Equality Mark
At St Mary’s Catholic Primary School we are committed to:
- promoting equality of opportunity
- eliminating discrimination and harassment
- valuing diversity and promoting positive relationships
- providing an inclusive education that enables all pupils to develop their full potential
- meeting the requirements of the Equality Act 2010.
As a school, we believe that Equality should permeate all aspects of school life and is the responsibility of every member of the school and wider community.
Equality is one of our school values and is a key principle for treating all people fairly and creating a society in which everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their potential – irrespective of their gender, ethnicity, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation, age or any other recognised area of discrimination.
As part of our work on developing Equality at St Mary’s, we have decided this year (2022-23) to join Lancashire’s Equality Mark programme.
The Lancashire Equality Mark is awarded to schools that have taken measures to embed Equality throughout their practice with the goal of enabling all pupils to thrive in a supportive learning community. It has been developed by a working group in Lancashire and provides a clear framework to guide schools through the process of auditing, developing and consolidating good practice in different areas of Equality. The Equality Mark is comprised of six individual Equality Badges:
- Race Equality Badge
- Gender and Gender Variance Equality Badge
- Disability Equality Badge
- Socio-economic Equality Badge
- Sexual Orientation Equality Badge
- Religion and Belief Equality Badge
When a school achieves all six badges they will be awarded the Equality Mark. As a school, we will identify priorities each year that will make a difference in the area of equality in our school community and will support wider development plans. This year we are aiming to achieve the Socio-economic badge.
Staff are working hard to develop practice and will receive training from the Equality Mark team during the Spring term. Miss Marsden is working closely with other staff members and Governors to lead developments.
Once we have achieved our first badge, we will then prioritise two further badges to work towards next year.
This is an exciting opportunity for us to develop practice in our school. We will keep this page updated with what we get up to in school and within our local community.
