Anti-Racist Policy

ANTI-RACISM POLICY

2009 - 2010

BLESSED GEORGE NAPIER SCHOOL ANTI-RACISM POLICY

“Love one another, as sisters and brothers should and have a profound respect for each other” Romans 12:10

DUTY:

The Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 addresses the need for schools to:
•    Promote equality of opportunity
•    Promote good race relations between people of different racial groups
•    Eliminate unlawful racial discrimination

We as a School recognise the need for an anti-racist policy for the following reasons:

1)  The School Mission Statement already commits us to providing a caring community for all pupils.  BGN is a Catholic School which seeks to appreciate and develop the talents ad skills of each individual. Inspired by the life of Christ and His teaching, BGN School, in active partnership with home, parish and wider community, endeavours to prepare our members to face the future with confidence and take up the challenge of the Gospel.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales (1989) emphasized the need for the Catholic Community to take positive action to redress historical prejudice.

The Swann Report (1985) uncovered evidence of underachievement among children from ethnic backgrounds.

The National Curriculum (1990) stated that “A commitment to providing equal opportunities for all pupils, and a recognition that preparation for life in a multi-cultural society is relevant to all pupils and should permeate every aspect of the curriculum”.

AIMS AND VALUES

BGN is a Catholic School which seeks to appreciate and develop the talents of each individual.  Inspired by the life of Christ and his teaching, BGN School, in active partnership and home, parish and wider community, endeavours to prepare its members to face the future with confidence and take up the challenge of the Gospel.

Our vision is of a Roman Catholic school which is true community driven by the example of Christ and his teaching, and to be a place that strives for excellence in all that we do.  The school is also a place where the young people in our care come to recognise their own worth, gaining in confidence to face the challenge of living in a practising Christian, Catholic environment.

Definitions:

•    Direct racial discrimination. This means treating one person less favourably or differently than another person on racial grounds. e.g. applying harsher discipline to pupils of a different racial group.
•    Indirect racial discrimination. Where a rule or condition, although applied to everyone, can be less easily met by people from a particular racial group. The rule therefore becomes to their disadvantage and the rule or condition cannot be justified on non-racial grounds. All 3 conditions must apply. e.g. pupils must wear a particular style of swimming costume.

As a School we define racism to be:

Intolerance towards people of other cultural background, this could be because of their colour, creed or values.  The Intolerance could be practiced covertly or overtly against individuals or a community and is rooted in a belief that some cultures are superior to others.

LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT

Commitment;

Blessed George Napier School is committed to respond to racial discrimination and promote good race relations within it’s community. This will be achieved by:

•    Ensuring equality of opportunity
•    Respect and valuing every member of the school community
•    Supporting all pupils and staff to develop their potential
•    Working with parents, guardians, governors and the wider community to respond to racial discrimination and to both follow and promote good practice.
•    Ensuring the Anti-racism policy is followed at all times
•    Promoting and understanding of racism in it’s different forms
•    Develop the skills and confidence to identify and challenge incidents of racism

Responsibilities:

1.    Governing Body
•    Ensure the school complies with the Anti-racism Policy
and procedures are followed
•    Ensure that BGN complies with Race Relations Legislation.

2.    Headteacher
•    Implementation of the policy and it’s related procedures and strategies
•    Ensure that all staff are aware of their responsibilities and are given appropriate support and training.
•    Take appropriate action in any cases of racial discrimination.

3.    People with Specific Responsibilities
•    The co-ordinator for racial equality work is Mrs S Moss
•    All incidents of racism or racial harassment within the school should be reported to Deputy Head (Acting) Mrs V. Childs

4.    All Staff
•    All staff at BGN school are responsible for:
•    Dealing with racist incidents should they occur, and know how to identify and challenge racial bias and stereotyping.
•    Promoting racial equality, good race relations and non discrimination on racial grounds
•    Keeping up to date with race relations legislation by attending training and updates organised by the school, LEA or other agencies.

