ethnicity. The use of rewards and sanctions is monitored by ethnic group and
any unjustified disparities are acted upon. The background of any child’s ‘unusual’ behaviour is
carefully investigated in case he or she is the victim of unreported racial harassment. Similarly, the
background of any child’s disruptive behaviour is carefully investigated including examining any
possible complaints of racial harassment against all pupils.
Leadership, Management and Governance
Responsibilities
The Governing Body will ensure that the school complies with Race Relations legislation and work
with the Headteacher and staff to implement and monitor the impact of agreed policies.
The Headteacher will ensure that all staff are aware of their responsibilities and are given appropriate
training and support. It will be the responsibility of the Headteacher, and in her absence, a member
of the SLT team, to take appropriate action in any cases of racial discrimination.
Dealing with a Perceived Racial Incident
TOWERS JUNIOR SCHOOL
It is the responsibility of all staff to deal initially with any perceived racist incident, identifying and
challenging all types of racial bias and stereotyping. Staff will need to record the incident in writing
and inform the named member of staff, usually the Headteacher, as soon as is practicable.
The Headteacher, or in her absence a member of the SLT team, will fully investigate the incident.
The victim(s) will be supported and their cultural heritage positively reinforced. Sanctions will be
applied to the perpetrators in line with the school behaviour policy but they will also be counselled to
avoid any repetition. In addition they will be told of the school’s no tolerance stance on racial
incidents. Where incidents involve pupils the parents and /or carers of both victim and perpetrator
will be informed that the incident has taken place and of the actions taken by the school in response
to the incident. It is our expectation that parents will support and work with us.
Any employee who knowingly discriminates against others is acting unlawfully and will be subject to
disciplinary procedures.
Raising Awareness
Not all incidents will be reported by the victim, so it is important that all members of the school
community are sensitive to issues of racism and take responsibility for reporting incidents themselves.
The whole community will be aware of the nominated person responsible for dealing with and
reporting incidents and will understand the procedure.
External Monitoring
The Headteacher will ensure that any racist incident is recorded and forwarded to the LA in
accordance with borough policy requirements for monitoring. This record does not include any pupil’s
individual details.
Internal Monitoring
The Headteacher reports on racial incidents to the Governing body on a termly basis to facilitate their
monitoring of trends. The Governors have a duty to ensure a Race Equality plan is in place and is
regularly reviewed.
Reporting an incident that results in exclusion, when a case cannot be resolved, when media or
police involvement occurs, or if Ofsted cited race or multiculturalism as a key any of concern as an
outcome of an inspection the local authority would be informed.
Revised October 2014
Review Date: October 2017 (Unless in the interim new legislation is introduced or there is a
significant increase in racist incidents)