Gender Equality

The general duty

The Equality Act 2006 amends the Sex Discrimination Act 1975 to place a statutory duty on all public authorities, when carrying out their functions, to have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination and harassment
• promote equality of opportunity between men and women

Specific duties

The specific duties relating to policy development and service delivery require public authorities to:

• produce and publish a gender equality scheme (GES) showing how they will meet the general and specific duties and setting out their  gender equality objectives

• gather and use information on how their policies and practices affect gender equality

• assess the impact of their policies and practices, or the likely impact of their proposed policies and practices, on equality between women and men

• consult stakeholders in the development of the scheme

• assess functions and policies, or proposed policies, which are relevant to gender equality

• implement the actions set out in the scheme within three years

• report annually on the progress of the action plan

• review the scheme every three years.

The specific duties covering an authority’s role as an employer are to:

• consider the need to have objectives that address the causes of any differences between the pay of men and women that are related to their sex

• gather and use information on how its policies and functions affect gender equality in the workforce.

What impact have we already had on gender equality in our school?

All curriculum activities are accessible to boys and girls eg Northern Ballet workshops, Football, Recorders, Music and Drama etc.

The achievement of boys and girls are analysed in detail to determine any patterns of underachievement of any groups of pupils. Teachers amend planning to meet the needs of vulnerable groups and to meet the needs and interests of both boys and girls. The achievement of boys and girls varies with each cohort and there is no evidence of a whole school issue.

What key issues still remain for our school?

Conduct specific research with a group of children to assess the pupils’ views of equality regarding male and female roles / aspirations etc. If any issues arise we will plan some work to address this.