Equal Opportunities and Inclusion Policy
Laleham Church Playgroup is committed to the fair treatment of it’s staff, potential staff, students, parents, carers and children, regardless of ethnicity, culture or religion, home language, family background, learning difficulties or disabilities, gender, sexual orientation, or ability. Each child and adult will be respected and his/her individuality and potential recognised, valued and nurtured.
(Legal framework : Equality Act 2010)
Aims
We aim to:
·provide a secure and accessible environment in which all our children can flourish and in which all contributions are considered and valued
·include and value the contribution of all families to our understanding of equality and diversity
·provide positive non-stereotyping information about gender roles, diverse ethnic and cultural groups and disabled people
·improve our knowledge and understanding of issues of anti-discriminatory practice, promoting equality and valuing diversity
·make inclusion a thread that runs through all of the activities of the setting
Agreed Practice:
In order to meet our legal duties, promote equality and inclusion in our setting and value diversity we follow these procedures:
Admissions
·Our setting is open to all members of the community.
·We provide information in clear, concise language, whether in spoken or written form.
·We base our admissions policy on a fair system.
·We ensure that all parents are made aware of our equal opportunities and inclusion policy and all other relevant policies.
·We do not discriminate against a child or their family, or prevent entry to our setting, on the basis of colour, ethnicity, religion or social background..
·We do not discriminate against disabled children. If consideration needs to be given to any reasonable adjustments required to include any child who may have a disability or special educational needs we develop an action plan to ensure that all individuals can participate successfully in the services offered by the setting and in the curriculum offered. Please see our “Special Educational Needs and Disability Policy” for details.
· We offer flexible payment systems for families with differing needs
·We take action against any discriminatory behaviour by staff or parents. Displaying of openly discriminatory and possibly offensive materials, name calling, or threatening behaviour are unacceptable on or around the premises and will be dealt with in the strongest manner.
Staff Training
· Understanding of this policy forms part of the staff induction process.
·We seek out training opportunities for staff and volunteers to enable them to develop anti-discriminatory and inclusive practices, which enable all children to flourish.
·We ensure that staff are confident and trained in administering relevant life saving medicines and performing invasive care procedures.
·We review our practices to ensure that we are fully implementing our policy for promoting equality, inclusion and valuing diversity.
Environment
· The environment is accessible for all visitors and service users.
· Reasonable adjustments have been made to accommodate the needs of disabled children and adults.
Curriculum
The curriculum offered in the setting encourages children to develop positive attitudes about themselves as well as to people who are different from themselves. It encourages children to empathise with others and to begin to develop the skills of critical thinking.
We do this by:
·making children feel valued and good about themselves..
· allocating each child a member of staff to be their keyperson, whose roles include ensuring that all staff working with the child are aware of the child’s individual needs, interests and stage of development
·making adjustments to the environment and resources to accommodate a wide range of learning, physical and sensory impairments
·making appropriate provision within the curriculum to ensure each child receives the widest possible opportunity to develop their skills and abilities;
·positively reflecting the widest possible range of communities by enhancing the choice of resources
·avoiding stereotypes or derogatory images in the selection of books or other visual materials
·celebrating a wide range of festivals
·creating an environment of mutual respect and tolerance
·differentiating the curriculum to meet children’s special educational needs
·helping children to understand that discriminatory behaviour and remarks are hurtful and unacceptable
·ensuring that children learning English as an additional language have full access to the curriculum and are supported in their learning
·ensuring that children speaking languages other than English (including signing eg Makaton) are supported in the maintenance and development of their home languages
Valuing diversity in families
·We welcome the diversity of family lifestyles and work with all families.
·We encourage children to contribute stories of their everyday life to the setting.
·We encourage parents/carers to take part in the life of the setting and to contribute fully.
·For families who speak languages in addition to English, we will develop means to ensure their full inclusion.
Food
·We work in partnership with parents to ensure that the medical, cultural and dietary needs of children are met.
·We help children to learn about a range of food, and of cultural approaches to mealtimes and eating, and to respect the differences among them.
Monitoring and reviewing
·To ensure our policy and procedures remain effective we follow the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory guidance and review our policies annually to ensure our strategies meet the overall aims to promote equality, inclusion and valuing diversity.
·We provide a complaints procedure.
The policy was adopted by Laleham Church Playgroup at a meeting on.....5th September 2018
Signed on behalf of Laleham Church Playgroup...........................................