“Catholic schools are communities of faith and learning whose educational vision is based upon the teachings and values of the Catholic Church…
Catholic schools aim to help students to develop their fullest potential, preparing them for life, informing their minds and forming their characters so that they can contribute with others, and above all with God, to the transformation of the world…
Catholic schools are communities which are open, welcoming and inclusive. The Church expects that Catholic schools, working with parents and families, will seek to prepare pupils to find happiness and to lead lives of goodness, built upon Christian values, personal integrity and moral courage”
THIS IS OUR FAITH
THE NATURE OF THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL (pg 8)
Equality and Inclusion within a Catholic School: ALL RESOURCES ARE CURRENTLY BEING REFRESHED
All schools should have robust policies that seek to ensure the safety and inclusion of all children. Anti bullying, Nurture, Safeguarding and Safe Spaces are all positive aspects of the Equality and Inclusion work of our schools. However, there is always more that could be done to ensure that staff feel confident, informed and enabled to put the policies into practice. Therefore, as well as creating resources for use in classroom, materials will be added to this page for use at home, whole school level and to inform policy and practice relating to the Equality Act and the protected characteristics.
All of these materials note that within a Catholic school the starting point for any work with young people in the area of Equality, Inclusion and Justice is rooted in the Church’s vision of what it means to be in relationship with God and others. The materials hosted on this page should be used in conjunction with the existing RE Guidance ‘This Is Our Faith’ and current guidance and resources for Relationships and Moral Education – Called to Love (Secondary schools) and God’s Loving Plan (Primary schools). All staff using these resources must have attended a Diocesan or SCES training event prior to using them within the classroom.
| Learning and Teaching lesson outlines, approaches and resources |
GENERAL THEMES ACROSS THE LEARNING:
- Prejudice in the history of humanity
- Hates crimes and their impact
- Cyber bullying
- What it means to be masculine and feminine (Gender stereotypes)
- Mental health issues and how to get support (depression, self harm, loneliness)
Learning and Teaching materials for each level use the following themes:
EARLY
- Relationships
- Being kind
- My family and friends
- People who care for me
FIRST
- How do we show we are friends?
- How do we hurt people?
- What can we do if we see or hear someone being hurt / upset?
- Promoting positive behaviours : Class rules / Class agreement
- Rights of each person
SECOND
- Peer Mediation/ Reconciliation/ Restorative practice
- Ways we are different
- How are we unique?
- Barriers that some people have to overcome
- How do we judge others?
- How can we be responsible? Rights respecting
THIRD
- Put aside differences and starting anew
- Rights of the Child
- Justice, Respect and Equality
- Challenging Prejudice – case study homophobic language and bullying then exploration of ALL protected characteristics
FOURTH
- What is the Equality Act & why should I know about it?
- Hate Crimes – case study on homophobic, transphobic and biphobic then exploration of hate crimes linked to ALL protected characteristics
SENIOR PHASE
- Growing up in the 21st Century
- Values V Tolerance (I don’t need to agree with you to like, respect or value you?)
- Catholic Social Teaching – preference for the poor, protection of the vulnerable
- Protected Characteristics – why are they protected, what is the history, how can we remove prejudice
Learning still to be developed:
Modern Studies/ History
- What has influenced the law in Britain regarding the protected characteristics. A historical review of the facts that led to the various changes in law and what that has meant for people within these protected characteristics – women’s rights movement, race relations act , religious hate crimes, stonewall riots, disability rights etc.
- Cyber bullying
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| Whole school Topics |
Schools should consider the following when monitoring and evaluating their progress:
Do we… |
| Training and informing staff |
- require and train staff to be informed about Church teaching in this area
- have Equality and Inclusion Training that integrates: anti bullying, child protection, safe spaces and nurture
- link training to the Mission and standards (Vision, Aims and Values) of the school
- include an Annual insert for all staff at the beginning of new session (including staff perception and language – link to protection and professionalism)
- maintain a Record of training
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| School Policies |
- have Clear statements in school handbook, on line (paragraph to start policies)
- ensure that we articulate Church Teaching in our policies
- have a Statement of aims and expectation for pupils, parents, staff, local authority – staff and pupil responsibility
- refresh of policies to ensure proactive, reflect overall mission of school, integrated into school life and used
- use the current Guidance on using external agencies and resources
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| Consistent whole school approaches |
- ensure Pupils know where is safe and who to speak to
- assist Staff in knowing steps to take to protect and support pupils
- have Trained and identified person within school to ‘go to’
- have effective Monitoring and recording of bullying incidents
- ensure we are being proactive in policy and practice
- Promote the distinctive approach of Catholic schools in celebrating uniqueness
- Celebrate the gifts, talents, qualities or pupils
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| Play ground language |
- know how to challenge, correct and remove hateful language
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| Annual Inserts |
- purposefully use School assemblies – scripted insert to remind, reassure and restate school’s stance on antibullying, what to do and where to get support
- have a Celebration of pupil uniqueness – at assemblies, notice board (one quality , virtue or Gospel value used per month – pupils who have witnessed to this are commended and celebrated)
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| School Strategies |
- use Poster campaigns that highlight who/where to go if you need a safe space to talk and be heard
- ensure everyone know the ways to report bullying, or concerns about another pupil (not acting like they always do, sad/teary, irritable, anxious etc) –
- use the Pupil Voice – pupil questionnaire that captures the variety of ways that the school recognises the unique contribution of each child and celebrates their achievements
- produce and share literature for school clubs outline the inclusive nature of the club and the benefits of being part of the group?
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