Public Sector Equality Duty at Hillcrest Early Years Academy

You will find here information about  how the school ensures it meets its Specific Equalities Duties (These are things our school must do).

The Public Sector Equality Duty requires our school to publish information about Equalities.

The Equality Act 2010 clearly states that the following groups must be taken into account. People identified in the following groups are considered to have a protected characteristic.

Protected  Characteristics – school must take into account when publishing information

• Disability
• Sex (gender)
• Race (ethnicity)
• Pregnancy and Maternity
• Religion and Belief
• Sexual Orientation
• Transgender

There are also two other protected  characteristics for which schools do not have a direct duty.

• Age
• Marriage and Civil Partnership

The information we publish and analyse must be clearly linked to the three aims (General Duties) of the Public Sector Equality Duty.  General Duties are the things that schools aim to achieve)

General Duties

The three aims of the Public Sector Equality Duty are to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act.
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

Specific Duties

• You will find here information about our school community
• Equality Objectives (link to objectives) – Actions we will take after careful thought (analysis)

Much of the information and analysis will relate to the School Development Plan, evaluations and pupil data – we intend to use the information to improve education for all groups in the  school.  We want to make sure we know which pupils are doing well and less well so we can plan and improve.

A lot of this information is already being used by the school to develop and improve what we are  doing.  We will use information to future plan and include these actions in our Equalities Objectives  which you will find also published here. We regularly take into consideration the views of all stakeholders through surveys to ensure our whole-school community feels as though they have a voice.

Equality Objectives 2023-2027

• Objective 1: To provide high-quality provision to meet the needs of all pupils, including those with disabilities and/or Special Educational Needs.
• Objective 2: To raise attendance of disadvantaged pupils in line with national and local statistics.
• Objective 3: To promote cultural development and understanding through a rich range of experience both in school, locally and nationally.
• Objective 4: To ensure the school environment is accessible for all pupils, staff and visitors to the academy.

Accessibility in the Academy

At Hillcrest Early Years Academy we strive to ensure that every child has access to an outstanding Education.

Our school is completely wheelchair accessible – with ramps at the staff entrance, nursery/reception entrance and KS1 entrance.

We have disabled parking spaces within our car park.

We have staff in situ with Hearing and Sight loss experience.

Our SENCO is extremely knowledgeable – please see the SEN Page.

We have several Teaching Assistants who are specialists in Speech and Language. All staff are trained via the Little Orchard Speech and Language consultancy membership. 

We have 2 disabled toilets within the school with room to change a child if necessary.

We even have a spare wheelchair within school in case any children have a short term mobility issue.

If you have any questions as to how we can meet your child’s needs, please make an appointment with a member of our Senior Leadership who will be pleased to meet with you and show you our facilities, and devise a plan to meet your child’s access needs.