Welcome to our Equality and Diversity Plan 2016-2020
Welcome to Stoke on Trent College’s Equality and Diversity Plan. The College Equality and Diversity plan outlines the College’s aspirations, ambitions, initiatives, plans and activities to promote equality of access for everyone to all aspects of life at the college and to support the College’s ongoing focus on meeting its duties under the Equality Act 2010 to:
§ Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
§ Advance equality of opportunity
§ Foster good relations
Stoke-on-Trent College is committed to creating an environment that is welcoming and inclusive and where everyone is treated fairly and with dignity and respect and where discrimination is actively challenged. Everyone will have the opportunity to fulfil their potential regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment and being a transsexual person, pregnancy or maternity, being married or in a civil partnership, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and socio-economic status. The College aims to create an inclusive and safe learning culture which contributes to community cohesion and engagement.
To be successful in its aspirations, the College recognises its duties under equality legislation, understands the diverse community it serves, monitors the impact of its broad educational offer on this diverse community and will ensure that all aspects of college life respect individual needs and perspectives on life. The College strives to be fair and inclusive, respecting the contributions each person brings to the College and recognising the benefits this diversity brings.
Consultation
The College welcomes learner, staff and stakeholder feedback on all aspects of its activity. The College’s 7 Ways to Have Your Say programme enables learners to provide feedback and influence college decision making using a variety of methods: becoming or voting for their Course Rep; participating in Learner Surveys which include a range of Equality and Diversity measures; involvement in Student Union activities; becoming a Student Governor; nominating a Staff Star of the month; submit comments to our Learner Voice Trees; submit compliments or, when things do go wrong, complaints; and, join or feedback to the Student Council.
The College has recognised, strong links with a broad range of local employers and employer and stakeholder feedback is built into our processes and procedures to ensure we are meeting the needs of employers and the local community and authorities.
Equality and Diversity at Stoke on Trent College is a dynamic process which is monitored rigorously and continuously.
Table of Contents
1. The Context of Our Plan
2. Supporting Everyone to Fulfil Their Potential
3. Involving and Consulting widely on Equality and Diversity Matters
4. Advancing and Celebrating Equality and Diversity.
5. Providing Training and information for the College community linked to national standards where appropriate
6. Measuring the Impact of College Activity Relating to Equality and Diversity and reporting on progress annually
7. Promoting respect and inclusive values
8. Equality and Diversity Objectives
1. The Context of Our Plan
We are the largest Further Education College in Staffordshire providing a comprehensive range of educational and vocational training opportunities for the diverse communities of Stoke on Trent, North Staffordshire and beyond.
We are proud of our commitment to ensuring equality of opportunity for everyone linked to the life of the College. This Plan has been developed to recognise the diversity and complexity of the communities we serve.
In the College’s most recent Ofsted Inspection in December 2013, the report stated:
‘Throughout this inclusive college, there are high levels of respect across a wide range of cultures and abilities’
The Equality and Diversity Plan is updated yearly to ensure we continue to set ambitious targets to close any overall achievement gaps for learners and to continue to be at the forefront of promotion of our shared values. Previous targets have been achieved and validated through our rigorous Quality Improvement cycle. This revised and updated plan for 2016 has triggered refresher and mandatory training for all staff including key themes of British Values and Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural development of our learners and continues to map our journey forward in maintaining Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at the heart of Stoke on Trent College.
Purpose, Vision and Values
Purpose:
Transforming lives through learning by:
1. Educating young people in life and work skills
2. Retraining adults for new or improved careers
3. Delivering outstanding teaching, learning and assessment
Vision:
Meeting the skills needs of our local and sub-regional employers and community.
The College will be the first choice for:
· Technical and professional skills for our local communities
· Workforce development for regional employers/businesses
· Traineeships and Apprenticeships
Values:
1. Ensure opportunities for all: widen participation and access for all.
2. Maintain teaching, learning and assessment at the heart of everything we do; our most important pursuit.
3. Commitment to excellence and continuous improvement: high standards and expectations of students, ourselves and colleagues; challenging, honest and rigorous self-evaluation; seeking and sharing best practice; developing solutions orientated attitudes.
4. Respect and value all individuals: treat everyone with respect, dignity and courtesy; recognise everyone is unique; celebrate diversity; strive to meet individual needs; prioritise learners and promote a united staff culture.
5. Behave honestly and with integrity: adopt an ethical and transparent approach to working with all users and stakeholders.
Commitment to Equality and Diversity: Our Plan
Our mission and our commitment to equality and diversity are intrinsically linked: we must be delivering excellence in learning and skills to ensure everyone achieves their potential.
Our Community
Stoke-on-Trent College has an urban location, serving the city and much of North Staffordshire. Stoke on Trent is the 16th most deprived authority in England and the 3rd in the West Midlands, placing the college in the lowest quartile of colleges with regard to socio-economic factors. 28.7% of students from a minority ethnic background compared to 13.6% in the local community. The average achievement rate in Stoke-on-Trent schools in 2014-15 for 5 GCSE A* - C grades, including English and maths, was 47.5%. This is 6.8% below the national average. However as a college we are well placed to play our part in working with the city, Local Authority and Employers to set high expectations and achieve high standards for all members of our community.
As a large education provider we are committed to constantly evaluating the social inclusivity of our programmes and supporting learners into positive destinations such as employment or further education or training.
