Equality and Diversity

What is Equality ?: Equality is about “individual rights” To ensure we are all treated “equally” regardless of race, religion, or disability.  Supporting that person to be an individual, enabling them to make informed choices, and to respect that person choice, although you may not agree.

What is Diversity ?: Diversity is the state of having a broad range or having a wide variety of “things” or “choices.” Definition of diversity is different / variety, so to be “diverse” is to give variety and / or choice. When it is used as a contrast or in addition to equality, it is about recognising individuals, as well as group differences, e.g. culture, race, religion, sexual orientation, treating people as individuals, and placing positive value on diversity in the community and in the workforce.

What is Inclusion ?: is the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure. In the early years is about practices, attitudes and values that create early childhood communities in which everyone feels comfortable, that they ‘belong’ and can contribute.

Legislation:

  • Equality Act 2010 – replaces all previous legislations on equalities. The legislation gives everyone protection from the following discrimination: age, disability, race, religion, sex, gender assignment, marriage and civil partnerships, pregnancy or maternity and sexual orientations.
  • Special Education Needs and Disability Act 2001 – this legislation requires schoolscollegesuniversitiesadult education providers, statutory youth service and local education authorities to make ‘reasonable provisions’ to ensure people with disabilities or special needs were provided with the same opportunities as those who were not disabled.
  • SEN Code of Practice: 0-25 (2014) a system to provide Special Educational Needs support
  • UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) – sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children, including those in relation to Equality, diversity and inclusion.
  • EYFS Statutory framework (2017) – seeks to provide equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported.
  • Children’s Act (1989) and (2004) – sets out the duty to provide effective and accessible services for all children and underpins the five Every Child Matters outcomes.

Policy Statement:

Every child is given the opportunity to reach their full potential and an equal chance to live their life as they choose.

  • We will ensure that our service is fully inclusive and meets the needs of all children and parents/carers.
  • No one will be discriminated against
  • We value diversity and difference.
  • Our setting is committed to anti-discriminatory practice. (please see anti-discriminatory Policy)
  • We promote equality of opportunity.
  • We provide a secure and accessible environment in which all our children can flourish and in which all contributions are considered and valued.
  • We include and value the contribution of all families to our understanding of equality and diversity.
  • We provide positive non-stereotyping information about gender roles, diverse ethnic and cultural groups and disabled people.
  • We improve our knowledge and understanding of issues of anti-discriminatory practice, promoting equality and valuing diversity.
  • We make inclusion a thread that runs through all of the activities and practices of the setting.

Procedures:

  • Reasonable adjustments to the assessment process for children with special educational needs and disabilities must be made as appropriate. 
  • We promote and value diversity through our policies, procedures, information, advertising, provision, equipment and attitudes. 
  • Inappropriate attitudes will be challenged through communication and if necessary, in the case of staff and/or volunteers through our disciplinary procedure.
  • We encourage children to value and respect everyone through discussion, stories, play, roleplay and provision provided. 
  • We understand that all children learn in different ways and at different rates and that every child is unique, who is constantly learning and can be resilient, capable, confident Admissions:
  • Our setting is open to all members of the community.
  • We advertise our service widely.
  • We reflect the diversity of members of our society in our publicity and promotional materials.
  • We provide information in clear, concise language, whether in spoken or written form.
  • We provide information in as many languages as possible.
  • We base our admissions policy on a fair system.
  • We do not discriminate against a child or their family, or prevent entry to our setting, on the basis of colour, ethnicity, religion or social background, such as being a member of a travelling community or an asylum seeker.
  • We do not discriminate against a child with a disability or refuse a child entry to our setting because of any disability.
  • We develop an action plan to ensure that people with disabilities can participate successfully in the services offered by the setting and in the curriculum offered.
  • We take action against any discriminatory behaviour by staff or parents. Displaying of openly racist insignia, distribution of racist material, name calling, or threatening behaviour are unacceptable on or around the premises and will be dealt with in the strongest manner.

Employment:

  • Posts are advertised and all applicants are judged against explicit and fair criteria.
  • Applicants are welcome from all backgrounds and posts are open to all.
  • We may use the exemption clauses of the Race Relations Act and the Sex Discrimination Act where this is necessary to enable the service to best meet the needs of the community.
  • The applicant who best meets the criteria is offered the post, subject to references and checks by the Criminal Records Bureau. This ensures fairness in the selection process.
  • All job descriptions include a commitment to equality and diversity as part of their specifications.
  • We monitor our application process to ensure that it is fair and accessible.

Training:

  • We seek out training opportunities for staff and volunteers to enable them to develop anti-discriminatory and inclusive practices, which enable all children to flourish.
  • We ensure that staff are confident and fully trained in administering relevant medicines and performing invasive care procedures when these are required to support children’s care. 
  • We review our practices to ensure that we are fully implementing our policy for equality, diversity and inclusion.

