Equality Objectives

Educational inclusion and equality is more than a concern about any one group of students such as those students who have been or are likely to be excluded from school. It is about equal opportunities for all students, whatever their age, gender, ethnicity, attainment or background. It pays particular attention to the provision made for, and the achievement of, different groups of students within the school.

We believe that educational inclusion and equality lies at the heart of education. We have an important role to play in demonstrating that the teaching and learning achievements, attitudes and well-being of every young person are of equal value.

We aim to:

• Offer additional support and new opportunities for students who may have experienced previous barriers to learning.
• Take account of our students’ varied life experiences and take practical steps, in the classroom and beyond, to meet different students’ learning needs effectively;
• Promote tolerance and understanding between different groups in our diverse society;
• Know all our students better and develop their special gifts and talents;
• Raise standards for all students;
• Support all students’ personal development, attitudes and values;
• Ensure all students are taught well; with a differentiated curriculum to meet the wide range of needs;
• Care for all students;
• Work with parents/carers of all groups of students;
• Lead and manage the school for the benefit of all students;
• Know how effective we are in relation to supporting the learning of different groups of students;
• Identify students who experience alienation and disaffection with the education system.

As a school, our objectives are:

Objective 1

Ensure our student leadership structure is representative of the diverse cultures, religions and ethnicities across our student body.

• This objective builds on the work the school has been doing on its improvement journey. We annually assesses our provision and practice in ensuring all students are supported and have equal opportunity to pursue and be represented across the wider school community.
• To achieve this objective we adopt an open and fair advertising, recruitment and interview process where, the diverse makeup of the school is also taken into consideration to ensure that each student feels they have a voice that will be listened to.
• We annually monitor the impact of the student’s leadership team recruitment process.

Objective 2

Ensure there is equality of opportunity for all students irrespective of their background, SEND need, disability, gender, culture, religion and ethnicity to ensure Meadow Park students have the best possible experience at school.

• This objective forms part of our World Class Guarantee to ensure that no barrier exists in providing every student, irrespective of their background, SEND need, disability, gender, culture, religion and ethnicity the opportunity to successfully achieve the guarantee.
• To achieve this objective we will provide opportunities in each of the eight strands, in addition to those students choose to pursue outside of school, to ensure no student has a barrier to them achieving the guarantee.
• We are committed to the launch of the World Class Guarantee for students and parents/carers and will monitor the uptake of all groups to ensure no student is left behind that wishes to achieve the guarantee.

Objective 3

Undertake analysis of attendance data and trends with regards to disadvantaged, SEND need, disability, gender, culture, religion and ethnicity to ensure attendance for all is above the national average and persistent absence for all is below the national average.

• This objective drives a continued whole school focus on attendance and improving it for all key groups (as well as individuals within key groups) to ensure the overall school attendance continues to improve and move towards 96.5% (school set target) and beyond.
• To achieve this objective we have attendance as one of our key foci through our weekly attendance meetings, adopting the ATTEND framework, providing weekly and half termly information on lateness and attendance so that there is effective follow up by the Attendance Team and we have adopted first day calling and third day home visits for all student absences.
• The progress we are making towards this target is closely monitored by our Educational Welfare Officer and the LA in weekly meetings.

These objectives were agreed in December 2023 and are due for review in December 2027. Our full Educational Inclusion & Equality policy can be viewed here.