Notre Dame Catholic Sixth Form College

RACE EQUALITY POLICY

Statutory Duties

1. General Duties
1.1 Under the Race Relations Act 1976 (as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000) the College has the following general duties:

eliminate unlawful race discrimination
promote equality of opportunity
promote good relations between people from different racial groups

1.2 We also have the following specific duties:

prepare and maintain a written race equality policy
assess the impact of its policies on students and staff of different racial groups
monitor, by reference to those racial groups, the admission and progress of students and the recruitment and career progress of staff
where reasonably practicable publish annually the results of assessments and monitoring

1.3 Meeting Our Duties
We will seek to ensure that:

governors, staff, learners/students and the wider community are aware of our racial equality policy and the action needed for its implementation
staff, learners/students and the wider community are aware of the value placed upon equal opportunity and that action will be taken in the event of any breach of the policy
the College’s publicity materials present appropriate and positive messages about ethnic minority groups
schemes of work, lesson content and teaching resources demonstrate sensitivity to issues of cultural diversity
ethnic minority students have access to appropriate support and facilities
applicants for employment are drawn from a wide pool with positive action to encourage applications from under-represented groups
recruitment and promotion procedures are designed to eliminate cultural bias

1.4 Monitoring Our Progress
In order to inform the setting of targets and measure our progress in achieving them, we will strive to collect and analyse the following information by ethnic origin:

For students:

ethnic profiles of students
applications, and success and failure rates for admission to programmes
retention rates
achievement rates
incidents of harassment
disciplinary action
complaints by students
satisfaction surveys

ii) For staff :

ethnic profiles of employees by grade and type of work
job application rates
selection success rates
type of contract (permanent, temporary)
training application rates
promotion application and success rates
disciplinary proceedings
grievances

2.
2.1 Our commitment to racial equality will be highlighted in our prospectus, in our strategic plan and College intranet. The induction programme for students will highlight the College’s commitment to racial equality, action to be taken by learners who suffer discrimination and the action to be taken against any perpetrators of discrimination.
All staff will have access to a full copy of the policy from the Staff INTRANET.

2.2 The Staff induction programme will highlight the College’s commitment to racial equality, action to be taken by staff and students who suffer discrimination and the action to be taken against any perpetrators of discrimination.

2.3 Summary of the results of our monitoring information will be included in an Annual Report to the Governing Body and will be available to all staff

3. POSITIVE ACTION
In specific circumstances the Race Equality Act allows positive action as a way of overcoming racial inequality – see sections 35, 37 and 38 of the Act