Personal development
Equality
The Equality Act became law in 2010 and protects people from discrimination, harassment, and victimisation. Everyone in Britain is protected including children. The nine Protected Characteristics under the Equality Act are:
- Age
- Disability
- Gender reassignment
- Race
- Religion or belief
- Marriage or civil partnership
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
- Pregnancy and maternity
Under the Equality Act you are protected from discrimination:
- When you are in the workplace
- When you use public services like healthcare or education
- When you use businesses and other organisations that provide services and goods (like shops, restaurants, and cinemas)
- When you use transport
- When you join a club or association e.g. a football team
- When you have contact with public bodies like your local council or government departments
The 9 Protected Characteristics are actively promoted at Ainthorpe through:
- Zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind
- Our school rules: Be respectful, Be responsible, Be safe
- Our school LEARN behaviour policy
- Role modelling by all adults at Ainthorpe
- Diverse images
- Engaging and communicating with parents and carers
- Fully inclusive curriculum for all pupils
- Accessibility and scaffolding for individual needs
- Assemblies
- British Values
- PSHE lessons using the Jigsaw programme
- RE lessons
- Cross curricular links
- JLT
- Sporting, Arts, and Cultural Events e.g. DRET cups, Choir, Artsmark
- Participating in national initiatives e.g., Anti Bullying Week
- Supporting charitable events such as Children In Need, local charities e.g., neo natal unit in Hull
- Pastoral support including The Lodge
Further information
https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/equality-act/protected-characteristics
https://www.gov.uk/discrimination-your-rights
Mental Health
Being mentally healthy during childhood means children reaching their developmental and emotional milestones, and learning healthy skills including how to cope when there are problems.
Children with good mental health have a better quality of life and can function well at home, in school, and in their communities. If children are struggling with their mental health this can strongly affect the way children learn, behave, and handle their emotions as well as lead to problems in adulthood.
At Ainthorpe School we are strongly committed to developing good mental health for all our pupils and promote this through:
- Creating a nurturing, positive and safe environment
- Engaging and communicating with parents and carers
- School policies that support this such as Anti – Bullying Policy
- Supporting parental skills
- Physical activity and encouraging heathy eating
- Friendship groups
- Building resilience
- PSHE lessons using the Jigsaw programme
- Pastoral support including The Lodge
- Training
- Access to counselling and play therapy for children
- Developing children’s self-esteem via praise and positive reinforcement
- Assemblies
- Circle time and time to talk
- Worry boxes and monsters
- Creative curriculum
- Liaising with outside agencies
- Extra-curricular activities
- Raising awareness such as participating in Children’s Mental Health Week
- Mindfulness such as yoga
- Strong routines
Further information
https://www.nspcc.org.uk/keeping-children-safe/childrens-mental-health/
https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/supporting-others/childrens-mental-health/
https://www.youngminds.org.uk/
Well-being
“Promoting children and young people’s wellbeing is a key part of keeping them safe, helping them develop and ensuring they have positive outcomes into adulthood.” (Public Health England, 2021)
To have good mental health and be happy learners, children also need to develop a strong sense of emotional wellbeing so they can cope with daily life and relationships. Low well -being has also been linked to mental health conditions like depression and anxiety.
At Ainthorpe we want the best outcomes for all our children and promote their well- being through
- Creating a nurturing, positive and safe environment
- Engaging and communicating with parents and carers
- Physical activity and encouraging heathy eating
- Friendship groups
- Building resilience
- PSHE lessons using the Jigsaw programme
- Pastoral support including The Lodge
- Developing children’s self-esteem via praise and positive reinforcement
- Assemblies
- Circle time and time to talk
- Creative curriculum
- Liaising with outside agencies
- Extra-curricular activities
- Mindfulness such as yoga
- Strong routines
Further information
https://learning.nspcc.org.uk/child-health-development/promoting-mental-health-wellbeing
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/five-ways-to-help-childrens-wellbeing/zfb2d6f
British Values
As part of the Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural (SMSC) development of our children at Ainthorpe we promote fundamental British values with the aim of ensuring our learners leave school prepared for life in modern Britain. These are:
- Democracy
- The rule of law
- Individual liberty
- Mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
Pupils are encouraged to regard people of all faiths, races and cultures with respect and tolerance and understand that while different people may hold different views about what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, all people living in England are subject to its law.
|
British Value |
Democracy |
The rule of law |
Liberty |
Respect and Tolerance |
|
What do we do in our school to promote and celebrate these? WHOLE SCHOOL Learn about Parliament, the Monarchy and British Law through our curriculum e.g., St George’s Day Participate in national events such as the Queen's Jubilee Make sure we prepare our children for modern Britain All staff complete Prevent training |
Circle Times Voting - on group decisions such as which story to read We elect members for JLT - nominated by each other JLT meetings - suggestions are discussed and fed back to each class Look at rights and responsibilities through the CKC Parental questionnaires |
LEARN Clear school rules – the 3 B’s Jigsaw charter House points reward system rewarding positive behaviour Behaviour policy – clear steps and sanctions, parents aware of this |
JLT – children have the chance to air views and make decisions based on a majority Ownership within curriculum – creativity and imagination in CKC/other lessons Reading – children able to choose own reading material |
Jigsaw/PSHE lessons Jigsaw charter Following RE syllabus We celebrate multi faith festivals throughout the year as well as Christian celebrations Celebrating diversity within our school, community and country Ensure images presented are diverse including the 9 protected characteristics Zero tolerance towards any abuse based on race, disability, ethnicity, or gender Provide opportunities to learn how to debate, argue and defend own point of view |
Further information
https://www.youngcitizens.org/resources/citizenship/british-values/
