On the 1st October 2010, the Equality Act 2010 replaced all existing equality legislation such as the Race Relations Act, Disability Discrimination Act and Sex Discrimination Act.

The Equality Act 2010 was introduced to ensure protection from discrimination, harassment and victimisation on the grounds of specific characteristics (referred to as protected characteristics). This means that schools cannot discriminate against pupils or treat them less favourably because of their sex (gender), race, disability, religion or belief, gender reassignment, sexual orientation or pregnancy or maternity. The Act introduced requires all schools to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty and two specific duties.

Public Sector Equality Duty requires us to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation;
• advance equality of opportunity between different groups; and
• foster good relations between different groups.

The two “specific duties” requires us to:

• publish information to show compliance with the Equality Duty; and
• publish Equality Objectives at least every 4 years which are specific and measurable.

We recognise that these duties reflect international human rights standards as expressed in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, and the Human Rights Act 1998.