Equality Diversity and Inclusion Policy

Equality & Inclusion

Policy 2025

 

Title	Equality and Inclusion Policy
Summary	This policy sets SJBC’s commitment and approach to equality, diversity and inclusion.
Purpose	To ensure that all stakeholders are aware of this policy and its application in relation to equality, diversity and inclusion for all pupils and staff.
Operational Date	September 2025
Frequency of Review	Every 3 Years
Date last Reviewed and Approved by Board of Governors	September 2025

 

1. Introduction

St John the Baptist’s College is committed to equality and inclusion. 

We recognise the value of diverse environments and strive to promote a culture in which all pupils, staff and members of the school community are welcomed and supported to fulfil their potential, irrespective of their background or personal characteristics.  

We are committed to an ethos and culture of inclusion in SJBC for all pupils, irrespective of race, religion/belief, political views, disability, SEN status, gender, gender identity (e.g. transgender) and/or sexual orientation (LGBTQ+).

SJBC is an inclusive school where we focus on the well-being and progress of all our children and young people and where all members of our school community are of equal worth.

We recognise, respect and value difference and understand that diversity is a strength that enriches our lives. We take account of differences and strive to remove any barriers to learning and development.

The make-up of our SJBC students is as follows:

 

Category	Percentage
Free School Meals	33.75%
Newcomers	41%
Faiths	RC – 88.7% Other Christian 5% Muslim 1% Hindu 0.1% No Religion 3.5% Unclassified 1.7%
Gender	Male -52% Female – 48% Other – 0%

 

SJBC prides itself on being a multi-cultural school. We oppose all forms of unlawful and unfair discrimination, bullying type behaviour and harassment.  As a school community, we recognise the need to champion equality and ensure inclusion for all pupils in the full life of our school, where appropriate making necessary adjustments to enable everyone’s participation.

SJBC believes that education (both formal and informal learning) is fundamental to equality of opportunity. It prepares young people for life and is a powerful influence on access to and advancement in employment. All young people should be able to learn and develop fully in a truly diverse and inclusive environment.  

All our policies and practices are fully inclusive and supportive of a welcoming culture for all communities; this is evidenced in our practices and procedures.

1. Mission and Values
2. St John the Baptist’s College is a nurturing school which strives to ensure that all children feel safe when with us. In SJBC, we value the personal, moral, social, and spiritual development of each of our students, encouraging respect for self and others including the core values of honesty, kindness, empathy, integrity, and compassion.

 

 

SJBC has developed this policy as a statement of its commitment to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion within our school community. It seeks to ensure that all the members of the school are valued equally, regardless of religion or belief, disability, race, gender, sexual orientation or transgender identity. Whilst socio-economic status is not a specified ground under the equality legislation, the barriers and inequalities experienced by equality groups can only be exacerbated by poverty and social exclusion.

1. Equality and Inclusion – School Policies
   
   

Through this policy, and the wider practices within SJBC we seek to empower our young people to embrace diversity and challenge discrimination. We equip our Governors and staff to fulfil their legal responsibilities, ensure that our school’s safeguarding procedures are comprehensive and inclusive and enable robust monitoring of our progress as a school.

Inclusion underpins all our school policies.

As part of our overall School Development Plan, and our school policy development there are several policies that we must have in place and regularly review to ensure our school is addressing its statutory responsibilities. These include:

• Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy
• Critical Incident Policy
• RSE Policy
• SEN Policy
• Addressing Bullying Policy
• Safeguarding Policy
• Curriculum Policy
• Positive Behaviour Policy
• Uniform Policy
• Admissions Policy.

Any arising incident will be dealt with by the appropriate policy.  There should never be any grey areas when it comes to young people’s safety and well-being.

This is supplemented by a range of other policies that as a school we feel are important to have for our whole school community.  It is our belief that equality and inclusion is central to all our policies and that we maintain an ethos that welcomes diversity and promotes equal opportunities for all, ensuring all our pupils and their families feel valued and supported and making sure that equality and inclusion is evident in everyday school life.

