Issue Date of This Version 1/08/2024

Review Period for This Document - One Year from Original Issue

Due Date for Review/Expiry 1/08/2025

Impact A&C is committed to the continuing development and review of its policies and procedures to ensure equality of opportunity and treatment to current and prospective pupils that enrol in our programs. Impact A&C will also, where necessary and appropriate, introduce new policies and procedures.
This policy will be reviewed annually (or more regularly where required) prior to approval by directors.

1. Introduction
1.1 The School is committed to promoting equality of opportunity for all members of its community, and values the rich diversity and creative potential that pupils with different backgrounds, skills and abilities bring to the School. The School is opposed to any form or discrimination, harassment or bullying on the grounds of any protected characteristic, and aims to create an environment where all current and prospective pupils are treated with dignity and respect and fairly with regard to their ‘protected characteristics’.
This Equal Opportunities (Pupils) Policy sets out how the School intends to meet these aims and comply with its equality duties, and is written under the requirements of the Equality Act (2010) (‘the Act’), and draws upon the DfE guidance The Equality Act 2010 and schools (2014).
All members of the School community are expected to comply with this policy. The School seeks to encourage greater awareness of its aims, policies and procedures in relation to equal opportunities and will provide information and training as required.

1.2 Unlawful discrimination

The Act defines four kinds of unlawful behaviour (direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation) as defined below:

1.2.1 Direct discrimination
This occurs when one person treats another less favourably, because of a protected characteristic, than they treat – or would treat – other people. This describes the most clear-cut and obvious examples of discrimination (e.g. if the School were to refuse to let a pupil become a prefect because he is gay).

1.2.2 Indirect discrimination
This occurs when a “provision, criterion or practice” is applied generally but has the effect of putting pupils with a particular characteristic at a disadvantage when compared to pupils without that characteristic (e.g. if the School were to hold a parents’ meeting on a Friday evening, which would make it difficult for observant Jewish parents to attend).

1.2.3 Harassment
This is defined in the Act as “unwanted conduct, related to a relevant protected characteristic, which has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for that person”.
This covers unpleasant and bullying behaviour, but potentially extends to actions which, whether intentionally or unintentionally, cause offence to a person because of a protected characteristic. Harassment in all its forms is unlawful and unacceptable.

1.2.4 Victimisation
This occurs when a pupil is treated less favourably than they otherwise would have been because of something they have done (“a protected act”) in connection with the Act. A protected act might involve, for example, making an allegation of discrimination or bringing a case under the Act, or supporting another person’s complaint by giving evidence or information, but it includes anything that is done under or in connection with the Act. If a pupil has done a protected act themselves (e.g. making a complaint of discrimination against a teacher) then the pupil’s own good faith will be relevant (e.g. if the parent’s complaint is based on information from their child and the child was deliberately lying, it is not victimisation for the school to punish the pupil in the same way as it might do any other dishonest pupil). A pupil must not be victimised because of something done by their parent or a sibling in relation to the Act.

1.3 Failure to adhere to this policy
The School will do its utmost to protect pupils from discriminatory behaviour by any individual or groups within the School. Allegations of discriminatory behaviour on the part of pupils or staff will be handled under the relevant policy: the pupils’ Behaviour Policy or the Staff Grievance / Disciplinary Policies.

1.4 This policy has regard to Schedule 10 of the Equality Act (2010) as outlined in the Independent School Standards Regulations.

2. Protected Characteristics

2.1 It is unlawful for a school to discriminate against a pupil or prospective pupil by treating them less favourably because of their:
• Sex (but please note the admissions criteria above)
• Disability
• Sexual orientation
• Gender reassignment
• Religion or belief1
• Race (including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins)
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Age
• Marriage and civil partnership
Everyone has at least some characteristics included in this list. (Also see the Protected Characteristics section below).
The School aims to foster a sense of community in which all pupils are valued and can thrive regardless of any of these characteristics, and will seek to counter any discriminatory practices.