Social Cohesion
Social cohesion is where strong and positive relationships are developed between people from different backgrounds. In a cohesive community the diversity of people’s different backgrounds and circumstances are appreciated and positively valued and contribute to an overall stronger community including economically and in developing business and innovation. We have a responsibility to consider our role in the local community and how we promote and support social and community cohesion and resilience and promote shared values. Social and community cohesion is therefore embedded into the College’s strategic aims and objectives.
2. Supporting Everyone to Fulfil Their Potential
Learner Support Services
Our Learner Support Services provide all learners with access to the careers team, financial support, mentors and counsellors, additional learning support, health and wellbeing services, safeguarding and the Student Union. Learner support services are often a key factor in supporting learners to fulfil their potential and address financial, personal and other barriers to learning.
We are proud of our additional learning support provision. At point of application learners are encouraged to tell us about any additional support needs. Full time 16-18 learners complete screening assessments. This information is used to identify learners with potential additional support needs and to allocate support to groups with high levels of learner need. We work closely with the local authority Careers team, the local authority, and external agencies and with schools to ensure information is passed to us in a timely fashion and this information is used to support the learner through the application and pre-course assessment process before being summarised and shared with tutors. Support at the college for all 16-18 adult apprenticeship learners will always include support from lecturers and/or assessors (work based learning) but may include reasonable adjustments including extra time to complete course work, adapted assessment methods, support in exams, technology including laptops and other enabling technologies and software, communication support workers for d/Deaf and hard of hearing learners and support workers for learners with a range of sensory and physical disabilities. The college also employs learning support assistants to work in class with specific learners with identified additional needs.
In September 2015, the college employed a team of Progress Coaches to enhance the support already provided to all 16 - 18 learners and apprentices.
The progress coach is a key member of staff that has an overview of the full study programme or apprenticeship framework and they will monitor each individual’s progress liaising with all staff involved and linking all support and teaching, learning assessment together to ensure progress towards achievement is maintained or accelerated.
In December 2013, Ofsted said of the College, ‘‘Learners with specific learning disabilities and/or difficulties receive excellent support that they value highly’
3. Involving and Consulting Widely on Equality and Diversity Matters
Learner Feedback and Consultation
Our Learner Involvement Strategy ensures all learners are able to express their views, needs and concerns. We will ensure that we respond appropriately to the issues that are raised and use this information to improve our quality of service. We gather and analyse qualitative and quantitative Learner Feedback (7 Ways to Have Your Say) Learner Surveys, the Compliments and Complaints procedures, Learner Voice Forums, Student Union Executive, Student Council and Learner focus groups such as the Black and Asian Voice and Students with Disabilities forum and learner representation on the College Governing Body. Additionally work based learners and Apprentices can share feedback as part of their reviews with Progress coaches, assessors and specific surveys utilised to seek feedback. We acknowledge that to ensure active participation, consultation methods need to be flexible, dynamic, innovative and supportive.
Staff feedback and consultation
We use a variety of methods for consulting with and receiving feedback from staff. These include:
· Direct communications to all staff including the staff survey and staff group meetings.
· Trade Unions through the Joint Council meetings.
External Feedback and Consultation
We have extensive networks of external partners (both local and national) with whom we consults for their relevant expertise. These include community groups such as the Refugee and Asylum Seeker Advice and Support Group (RASSAG) and the local BME forums, agencies such as the Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB), Jobcentre Plus, Local Authority, YMCA, Stop Hate Crime and national bodies such as Stonewall and the Network for Black and Asian Professionals.
Partnerships and External Stakeholders
Senior managers contribute to a breadth of local and national committees, organisations and local and national employer groups. Links with employers is critical to the ensuring the college offer meets the needs of employers and their employees.
Local Authority, schools, colleges and universities
Close links with the Local Authority, schools, other colleges and universities ensure good practice is shared.
4. Advancing and Celebrating Equality and Diversity
An Inclusive Curriculum
We take seriously our duty to promote and develop all learners’ understanding of Equality and Diversity. We will measure using the Stoke Approach to Teaching and Learning the use of inclusive materials and teaching methods that promote equality of opportunity. We will ensure that all learners are included and can participate fully in the curriculum and fulfil their potential. We actively promote Equality and Diversity themes through our e-tutorial, Big Tutorial, themed weeks, Themed College Calendar, Challenge South Africa, China and Poland programmes and our Inspirational Speaker Programme. We are recognised as leading practice in terms of developing social cohesion and addressing the challenging issues in society today. Each year we have an Equality and Diversity Week.
Eliminating Bullying, Harassment and Victimisation
We take our duty to eliminate all aspects of bullying and harassment seriously. It is understood by staff and learners that discrimination or prejudice of any kind will not be tolerated. Data is collated on incidents of bullying, harassment and discrimination and action taken with any learning points feeding into college practice.
5. Providing Training and Information for the College Community linked to National Standards where appropriate
Staff Continuous Professional Development (CPD) programme
All staff at the college complete an interactive, thought provoking introduction to Equality and Diversity at Stoke on Trent College as a part of their Induction programme. Equality and Diversity is built into the individual CPD plans for each area of the College.
Staff are aware of their individual responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010.
Staff are aware of their roles as outlined in the College’s Equality and Diversity Policy, including supporting learners to understand their individual responsibilities when in college which will in turn support learner development of employability skills:
§ Listen to what others have to say and respect their point of view
§ Speak out, or report it, if they witness or are aware of bullying, vindictiveness, verbal or physical aggression – and not assume it is someone else’s responsibility