Curriculum:

  • The curriculum offered in the setting encourages children to develop positive attitudes about themselves as well as to people who are different from themselves. It encourages children to empathise with others and to begin to develop the skills of critical thinking.
  • We do this by:
    • making children feel valued and good about themselves;
    • ensuring that children have equality of access to learning;
    • recognising the different learning styles of girls and boys, making appropriate provision within the curriculum to ensure each child receives the widest possible opportunity to develop their skills and abilities;
    • positively reflecting the widest possible range of communities in the choice of resources;
    • avoiding stereotypes or derogatory images in the selection of books or other visual materials;
    • creating an environment of mutual respect and tolerance;
    • helping children to understand that discriminatory behaviour and remarks are hurtful and unacceptable;
    • ensuring that the curriculum offered is inclusive of children with special educational needs and children with disabilities;
    • ensuring that children learning English as an additional language have full access to the curriculum and are supported in their learning; and
    • ensuring that children speaking languages other than English are supported in the maintenance and development of their home languages.
    • Treat each child as an individual and respect their religions and cultures.
    • Offer all activities and toys to all children regardless of gender and developmental needs.
    • the planning of activities and routines will reflect the needs of the individual child.
    • Encourage positive role models, displayed through toys, imaginary play, books and posters that promote non- stereotyped images. All children will be encouraged to join in all activities i.e. dressing up, role play corner, dolls, climbing on large equipment, bikes etc.
    • Celebrate festivals, ensuring that we include those events that are relevant to the children attending the setting.
    • Welcome any parent/carer who would like to be involved with widening our education about their cultural or religious beliefs.
    • Update toys and other resources.
    • Ensure activities are accessible for all children.
    • We encourage and acknowledge a child’s efforts, offering praise, support, guidance and the opportunity to try out and test their ideas.
    • We provide opportunities for the children to take ‘safe risk’.
    • Support the staff team within the setting, offering hand-outs and training.
    • Work alongside agencies when resources and relevant information is required.
    • Ensuring the resources within the setting are managed so that all children have full access to all kinds of activities and equipment and are equally encouraged to enjoy and learn from them.
    • Reflecting the widest possible range of communities in the choice of resources.
    • Choosing resources that will give children a balanced view of the world and an appreciation of the rich diversity of our multi-cultural society.
    • Appropriate opportunities will be given to children to explore, acknowledge and value similarities and differences between themselves and others.
    • We work in partnership with parents to ensure that the medical, cultural and dietary needs of children are met.  
    • We help children to learn about a range of food, cultural approaches to eating and to respect the differences among them.
    • We incorporate music, food, stories from a range of culture.
    • We use pictures, gestures and symbols to facilitate meaningful participation of children learning English or for those hard of hearing.
    • We include activities such as art, music or dancing which do not require speech, but allows children to fully engage.
    • We use role paly as a way to show diversity by having clothes that reflect different cultures e.g Indian saris, Mexican hat or Japanese robes, Travel brochures – the role play area could be set up as a travel agent, include a computer, telephone, pictures from different countries.
    • We introduce children to music and dancing from different cultures e.g. Ballet dancing, Japanese dancing, African dancing.
    • We celebrate all children’s achievement.
    • We read books to children about different culture, family set up and disabilities.
    • We cook a variety of different foods form all culture.
    • We understand each child’s stage of development. The activities that we provide suit all children’s learning styles (Auditory, Kinaesthetic, tactile and visual) to meet the individual needs of each child.
    • Using observations of the child allows us to plan and offer activities that will meet the individual needs of the child to provide an inclusive setting.
    • We develop a child’s own sense of identity and a positive sense of pride by talking to each child, providing a safe environment and equipment, offering a wide range of inclusive activities and experiences to explore the world around them, playing with the children and guiding them, joining in and supporting their play.
    • We provide activities and resources that actively challenge gender-stereotyped play to ensure all children experience a breath of learning experiences, for example all children can play with cars, dolls, bake, help to tidy up, get messy and dress up in whatever fancy dress costume they desire.
    • We aim to be a good role models to lead by example to help children learn the appropriate responses, attitude, problem solving skills and how to deal with their emotions.
    • We ensure that the information given to children does not mislead them.
    • We provide an environment full of positive messages in order to ensure that the children are not negatively impacted.

Valuing diversity in families

  • We welcome the diversity of family lifestyles and work with all families.
  • We encourage children to contribute stories of their everyday life to the setting.
  • We encourage parents/carers to take part in the life of the setting and to contribute fully.
  • For families who speak languages in addition to English, we will develop means to ensure their full inclusion. (Please see English as an additional language policy).

Food:

  • We work in partnership with parents to ensure that the medical, cultural and dietary needs of children are met.
  • We help children to learn about a range of food, and of cultural approaches to meal times and eating, and to respect the differences among them.

The Role of the Staff:

Staff are expected to adhere to this policy and to carry out procedures to reduce or eliminate any aspects of equal opportunities that may be encountered by:

  • Ensuring that all children are treated fairly and with equal regard.
  • Ensure that children with disabilities are included fully in activities or that ‘reasonable adjustments’ are made for them.
  • Safeguard children from discrimination, and act on any issues that may arise.

If either an employee or service user makes a discrimination claim against the setting we will take immediate action to resolve the incident with the claimant as soon as possible.  We will do this by following our Complaints Policy and procedures.