3. Admissions

3.1 The School welcomes applications from candidates with a diverse range of backgrounds as possible. Pupils are enrolled on the basis of their merits, abilities and potential to take advantage of the particular educational provision of the School, which is suited to highly able and committed pupils. In any review of selection criteria and procedures, the School will ensure that consideration is given to equal opportunities issues.
3.2 The School will not discriminate in relation to the protected characteristics listed above in its admissions processes.
3.3 There will be no discrimination against pupils with Special Educational Needs and / or Disabilities (SEND), so far as they have the academic ability to attend the School. All pupils will have equal opportunity to access our curriculum. However, the School is not a specialist provider for SEND.
3.4 The School must not refuse to teach a child or treat them less well than another child because of any of the following:
• the child’s race, home language, family background or gender
• the religion or belief of the child or the child’s parents
• any disability or learning difficulty that the child may have – as stated in the Equality Act 2010 (for example, the provisions on reasonable adjustments)

4. Disability

4.1 Definition of ‘disability’
The Act defines a ‘disability’ as when a person has ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse impact on a person’s ability to carry out normal everyday activities’. This has some overlap with the definition of ‘Special Educational Needs’ (SEN) in the Children and Families Act (2014), but not all pupils are disabled by their SEN and vice versa.
‘Disabled pupils’, for the purpose of this policy, refers not only to those pupils with physical disabilities but could include, for example, those with health issues, including mental health, or learning disabilities if they meet the legal definition of ‘disability’.

4.2 Disability and discrimination
• Direct discrimination: the School will not treat a disabled pupil less favourably simply because that pupil is disabled.
• Indirect discrimination: the School will not do something which applies to all pupils but which is more likely to have an adverse effect on disabled pupils only unless the School can show that it is done for a legitimate reason and is a proportionate way of achieving that legitimate aim.
• Discrimination arising from disability: the School will not discriminate against a disabled pupil because of something that is a consequence of their disability (e.g. by not allowing a disabled pupil on crutches outside at break because it would take them too long to get out and back).
• Harassment: the School will not harass a pupil because of their disability (e.g. a teacher shouting at the pupil because their disability means that they are constantly struggling with classwork or unable to concentrate).

4.3 Reasonable adjustments

4.3.1 The School will take reasonable steps to avoid putting disabled pupils at a substantial disadvantage in comparison with other pupils (the ‘reasonable adjustment’ duty).

4.3.2 Where the School is required to consider its reasonable adjustments duty, it will consult with parents about what reasonable adjustments, if any, the School is able to make to avoid their child being put at a substantial disadvantage. The school will carefully consider any proposals for auxiliary aids and services in light of a pupil’s disability and the resources available to the School.

4.3.3 Reasonable adjustments and pupils’ behaviour
Education Providers must comply with the Act in relation to pupil exclusions. The Act does not prohibit schools from excluding pupils with a protected characteristic but does prohibit schools from excluding pupils because of their protected characteristic or from discriminating unlawfully during the exclusion process. Schools also have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to the exclusions process for disabled pupils.

4.4 The School’s Accessibility Policy sets out the School’s arrangements for:
• increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the School’s curriculum.
• improving the physical environment of the School for the purpose of increasing the extent to which disabled pupils are able to take advantage of the education and benefits, facilities or services provided or offered by the School.
• improving the delivery to disabled pupils of information which is readily accessible to pupils who are not disabled.
• making sure that there are appropriate facilities for disabled pupils on the School premises we rent out.

5. Curriculum and Teaching
5.1 The Act explicitly states that the content of the School’s curriculum is excluded from discrimination law.

5.2 However, the delivery of the curriculum is explicitly included. As such, the School will ensure that the way in which its teaching covers issues, thoughts and ideas of all kinds does not subject individual pupils to discrimination in relation to the protected characteristics listed above. Staff are expected to be sensitive about equal opportunities in their teaching and guard against the transmission, through the content and delivery of the curriculum, of attitudes which stereotype people or label individual pupils as inferior or limited.
This includes through the planning of lessons, teaching methods, classroom resources, behaviour management, etc., and through the ‘hidden lessons’ implicit in other activities about their value as a person, their human rights, the options available to them and their expectations for adult life.

5.3 For further information about the content and delivery of the curriculum, please see the School’s Teaching and Learning Policy.

5.4 The School gives support to adapt tuition for any children with needs, where reasonable to do so and where the School has the right resources to support this.

5.5 All children, regardless of the disability or other conditions, are offered a free trial to see if the tuition is suitable prior to registering. Parents are also allowed to oversee the lesson outside the classroom to check how their child is performing (if and where required).

6. Raising awareness

6.1 All school staff are expected to implement this policy on equal opportunities. Use is made of assemblies, PSHE, the curriculum and the co-curricular programme to:
• Help pupils to develop self-esteem and recognise that they are valued as individuals
• Promote respect for each other within the school community
• Promote positive images and role models to challenge prejudice and raise awareness of related issues
• Foster an open-minded approach and encourage pupils to recognise the contributions made by different cultures, and so enable pupils to contribute actively to the process of education by bringing to it their cultural experiences, values and perspectives
• Understand why and how we deal with offensive language and behaviour
• Understand why we will deal with any incidents in a sensitive manner and as promptly as possible

7. Confidentiality and Data Protection 7.1 Data Protection
The Data Protection Act 1998 places duties on the school to ensure confidential and appropriate handling of ‘sensitive personal data’, which includes data about a person’s health.
The Data Protection Act also gives individuals the right to see personal data and information held or processed about them, provided they request it in writing. This provision is important in accessing personal information relating to a risk assessment and any other information about the disabled pupil.

