Equal Opportunities Policy
Child Protection
Vision Statement:
Sunshine and Sunbeams day nurseries are committed to promoting equal opportunities. We value diversity and encourage respect, fairness and justice. We strive for equal chances for everyone, to learn, work and play, free from discrimination and victimisation. We will combat discrimination. We will help overcome discriminatory barriers.
In seeking to achieve this vision, we will strive to:
- Encourage equality of opportunity for all and actively promote good relations.
- Eliminate any conditions, procedures, practice, stereo typical images or individual behaviour that can lead to discrimination, even where there was no intent to discriminate, with particular regard to: Race; Gender; Disability; Sexuality; Age; Religion and Belief
- Recognise that individuals may experience disadvantage on more than one level.
- Use displays, resources and equipment that reflect our community.
- Value our community as a source of learning as well as the wider world
- Operate a curriculum, which includes activities to encourage children to respect all people?s cultural background and beliefs.
An inclusive curriculum
- Including and planning activities and celebrations relating to a wide range of equal opportunity issues, including ethnicity, religion, culture, family backgrounds, disabilities, gender, home language, special needs:
- Organise visits to different places of worship and cultural centres
- Telling stories, listening to music and looking at pictures and videos with emphasis on equal opportunities
- Modifying activities or providing additional equipment or materials to ensure no one is excluded and that every child feels secure, included and valued.
- Supporting children to participate in all activities and experiences, visits and discussion
- Ensuring that all children are listened to carefully and with respect.
- Acknowledging that familiar experiences are to be used as a starting point for learning.
- Treating each child as an individual and plan for their individual needs
- Aim to provide an environment which promotes and encourages self confidence and self belief
- Employment issues. We will offer services fairly to all people, ensuring that anyone in contact with the organisation is treated with respect, making provision for those groups within the community whose needs and expectations are less well met.
- We will comply with all legislation dealing with discrimination and the promotion of equality, following the codes of practice issued to support this legislation.
- Ensure all employment policies, procedures and guidelines reflect and reinforce commitment to equality.
- Ensure mechanisms are in place for responding to complaints of discrimination and harassment from employees and the public.
- Make this policy known to all users, employees, job applicants
- Periodically review the Equal Opportunities policy.
Supporting Guidelines - The Equal Opportunities Policy is reinforced by guidelines specifically relating to accessibility and Ofsted?s role as a governing body
Equal Opportunities - Accessibility Guidelines
The Nurseries services must be accessible to and appropriate for all the members of the community who might wish or need to use them. The Nursery will take all reasonable steps to ensure its employment arrangements are accessible.
In seeking to achieve this we will strive to:
- Facilitate physical access into the buildings.
- If unable to, where possible we will provide a reasonable alternative method of making the service in question available.
- Monitor and evaluate accessibility in order to make improvements.
- Use communication methods that are appropriate and sensitive.
- Improve the accessibility of employment arrangements or physical features of the workplace to meet the needs of staff and applicants with disabilities or other needs.
- Explore multi-channel access to information and services that extends choice and convenience to our customers.
Employment Training and Oranisational Development
The Nursery will through its policies and training, seek to create a prejudice-free and supportive working environment. We strive for a workforce, which reflects the diversity of the local population, ensuring that people from all sections of the local communities have equality of opportunity to obtain employment in all areas and levels.
Recruitment and Selection
The nursery will strive to:
- Ensure that all employees are recruited and promoted on the basis of ability and other objective relevant criteria.
- Work towards ensuring that through recruitment its workforce represents the community it serves.
- Be committed to equality of opportunity for all people and protect against all forms of discrimination, with a particular regard to: Gender; Race; Disability; Religious and Belief; Age; Sexuality
- Ensure that it communicates job opportunities to all sections of the community. We will scrutinise the recruitment process to ensure that we do not discriminate or discourage applications from any section of the community.
- Ensure that all its employees who are part of the recruitment selection panel are trained on equalities issues.
- Use appropriate legislation as a framework for action to support the recruitment process in a positive way.
- Collect and use recruitment information to support a fair and effective recruitment process.
Training and Oranisational Development
The nursery will: - Seek to ensure that all employees are developed by the provision of appropriate and accessible learning opportunities in line with organisational needs.
- Provide training that complies with the Equalities Policies.
- Include equalities training as part of its induction programme.
- Include equalities training as part of its management development programme.
Monitoring and Evaluation
The nursery will: - Continually monitor its workforce profile against the community profile to work towards a workforce that is reflective of the community it serves.
- Specifically monitor recruitment, promotion, and training opportunities and take up of training, pay, grievance, disciplinary and exit from employment.
- Continue to review its monitoring processes to comply with changes in legislation.
Equal Opportunities policy - Supporting statements
Race Equality: We are committed to promoting a cohesive society and eliminating unlawful racial discrimination. The nursery will promote equality of opportunity and good relations between people of different racial, national and ethnic groups.
Disability Equality: We will not treat a person less favourably directly or indirectly on the basis of his/her disability and will promote equality of opportunity for people with disabilities.
Gender Equality: We will not treat a person less favourably directly or indirectly due to gender or marital status.
Equality of Employment: We will through our policies and training seek to create: A prejudice free and supportive working environment; a workforce which reflects the diversity of the local population.
Accessibility: The nurseries services must be accessible and appropriate for members of the community who might wish or need to use them.
Sexual Orientation: We will not discriminate directly or indirectly on the grounds of sexual orientation.
Gender Reassignment: We will not discriminate directly or indirectly on the grounds of gender reassignment.
Religion and Belief: We will not discriminate directly or indirectly on the grounds of religion or belief.
(This is defined as any religion, religious belief or similar philosophical belief. It excludes philosophical or political beliefs unless those beliefs are similar to a religious belief, e.g. the belief has a profound affect on the person?s way of life.)
Age: A person's age will not lead to unfair discrimination.
Review date: April 2007