1. Responsibilities

SJBC promotes diversity and inclusion through the following activities:

School /Centre Practices

 

• Develop a whole school approach
• Have an inclusive mission statement
• Use a range of resources and teaching approaches
• Use appropriate terminology and language
• Tackle stereotypes
• Challenge homophobic, transphobic or any other type of bullying type behaviours
• Increase the visibility/ role modelling of minority groups
• Set clear expectations about acceptable behaviour
• Have Equality and Inclusion as a regular topic at Board of Governor meetings
• Have regular Diversity Training for all staff
• Discussing uniform preferences with pupils / students

Facilities/ Services

 

• Promoting and using interpreting services
• Using translated documents where available
• Have allocated accessible parking
• Having all accessible toilets/changing facilities
• Having an accessible main entrance and building
• Having signage, displays and resources reflecting all languages and cultures throughout the school
• Considering flexible payment schemes when planning trips and extra-curricular activities
• Helping young people to access advice from support organisations including notice boards with clear and accessible information and contacts

 

 

 

Curriculum

 

• Examining where and when themes around equality and inclusion might be embedded into topics within each curriculum area
• Holding equality and inclusion themed events on a regular basis and following up on these
• Participating in Shared Education and other programmes such as Schools of Sanctuary
• Ensuring that staff with specific areas of responsibility consider the implications of Equality and Inclusion with their teams.

The SJBC Board of Governors have overall responsibility to:

‘Promote equality, good relations and diversity and to comply with education and employment legislation and anti-discrimination, human rights and equality legislation that affect its statutory duties in relation to the school’ ‘Every school a good school – the governor’s role’ (Department of Education NI, August 2019)

The Governors have overall responsibility to manage the implementation of equality and diversity in our school. 

The Principal, Mrs N Murray, is responsible for:
ensuring policies and procedures are in place to comply with equality legislation;

• ensuring the school implements policies and practices in line with the principles of equality and inclusion.
• following the relevant procedures and taking action in cases of unfair discrimination, harassment or bullying.
• ensuring appropriate training and awareness raising is undertaken with staff.
• ensuring that appropriate records are kept of any cases of unfair discrimination, harassment or bullying.

The School Leadership Team are responsible for:

• putting the school’s equality and inclusion policies and codes into practice.
• making sure that all staff know their responsibilities and receive the support and training necessary to carry them out.
• following the relevant procedures and taking action where necessary.

 

The School’s Pastoral Care and Safeguarding Team (led by the Designated Teacher, Ms S Murphy) will manage the implementation of the policy in partnership with the Principal.

 

All School Staff (teaching and non-teaching) have a responsibility for the day-to-day operation of this policy and will contribute to an inclusive and welcoming environment within the school.

 

Pupils/students are responsible for:

• respecting others in their language and actions.
• following all the relevant school policies and codes of conduct in line with the principles of equality and inclusion.

 

1. How do we promote Equality and Inclusion?

 

SJBC promotes equality and inclusion within our school through the following activities:

• SJBC Practices
• Policies
• Facilities
• Curriculum
• Training
•  

Some examples of these are:

• Governors to report on the successes and challenges in relation to inclusion;
• Number of bullying incidents by equality characteristic to be monitored and appropriate action taken as necessary
• Embedding equality and inclusion across curriculum areas to be monitored
• Number of comments and complaints in relation to equality and inclusion to be monitored by Pastoral Team
• a Record of training / information presented to staff/ pupils to be kept
• Positive stories on equality and inclusion to be highlighted in class and through assemblies

 

 

1. Concerns (Complaint’s) Procedures

The school has a robust and transparent Concerns procedure.  If a concern is raised regarding equality or inclusion, the Concerns process will be fairly and systematically applied. Access to the Complaints procedure can be found on the school’s website or a hard copy is available from the General office.

1. Review cycle of policy

The Equality and Inclusion Policy will be reviewed by all stakeholders and, if required, updated every three years in line with our school policy review cycle.