7.2 Revealing a disability
In order to enable the school to make reasonable adjustments, a disabled pupil (or their advisers) must provide the school with sufficient information for the school to carry out that adjustment. Health information in collected initially through the parent’s enrolment form where parents are asked to confirm any health conditions their child has.
The school must, however, recognise the disabled person’s right to confidentiality and the school must not disclose confidential details about them without their explicit consent.
Under the SEND Code of Practice (2015) the school also has the responsibility to provide for the needs of those students whose ‘……….’ Identifying these needs, some of which might also be considered disabilities, is therefore also part of the school’s responsibility.

9. Training
9.1 The school will ensure that staff receive appropriate training and guidance, and will keep a log of the training, which will be regularly reviewed.
In particular all staff will be made aware of the requirements of the Act and the implications for the education provision and delivery through this Policy.

10. What are reasonable adjustments?
10.1 In order to comply with disability legislation, institutions are expected to make ‘reasonable adjustment’. Reasonable adjustment is about avoiding the creation of unnecessary barriers for disabled people. If a disabled person is at a ‘substantial disadvantage’, responsible bodies are required to take reasonable steps to prevent that disadvantage. This might include:

• the provision of material in other formats
• the delivery of courses in alternative ways
• the provision of interpreters or other support workers changes to course requirements or work placements
• changes to policies and practices
• changes to the physical features of the building

Example:
A partially deaf student who lip-reads is attending course. One of his tutors continues to teach whilst simultaneously writing on the whiteboard. The student requests that the tutor stops speaking when he is turning his back away from the student to write on the whiteboard so that he can lip read what he is saying. There is a likelihood that the student will be at a substantial disadvantage if this adjustment is not made as reasonable adjustments are not being made.

10.2 What is reasonable?
When deciding whether an adjustment is reasonable your aim should be, as far as is reasonably possible, to remove/reduce any disadvantage which may be faced by a student. Consider the following:

• how effective the change will be in avoiding the disadvantage the student is likely to experience otherwise
• its practicality
• the cost
• the Centre’s resources and size
• the availability of financial support

Reasonable steps depend on the circumstances of the case and making adjustments for disabled people is not merely about making something bland simple or less interesting, it is about allowing a disabled person access to the same level of resources and materials and if necessary using alternative ways of providing these.

10.3 Curriculum Design, Teaching and Assessment
When designing the curriculum, assessment and teaching materials, the needs of disabled people should be taken into consideration. It is important to look at the potential barriers in the curriculum which may unnecessarily exclude disabled learners. This means looking at the programme outcomes, the module specifications and learning outcomes and deciding whether all learners can achieve these. During this process it may be useful to consider the following questions:

• Are there any alternative ways in which a learner can demonstrate their knowledge and skills?
• Can an alternative assessment be given?

The learning experience should be made flexible to accommodate all learners including those with special educational needs and disabilities. Learners may:

• Have varied listening and learning skills
• Need a more flexible environment
• Need different time scales to absorb different learning
• Require different teaching approaches depending on the subject matter to be taught

With this in mind, practitioners should:

• Develop an environment conducive to learning which will meet the needs of all learners including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities
• Provide options for assessments and where necessary, offer alternative assessment(s) which meet(s) the learning outcomes and the individual needs of students with specialist educational needs and disabilities.
• Vary delivery methods to enable equal opportunity for all
• Change their delivery style to accommodate the needs of all learners
• Provide learners with any subject specific glossaries or refer them to appropriate published guides/dictionaries/glossaries
• Discuss with the learner how you can work effectively as a team
• Consider using Information Learning Technology with assistive technologies to enable learning (such as interactive whiteboards, audio commentary during classes, placing learning materials online)

10.4 Preparing yourself
When teaching disabled learners consider the following:

• Do I have the information I need about the learner’s needs to support them fully? (This can be obtained from the Student Support Unit)
• Do I know about the Centre policy of supporting disabled learners?
• Do I need further staff development to feel confident enough to support disabled students in their learning? (Contact your Course Leader to highlight staff development needs).