Promoting equality is fundamental to the vision and ethos in Pinewood school. In Pinewood we focus on the well-being and progress of every child and we are committed to ensuring all members of our community are of equal worth.  

Together with the WLC Promoting Positive Relationships policy, The Equality Act (2010) and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child provide us with a framework to support our commitment to valuing diversity, promoting equality and tackling discrimination.  

Our approach to equality in Pinewood is based around our school values: 

Included: 

All learners are of equal value – there is no discrimination based on disabilities, ethnicity, culture, economic background, national origin or status, gender identity, religious/non-religious affiliation or sexual orientation.  

We work hard to ensure that all pupils are able to fully access our curriculum in order to be happy and thrive 

Respected: 

We recognise, respect and celebrate differences and understand that diversity is a strength for supporting our pupils.  

Whole school ethos of respect has as collective impact on our pupils.  

Independent: 

We acknowledge and challenge all the potential barriers for our young people and strive to remove them to ensure that all learners have the same opportunities and can develop skills for life, learning and work. We have the highest expectations of all of our children. We expect that pupils can make good progress and reach their full potential  

Health and Wellbeing is at the heart of our ethos and culture . We understand the importance of positive relationships and the impact they have on children’s experiences in school.

We are currently refreshing our Positive Relationship Policy with pupils, parents and staff to ensure all voices are heard and valued. This will also include an updated anti-bullying strategy in which all stakeholders will have an opportunity to participate in its development.

Background information

When we began we looked at the term ‘bullying’ with our focus groups. Children were beginning to explain that some may be bullied in different ways and for different reasons, which can include their colour, country and gender, to name a few.

We have always recognised and celebrated differences in school but there is a need to explore and deepen children’s understanding of non-discrimination and all of the protected characteristics.

We want our children to have an understanding in how this impacts on their rights, as outlined in the UNCRC. Our school community is diverse in culture, language and religions, and we want to recognise and celebrate this.

Setting survey

Across our school, children regularly self-report using the eight Wellbeing Indicators. Our pupil forums were made up of Primary 5-7 pupils, we were intentional about ensuring we had a range of pupil voice represented within these groups. Some of these pupils had indicated through their self-reporting that they do not feel ‘included’ or ‘respected’, we wanted to hear and include their voices during the pilot.

All children in the different groups acknowledged that they learn about rights in school, most said they were treated fairly in school and most knew where to go if they were being or feeling bullied.

The language used to describe bullying around the protected characteristics was limited, in terms of definitions and making direct links to the impact on their rights, which provided us with our next steps and informed our action plan.

Focus groups

Children in our school are passionate about sharing the importance of equal rights.

‘’Equal rights means to treat people the same, everyone should be kind to everyone, we should treat others equally, everyone has the same rights and they should get all of the rights they deserve. Equal rights mean treating everyone fairly and with respect, so then the children know what is fair and right.’’

‘’Children's rights and equalities are important to me because we're all the same and shouldn't be treated differently because of our identity. Rights keep us safe and they make me feel happy"

‘’It is important for every child under the age of 18 to learn about the rights of the child so that they know what they are and what they mean, they should know how to defend themselves with this evidence in some situations.’’

Pupil forums

During our pupil forums children explored the meaning of discrimination as a form of bullying.

‘’Discrimination is when people bully others because of the culture or the way they are or where they are from.’’

‘’Picking on people, mocking, physical conflict, racism, discrimination, treating someone differently based on their looks or identity.’’

‘’My view of discrimination is treating someone else poorly or worse because of who they are.’’

Developing the policy

Following the pupil and staff forums, all acknowledged the importance of treating others with respect and dignity. We celebrate differences. Pupils recognised some of these as culture, language and race. Diversity Week has always been part of our yearly calendar, moving forward we want to extend this to include the language and understanding of equalities and non-discrimination.

Children and staff recognised that children’s rights should be at the heart of our policy. We want children’s rights and our school values to weave their way through every aspect of our new policy.

