The Equality Act 2010 has created the ‘Public Sector Equality Duty’, which states that every public body, including schools and academies, have legal duty to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share and do not share the following protected characteristics:
race
disability
gender
age
religion or belief
sexual orientation
pregnancy & maternity
gender identity
marriage and civil partnership
Assisting schools and academies to comply with this legal duty, ‘Educate & Celebrate’ is a national initiative designed to prepare children and young people for life and to give them a good understanding of how Equality and Diversity is protected by the Equality Act 2010.
The approaches used in ‘Educate and Celebrate’ have been recognised by Ofsted as best practice for taking a whole school approach to teaching equality. We have embedded the ‘Educate and Celebrate’ programme into our curriculum. The programme promotes positive relationships and a better understanding of these relationships. It is based around a set of stories about different families, relationships and gender identities. We are currently working towards the Gold Award for Educate and Celebrate Best Practice Status.