Equality Duty Statement

Introduction

1. This document describes how the Governing Body of St Thomas More Catholic School intends to fulfil its responsibilities under the Public Sector Equality Duty with regard to its students and workforce.

1.2. We will have due regard to the need to:

Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010;

Advance equality of opportunity between people who have a protected characteristic and people who do not have it; and

Foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not have it.

1.3. We will collect and use equality information to help us to:

Identify key issues;

Understand the impact of our policies, practices and decisions on people with different protected characteristics;

Assess whether we are discriminating unlawfully when carrying out any of our functions;

Identify what the key equality issues are for our organisation.

1.4. The governors and senior management team will:

Consider taking steps to meet the needs of staff who have relevant protected characteristics;

Identify if there are any actions we can take to avoid discrimination and harassment, advance equality of opportunity or foster good relations;

Make informed decisions about policies and practices which are based on evidence about the impact of our activities on equality;

Review our equality objectives to meet the specific duties;

Review on a regular basis our equal opportunities policy, our special education needs and disability policy and our accessibility plan.

Have due regard to the aims of the general equality duty by ensuring that staff have appropriate information for decision-making.

2.             Publication of Equality Information/Equality Objective

2.1. In order to ensure that we are compliant:

The governors will profile on a regular basis the workforce of the school as to protected characteristics.

Senior leaders involved in recruitment will have attended Safer Recruitment and Equality Training.

We will ask staff during the induction process what adjustments are needed for us to make sure any disadvantages are addressed.

We will profile the gender pay gap and take steps to ensure we are not out of step with national trends.

2.2 Our Equality Objectives:

Objective 1: Close attainment gaps between disadvantaged pupils and their peers

Target 1: By July 2026, reduce the Progress 8 gap between pupil premium students and the whole Cohort year on year 

Target 2: Increase the percentage of SEND pupils achieving a Grade 4 or above in English and Maths GCSEs by July 26 (following July 25 results).

Objective 2: Improve representation and inclusion across school life

Target 1: By July 2026, monitor the percentage of student leadership roles (e.g. prefects, school council reps) held by pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds, SEND, or disadvantaged groups to establish a baseline and observe any under-representation. 

Target 2: By the July 2026, to review and diversify the KS3 and KS4 curriculum in English, History, and PSHE to ensure content reflects voices and perspectives from a range of ethnic, cultural, and social backgrounds.

Objective 3: Promote a culture of respect and understanding

Target 1: Deliver termly equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) to all staff (including non-teaching), with an emphasis for classroom-based staff on focussing on inclusive classroom practices, starting September 2025.

Target 2: Reduce reported incidents of discriminatory language or behaviour by July 2026, through strengthened behaviour policy, awareness campaigns, and student-led peer education.

This statement was reviewed 10th June 2025

Date of next review: Summer 2026

For the link to the Equal Opportunities policy click here.