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Equalities

Prince Henry’s Grammar School is known across the region as a school which champions equality and diversity. Our distinctive ethos is characterised by a cohesive school community in which we:

  • Celebrate the diversity of our school and the wider world
  • Tackle all forms of discrimination
  • Promote equality of opportunity and outcome for all
  • Help students to develop as informed, compassionate global citizens
  • Build good relationships between people of different groups
  • Contribute to the cohesion of our local community and wider society
  • Meet our statutory duties under the Equality Act (2010)

We were extremely proud to achieve the highest level of the prestigious Stephen Lawrence Education Standard and we are regularly asked to share our equalities work with other schools.

We are also delighted to be working towards the Stonewall School & College Champion Award as part of our commitment to championing LGBT+ equality and tackling homophobia, biophobia and transphobia.

As well as ongoing work across the curriculum, each year we hold an Equality and Diversity Week in the summer term, focusing on different aspects of equality and diversity.

Equality Objectives

In accordance with the Equality Act (2010), we have published a series of Equality Objectives to build upon our achievements. Our current Equality Objectives (2022-2023) include the following key objectives:

  1. To continue to embed curriculum-based work on discrimination linked to race, faith, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability and socio-economic disadvantage;
  2. To develop further our support for LGBT+ students, and serve as a beacon of best practice for other schools;
  3. To increase student and community engagement in our work related to equality, diversity, social justice and global citizenship;
  4. To continue to narrow the gap in achievement between students from different learner groups.

Equality Information

At Prince Henry’s Grammar School, we work hard to meet our obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty (known as the ‘equality duty’). This includes having due regard to the need to:

  1. Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010.
  2. Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.
  3. Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

As required by the equality duty, each year we publish updated information to demonstrate how we are complying with these obligations.

We eliminate discrimination by:

  • Adopting a ‘no bystanders’ approach to bullying and discrimination, led by a nominated member of the Senior Leadership Team. This means that all students are taught that they have the right to be themselves – but that so does everyone else. It also means that all students are taught that they all have a responsibility to look out for one another, and to report any incidents of bullying or prejudice-based behaviour.
  • Ensuring that anti-bullying and anti-discrimination themes are routinely addressed through our curriculum as well as the assembly programme. This includes at least one year-group assembly each term which specifically address issues of respect, equality and diversity. It also includes engagement with external organisations including the Anne Frank Trust.
  • Ensuring that all staff receive training on how to spot, and deal with, prejudice-based incidents. This forms part of the induction programme for all new staff, and is reinforced at the start of the school year with all staff.
  • Systematically recording all prejudice-based incidents, and monitoring these by different learner cohorts over time to identify patterns and inform improvement actions. As part of this, a new incident reporting system for staff has been introduced to help to address concerns regarding under-reporting.
  • Dealing with prejudice-based incidents in a fair and consistent way through the school’s Positive Discipline system, where appropriate.
  • Raising the profile of incident reporting with both students and staff. This includes the recent launch of an online ‘Speak Up’ button on student SharePoint as an alternative way for students to report prejudice-based behaviour.
  • Ensuring positive representation of difference and celebration of diversity throughout the school, including through displays and curriculum resources, with awareness training for both staff and students on the importance of avoiding the use of stereotypes.

We advance equality of opportunity by:

  • Providing training for all staff on meeting the needs of all learners, being mindful of unconscious bias and giving careful consideration to the language they use.  
  • Systematically monitoring indicators such as student progress, attendance at school and behaviour by learner group, in order to identify any gaps and required interventions.
  • Continuing to prioritise the accessibility of the site (for example, through a rolling programme of replacing paving stones with tarmac to ensure improved access for wheelchair users).
  • Providing a broad, balanced curriculum which is open to all students (for example, with all students studying two MFLs in KS3).
  • Providing an enhanced transition programme for Year 7 students with additional needs or vulnerabilities.
  • Providing additional support for students with additional barriers to learning, including those with protected characteristics (for example, through Reading Club).
  • Supporting students with competence in a heritage language to achieve accreditation (for example, this year students have been entered for GCSE and A Level Arabic).
  • Looking to maximise participation in trips, visits and extra-curricular activities by all students. This includes strengthening systems to monitor rates of participation and actions to address any gaps between learner groups.
  • Encouraging a diverse workforce including through the wording of recruitment adverts and through use of anonymous recruitment software.
  • Engaging with leadership training programmes to support staff development for colleagues from under-represented groups.

We foster good relations by:

  • Delivering an inclusive and diverse curriculum which celebrates diversity and promotes equality (for example, reading lessons based on a diverse range of texts in KS3 English).
  • Engaging with award schemes and programmes which encourage an appreciation of diversity (for example, the Red Kite Alliance RED Award and the Stonewall School & College Champion Award).
  • Providing training for staff on the importance of exploring aspects of history and culture from a range of perspectives.
  • Providing a wide range of international visits for students, with at least ten overseas visits on offer each year (subject to Covid restrictions – not possible 2020-2022).
  • Giving students opportunities to take part in international partnership projects with schools in other countries (for example, an MFL project with a school in Germany).
  • Holding an annual Equality & Diversity Week each year in July with the participation of all subject areas.
  • Inviting ‘role models’ from diverse backgrounds to work with our students to counter misconceptions, raise awareness and build empathy (for example, disability campaigner Chloe Tear).
  • Providing opportunities for students to engage with the wider community (for example, through community volunteering programmes).
  • Building empathy through wider global citizenship themes such as sustainability and social justice (for example, through our Eco Schools and Fairtrade Schools work).

Equality Policy

Please visit the School Policies page for copies of relevant policies, including our Anti-bullying Policy and Equalities Policy.

Red Kite Alliance RED Award

We are proud to be working towards achieving the Red Kite Alliance RED Award, as part of our commitment to embedding a culture of Respect, Equality and Diversity. The Award has been developed by staff at Prince Henry's Grammar School on behalf of the 50 schools which make up the Red Kite Alliance.

Visit the RED Award webpage for more details.

Otley Family of Schools Equality and Diversity Charter

In June 2017 we launched the Otley Family of Schools Equality and Diversity Charter, in partnership with seven local primary schools. This builds on the work done by our schools since our 2010 Anti-Racism Charter and develops that theme into a wider agenda. The Charter revolves around seven key principles: respect; challenging stereotypes; equality; actively creating a better society; good relationships between all people; valuing the world’s diversity and making the world a fairer place. The Charter is available to download below.

Good Practice Case Study

Our work in tackling homophobia has received national acclaim. We were delighted to host a visit by Sir Ian McKellen on behalf of the equality campaigning organisation Stonewall, and to be featured as the subject of an Ofsted Good Practice Case Study on tackling homophobic bullying.

  1. Ofsted case study - anti-homophobia work at Prince Henry's.pdf
  2. Otley Family of Schools Equality and Diversity Charter.pdf
  3. Equality Information July 22.pdf

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