We recognise that information can be shared to audiences in many creative ways. Our pupil forums gave our pupils the opportunity to speak and share their opinions, their voices came across passionately and we wanted to capture this. Working together, pupils and staff have created a podcast, our very first. Voices can be heard describing the UNCRC, exploring what rights mean to them and sharing their views on discrimination. Our podcasts sit at the bottom of our policies as a QR code.

Some of our primary pupils have helped to write songs to teach our Early Years pupils. These special songs teach the children the importance of #beingme, which is integral to our values.

What happens next

We are very excited to present our new Equalities Policy to our whole school community. An assembly and a special focus day is being planned for our children and families to celebrate our policy.

We have already shared the Podcasts with a focus group of parents who are helping us with our Anti-bullying strategy, they were very positive about this and the format in how it was presented.

We are planning to launch our new policy and podcast with our wider parent body at an upcoming conference. we really look forward to welcoming feedback from our school community. Moving forward we would like to include voices which represent all of our pupils.

Staff from both the primary school and Early Years Centre will regularly review and evaluate our policies and set new targets in our action plans, which will include the voices of our Pupil Equity Champions.

'I am a Safe Sally, my
mummy keeps me safe!'
(KEYC Pupil)
Equalities Policy
At Knightsridge Early Years Centre, we are committed to upholding the rights and well-being of
every child in our care. We believe that all children have the right to education, respect, and
equality, as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Our
Early Years Centre strived to promote diversity, fairness and inclusion in all aspects of their early
experiences through our values of Kindness, Encouragement where Young Learners are
Celebrated in #beingme.
UNCRC Principles
Non-Discrimination: Every child in the school has the right to be treated equally and fairly,
regardless of their background, race, gender, religion, or ability.
1.
Best Interests of the Child: We make decisions and act in ways that are in the best
interests of the child, ensuring their overall well-being and development.
2.
Respect for Views: Children's voices are heard and valued in our school community. We
provide opportunities for them to express their opinions and be part of decision-making
processes.
3.
Equalities Principles
Promoting Inclusion: We are committed to creating an inclusive environment where every
child feels welcome, respected, and valued.
1.
Tackling Discrimination: Our school actively addresses and challenges any form of
discrimination, prejudice, or bullying.
2.
Equity in Education: We strive to provide all children with equal access to opportunities,
resources, and support, ensuring that every child can reach their full potential.
3.
Pupil Voice:
What did our pupils say...?
Action Plan 2023-2024
Ethos - To ensure every learner and their families are valued, celebrated and encouraged
through nurture and kindness, allowing our learners to value being themselves - 'Being ME
at KEYC'
1.
Curriculum - To further increase awareness and embed the principles of the UNCRC Rights
of the Child with our young people and families. Ensure we celebrate family traditions and
cultural festivals represented within our community.
2.
Staff Training: Provide opportunities for continuous professional development for all staff
members to enable them to effectively implement the principles of the UNCRC and Equalities
in their practice.
3.
Parent and Community Engagement: Seek opportunities to involve parents and the wider
community to create a supportive and inclusive environment for our children.
4.
Our Equalities Policy will be regularly reviewed by our Equity Pupil Group at the end of each session.
KEYC Equalities Podcast
Please scan the QR Code to
hear our pupils, staff, and
parents/carers talk about
equalities and diversity in
our school!
'I have the right to be perfect!’
(KEYC Pupil)

Background information

In 2020, Cawdor Primary School begun their journey in reimagining their curriculum. Developing their shared purpose, vision, values, and aims as the basis for their vision for 2030, following a year-long participatory consultation across the community, they launched their values in June 2022: kindness, teamwork, belonging, and respect.

Through their self-evaluation whilst embedding their values into the life and ethos of the Early Learning and Childcare (ELC) setting and school as a community, it was identified that aspects of wellbeing were being considered as discrete strands, and the community would benefit from a cohesive approach to wellbeing underpinning their curriculum rationale.

The setting wide survey

Working with the Northern Alliance and Education Scotland, Cawdor used the Equality survey to better understand the experiences of children, whilst also providing feedback to enhance the survey for other users.

The data showed that most children felt:

• Cawdor is safe
• Cawdor is fair
• Cawdor enables confidence to try new things
• they knew what to do if they felt bullied or unfairly treated

Almost all children felt they learned about their rights.