GUIDELINES

1.    All racist incidents are recorded in a log book kept in Mrs F. Illifes’ office and parents need to be informed, there is a standard letter for this purpose.  The criteria sheet will aid in the recording of incidents.
2.   The present incident report should include racial bullying as a separate section.
3.   A designated person should be available for pupils to talk about racial incidents
4.   When dealing with comments or jokes that are the product of ignorance the “no blame approach “ can be used in a first instance.  This will educate and avoid further incidents.
5.   For serious incidents sanctions should be used following the normal school procedure with an added emphasis on supporting the victim and making sure that the community attacked are satisfied with the sanction imposed.  (See Appendix 2).
6.   The school will inform the Education Officer of incidents involving physical abuse or other serious incident with 24hrs.  The Headteacher will report termly to the Governors using Form RI.2 (See Appendix 3).
7.   The record of racist incidents will be used for the Annual Returns to the LEA and inform both SLT and SMG of issues to be considered in planning.

TEACHING STAFF

Teaching staff are responsible for:

•    Ensuring pupils from all racial groups have full access to the curriculum
•    Promote racial equality and diversity through teaching and through relations with pupils, staff,   
     parents and the wider community.

VISITORS AND CONTRACTORS

Should be aware of and comply with the schools race equality policy.
Response to Racial Incidents or failure to uphold the School Policy

BGN School will actively and thoroughly investigate any situations that arise and will take appropriate action according to the particular circumstances of the incident. Where pupils are involved in an incident, their age and nature of the situation will be taken into account. Support will be called upon from the LEA, the police or other agencies as necessary. Incidents will be reported, recorded and kept on file. Returns of such incidents are made to the LEA annually.

SPECIFIC DUTIES

•    BGN school will apply the Race Relations Act in elation to assessing and monitoring the effects of
    our policies on pupils, parents, guardians and staff from different racial groups.
•    The Equal Opportunities Policy, Assessment and Monitoring Policy, Behaviour Policy, and Bullying
     Policy will be applied and monitored to consider any trends related to ethnic minorities.
•    The school will make provision for the pastoral care and Health and Safety of all pupils. The school
     will involve parents whenever any racial incident occurs and each incident will be treated individually.
    Information regarding incidents will inform action planning and development of policies.

ETHNIC MONITORING

BGN will:

•    Use ethnic monitoring data to monitor attainment and progress of pupils, and to set targets to
     challenge differences between groups of pupils.
•    Ensure that monitoring data by racial group e.g. on admissions, attainment, attendance, exclusions,
     sanctions and rewards will be used to inform planning and decision making
•   The results of monitoring will be published annually.

THE CURRICULUM

Through the core curriculum BGN school will explore the multi-cultural aspects of Britain and the impact that different cultures have on society. The diversity of traditions and cultures are recognised and celebrated in many curriculum areas and reinforced through “Cultural Awareness Week”. Subjects such as RE, PSHE and Citizenship focus upon living in a multicultural society and the need to combat racism and discrimination.  Resources such as text books, DVDs, videos and other images are reviewed to ensure that they do not promote bias or racist attitudes but instead an understanding of racial diversity.

MONITORING AND EVALUATION

The policy will be reviewed regularly by the Pupil Voice and Governor sub-committees (staff, the diocese, parents, Local Education Authority and the local community are represented)
All policies will be monitored for:

•    Effectiveness
•    Promotion of racial equality
•    Promotion of good race relations
School Review will evaluate race equality in all aspects of school life and use any findings to inform planning and decision making.

DISTRIBUTION AND PROMOTION OF POLICY

All staff will receive a copy of this policy as part of the staff handbook. The policy will be communicated to staff at staff meetings and INSET. Pupils will be informed abut this policy in assemblies, PSHE/ Citizenship lessons and the wider curriculum. The policy will be referred to in the school prospectus and parents can request a copy. The policy can be translated or communicated in a different form, if necessary.

CRITERIA SHEET FOR RACIST INCIDENT FORM

Verbal Incidents:

•    Name calling
•    Inciting others to
•    Derogatory comments / jokes
•    Use of racist language
•    Other

Non-Co-operation

•    Refuse to sit next to/talk to
•    Other

Physical Abuse

•    Jostling / punching / unwanted / suggestive touching
•    Other

Miscellaneous

•    Abuse of personal property
•    Graffiti
•    Distribution of offensive material
•    Other

Further action taken:

•    Relocation of victim
•    Investigation e.g interviews
•    Mediation
•    Referral to Police, CRE CAB etc
•    Removal of graffiti
•    Warning to perpetrator (if verbal must be recorded)