PROMOTING THE NINE PROTECTED CHARACTERISTICS:

The Equality Act became law in 2010. It covers everyone in Britain and protects people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Everyone in Britain is protected. This is because the Equality Act protects people against discrimination because of the protected characteristics that we all have. Under the Equality Act, there are nine Protected Characteristics:

1. Age
2. Disability
3. Gender reassignment
4. Race
5. Religion or belief
6. Marriage or civil partnership
7. Sex
8. Sexual orientation
9. 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 (for example, visiting your doctor or local hospital) or education (for example, at your school or college)
• 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 (for example, your local tennis club)
• When you have contact with public bodies like your local council or government departments

The 9 Protected Characteristics are actively promoted in school through:

• Our school ethos and Values, SDP, and SEF
• Our Who We Are Document
• Our curriculum drivers: Discover, Explore, Create
• Our work in RE
• PSHE curriculum units
• Our school Behaviour Policy
• Conscious role modelling by all adults in the school community
• Active engagement and communication with parents and carers
• Prayer and Liturgy and Celebration Assemblies
• British Values, SMSC and Equality and Diversity throughout our curriculum
• Discussion within curriculum subjects, taking a cross-curricular approach
• Promoting articulation by building appropriate language and a coherent vocabulary
• PSHE and RSHE
• Sporting, Art and Cultural Events
• Pupil Voice and Staff Voice
• Parent and Carer Voice
• Educational visits
• Real-life learning outside the classroom
• Extra-curricular activities, after-school clubs, charity work and work within the local community

Embedding Protected Characteristics into the whole school ethos promotes:

• Self-esteem, self-knowledge and self-confidence
• Respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic process
• Acceptance of responsibility for their own behaviour
• Respect for their own and other cultures
• Understanding of how they can contribute positively to school and home life and to the lives of those living and working in the locality and further afield
• An understanding of Equality, Human Rights and Protected Characteristics
• An understanding of how citizens can influence decision-making through the democratic process
• An appreciation that living under the rule of law protects individual citizens and is essential for their wellbeing and safety
• An understanding that the freedom to choose and hold other faiths and beliefs is protected in law
• An acceptance that other people having different faiths or beliefs to oneself (or having none) should be accepted and tolerated, and should not be the cause of prejudicial or discriminatory behaviour
• An understanding of the importance of identifying and combating discrimination

Please see link below for more information on Protected Characteristics:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4MWVEAww2g