Tda 3.6 Promote Equality and Diversity

TDA 3.6 Promote equality, diversity and inclusion in work with children and young people.
1. Be able to promote equality and diversity in work with children and young people.
1.1 Identify the current legislation and codes of practice relevant to the promotion of equality and valuing diversity.
Disability Discrimination Act 1995/ 2005.
This is to ensure that business, shops and employers do not discriminate against disabled people. This is a statutory requirement to encourage inclusion.
Every Child Matters 2003/ The Children 's Act 2004.
Has had a huge impact on the way schools perform on issues of care welfare and discipline. It is required that agencies such as Social services and Education work together to ensure pupil welfare. The sharing of information ensures that children receive the best possible care. There are five basic outcomes for children and young people under Every Child Matters Outcome | Description | Be healthy | Children should be physically, mentally, emotionally and sexually healthy. They should have healthy lifestyles and be able to choose not to take illegal drugs. | Stay safe | Children should be safe from neglect, violence, maltreatment, bullying and discrimination. They should be cared for and have security and stability. | Enjoy and achieve | Children should be ready for, attend and enjoy school. They should achieve national educational standards at both primary and secondary school. They should be able to achieve personal and social development, and enjoy recreation. | Make a positive contribution | Children should engage in decision making and support the local community. They should show positive behavior in and out of school. Children should be encouraged to develop self confidence and to deal with significant life changes and challenges. | Achieve economic well being | Children should engage in further education, employment or training on leaving school. They should be able to live in decent homes with access to transport and material goods. They should be free from low income. |

Supporting teaching and learning in schools, level 3, L Burnham, B Baker.

The Childcare Act 2006.
This Act places more responsibility on the Local authorities to: * Improve the well being for children and reduce inequalities. * Ensure that there is sufficient childcare to enable parents to work. * Provide information to parents about childcare. * Ensure that local childcare providers are trained. * Introduce the Early Years foundation stage for under 5s. * Reform the regulations system for childcare providers, to be run by Ofsted.
Human Rights Act 1998.
This is to ensure that inequalities do not exist and that all children have the same entitlements to an education.
Article 2- The First Protocol, the right to education.
Article 8- The right to respect for private and family life.
Article 10- The right to freedom of expression.
The Special Educational Needs(SEN) Code of Practice 2001 and Disability Discrimination Act 1995/2005.
Under the SEN Code of Practice, parents and SEN children have the right to a mainstream education. Schools must now manage pupils with a more diverse range of needs. Schools that have been built from this date have had to make provisions for pupils with disabilities. Other companies need to make changes to existing building. This Act also says that pupils should not be excluded from any aspect of school life due to a disability.
Race Relations Act 1976 and 2000.
Places a statutory duty to promote race equality. It is against the law for a person to be discriminated against, either indirectly and directly. Schools should have a race and equality policy and promote equal opportunities and good relationships between different racial groups.

