2.4. Diversity, Equality and Inclusion

Page 5 - 1.1 - Identify the current legislation and codes of practice relevant to the promotion of equality and valuing diversity

This is the equality and diversity policy of Northbrook. This is what every organisational policies should be.

The rights of all children & young people are stated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

The organizations where I work promote equality, diversity and inclusion in both policy and practice. Staffs should regularly be reminded the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion in day to day practice. Staff should respect the choice, preference, ethnicity, origin, rights, and wishes of service users. Care staff should be allocated to service user to make sure that

Additional needs- whether these are additional educational, physical, dietary needs the setting needs to be able to accommodate for anyone who is there. For example Smarties has a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) to help and advise parents, staff and children who have additional needs.

Legislations and codes of practice help us to better understand the school policy in which we work. We are not expected to know all the details of each and every code and legislations but as a practitioner working with children, we need to identify the main one that has to do with promoting equality and valuing diversity in school. We need to show that we are aware of them in our practice. Each school must produce a range of policies which formally sets out the guideline and procedure for ensuring equality. These must take into account of the rights of individuals and groups within the school. Policies should also provide guidance for staff and visitors to the school on ways to ensure inclusive practice. There may be a number of separate policies or they may be combined. Policies must include ways that schools work in relation to:

n a childcare setting it is vital that each and every practitioner is aware of the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policy and procedure and it is also vital that this policy is implemented in the everyday provision. With practitioners being aware of this policy they should ensure the activities they plan and provide involves equal opportunities and that every child in the setting is also treated equally.

Put into place and implement written procedures to deal with dangerous, discriminatory or exploitative behaviour and practice

There are many legislations relating to diversity, equality and discrimination, on October 2010, the Equality Act 2010 came into effect. This Act replaced previous legislations (such as the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995). This act ensures that people are protected from discrimination in the work place and in wider society.

The following report is based upon the work practice carried out in an Additional Support Needs education setting for children of secondary school level, and the process of referral involved. The report will demonstrate the support needs of an individual within the school and the common problems that may factor into the care and development of the child and how the school can support them, information detailing the strategies in place within the school and how staff within the school along with outer agencies collaborate together to insure each individuals needs are being met and the policies and procedures in place to insure the quality of the service provided to them.

In my opinion living in a diverse society, along with understanding and knowledge is a positive route to acceptance on a variety of levels. When looking at my own life values and experiences I feel that as a person I don’t have prejudices and discrimination, however dependant on circumstances and peers I may on occasion say something deemed to be a prejudice. However the audience I have understand that this isn’t my view and that the reason behind saying something is more as a joke. For example my sister in law is Scottish, a prejudgment would be that she doesn’t like to spend money, never thinks its cold and drinks whiskey. If I

Inclusion views the children as of equal worth where they can all reach their full potential with the right support. Therefore, it reduces exclusion, discrimination, and barriers to learning and participation. The planning of activities are based on the children’s best interests and responds to their strengths and needs. It also includes being flexible and responsive to change. This helps the children to participate in the activities, are recognized as individuals with specific strengths and needs, feel safe, form friendships, and value diversity

In this assignment I will demonstrate my understanding of equality and diversity as a key approach to policy and practice within my setting. I will make reference to current legislation such as equal pay act, disability discrimination act, sex discrimination act and equality act. Other areas of discriminatory practice I will discuss are language and terminology, stereotyping and attitudes in relation to children and young people. I will explore anti discriminatory practice and diversity that is within the everyday role of the early years practitioners. I will also explore an area of my practice using my understanding of equality and diversity through an audit of provision to develop practice and outline any issues. The audit I will carry

Since a school’s policies and procedures are adopted from laws passed by the Government it means they are official documents and as such need to be regularly checked and audited to see if they are still correctly serving their purpose. When a school decides to create a new policies/ procedures, or review an old one, new documents have to be drafted, checked, ratified and signed off before they can be put into practice. It is the schools responsibility to ensure that all Staff have been made aware of the new policies or changes and that any necessary training can then be provided for

This policy is in accordance with various codes of practice and relevant legislation, which includes the equal pay act, the sex discrimination act, the disability discrimination act. Equality of Opportunity’s main principle is that everyone has an equal chance in society of reaching their full potential. Under this principle is to ensure as far as possible all individuals will obtain an equal share of society’s benefits, wealth, power, income, housing etc.