Freedom of Information Act 2000.
This Act was introduced in January 2005. It is about collecting information from the past and ensuring that professional involved with an individual know about his/her past in order to provide the best service.
The Education Act 2002.
Brought in a lot of changes to school regulations, staffing and governance and was amended in 2006 for a duty of schools to promote community cohesion.
The Data Protection Act 1998.
This means that you can only keep and use information, for the purpose for which it was intended. It needs to be kept securely on site, either locked away or on password protected computer.
SEN code of practice 2001.
The Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 (SENDA) is the rights for parents and SEN children to a mainstream education.
1.2 Explain the importance of promoting the rights of all children and young people to participation and equality of access.
Johann Pestalozzi believed that, “all children have an equal right to education and the capacity to profit from it.”(Linda Pound, 2006)
It is important that all children participate fully in activities, regardless of their background and are given the same opportunities. All children should be able to have full access to the curriculum. The Every Child Matters framework says that, “all children have the right to learn and play together and that children should not be discriminated against for any reason and that inclusion is concerned with improving schools for staff as well as pupils.” (ECM 2003) Schools should have made changes to the school to make it accessible for all including pupils in wheelchairs. This might involve fitting ramps instead of steps. At the reception desk in the school I work in, they have a lower and a higher worktop so that people in a wheelchair can have access and be able to see the receptionist clearly. In the classroom children should all be treated fairly with the same amount of respect and should be given work they can achieve. For example, in the school I work in, the children are given work for their own level in all subjects which means that the child is working at their own level and are achieving. All the children in the classroom are treated fairly and equally, they are all involved in all activities in the classroom and are given the same amount of respect. They all mix with their peers at playtime and dinner and the same rules apply if they are in year one or in year 6. All the children come together for assembly and are all expected to behave in the same way. The school has policies in place and I am aware of these and know what my role is in school.
Inclusion- The right for all children to participate fully in the curriculum. (Support teaching and learning in schools. L Burnham, B Baker.)
1.3 Explain the importance and benefits of valuing and promoting cultural diversity in work with children and young people.
It is important that schools show and promote cultural diversity in and around the school. This promotes inclusion and encourages children to interact with one another regardless of their ethnic origin. In the school I do my placement in, they have welcome signs on the main entrances that have welcome in all different languages. They also do family learning events which parents can attend with their children and learn about different religions and make things to take home and try different foods. They also have displays around the school explaining and celebrating different religions and have visitors in to talk to the children about their culture and religion. These events and promotions will have lots of benefits for the children and they will learn about their own beliefs and find out about all the different cultures we live in. The benefits for the children of the above is that they will grow up in an environment which values cultural, diversity and help us to learn from one another. Children will learn and enjoy finding out about other cultures and theirs and others beliefs systems from an early age. They will hopefully learn that there are different cultures and beliefs other than their own.
1.4 Interact with children and young people in a way that values diversity and respects cultural, religious and ethnic differences
Equality Statement
What we believe:
At Strand Community School we respect and value the differences in others, provided their behaviour is not detrimental to any person’s health and well-being. We will strive to ensure that no-one is treated in any way less favourably on the grounds of race, colour, national or ethnic or social origin, gender, sexuality, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability or political / other personal beliefs.
When interacting with children in my setting I treat them all equally, with the same respect and I value their backgrounds and their beliefs. This can be done by basing work around different topics which might include different religious celebrations, reading books about differences in people or completing activities based on a different culture each term. Children can pick up on discriminatory comments or opinions in the school setting. Adults working in school should also think about their own values and beliefs and how this can have an impact on how you work with others in school. Making sure that you act appropriately at all times with all the children and respond and treat them the same. 1.5 Demonstrate ways of applying the principles of equality, diversity and anti-discriminatory practice in own work with children and young people. In the school in which I do my placement, they ensure that all children are included in all aspects of the school day, such as changing the work to suit all children’s level of ability. Supporting children that do require that extra bit of help and recognizing that need an upper level of work. Children may also need additional equipment to aid them with their work, such as a computer or if a child has additional needs. It may be a communication aid such as PECS or makaton. Some children may need extra time to complete their work. The adults also act as role models throughout the school at all times and challenge any discriminatory comments or behaviour made by others immediately. Staff need to attend training to help them to work better within school. 2. Understand the impact of prejudice and discrimination on children and young people. 2.1 Explain ways in which children and young people can experience prejudice and discrimination. Children can experience prejudice and discrimination due to their, race, religion, age, sex, culture or ethnicity, their clothes or appearance. As an adult working in school, it’s our job to be vigilant to ensure that from starting in nursery. We teach children to respect and embrace diversity. If we do see a child or children being discriminated against or being bullied, we need to confront it straight away. A common occurrence in schools is when children are not wearing the latest clothes or shoes and other children pick on the child. This can occur in schools where the children attend from a range of financial backgrounds. 2.2 Analyse the impact of prejudice and discrimination on children and young people.
If a child is being discriminated against or bullied at school, it can have a negative impact on their education. They could experience low self esteem which could affect both their long and short term mental health. They are likely to become withdrawn and refuse to join in social and group activities. If they become stressed about this, they may be unable to concentrate during class and miss out on learning. They could refuse to go to school to avoid the problem and miss out on their education and development. This will then have an impact in later life and could be the cause of mental health problems in adulthood.
Impact on their self esteem and social emotional development.
Children can feel that they are not valued as a person if they are being discriminated against and will start to loose their confidence, they may withdraw socially and may not want to join in socially and not want attention on themselves.
Impact on their learning.
A child could feel not part of the class and this will not make them happy, they may find it hard to concentrate and focus on their work. If they are not interacting with lessons, they are less likely to learn.
Their relationships.
It could have an impact on their relationships, because they may become withdrawn and lack confidence and not want to do things they did before.
2.3 Evaluate how own attitudes, values and behavior could impact on work with children and young people.
Teachers and other staff members need to consider their own beliefs when working with children and young people. Any beliefs that you may have need to be put to one side and kept to yourself, particularly if they could impact negatively on your work with the children. An example of this could be at Christmas time when all schools celebrate the Christian religious day. A teacher, who does not celebrate Christmas due to his /her religious beliefs, needs to ensure that they do not share any negative opinions with the children. However, this is not to say that his/her cannot share their religion in a positive way to show how other religions do or do not celebrate.
2.4 Explain how to promote anti-discriminatory practice in work with children and young people.
Staff need to attend training sessions aimed at good, anti-discriminatory practices and put this into place in their everyday work. Having culture or religious days or events to promote and teach the children about them. Having displays around the school. Talking to the children about different cultures in a topic or in assembly and having visitors into school to talk to the children and answers their questions that they may have. Reading stories to the children about different cultures and religions can also help with this. Adults in school have to ensure that they challenge any discriminatory practice straight away.
2.5 Explain how to challenge discrimination.
Adults working in schools must always challenge discrimination. If you come across it, you must always report it to the assistant head teacher or head teacher straight away, giving as much detail as possible. You must also make sure you record the incident taking note of what was said? Who said it? When? What time? And other people involved? Sometimes children say things that they don’t understand the meaning of, children sometimes like to repeat other things that they have seen or heard. If a child has discriminated against another child, they need to be told that their behaviour is unacceptable and why it is. It’s important that everyone in school is treated fairly and with respect.
3. Be able to support inclusion and inclusive practices in work with children and young people.
3.1 Explain what is meant by inclusion and inclusive practices.
Inclusion in education is an approach to educating students with special educational needs. Under the inclusion model, students with special needs spend most or all of their time with non-disabled students. Implementation of these practices varies. Schools most frequently use them for selected students with mild to severe special needs.(Oxford Dictionary)
All children have the right to an education and learning. This should not only be the work and the practices in the learning of the children, but the school premises and how things are adapted to meet the children’s needs. This has also got to be put into place on school trips and outings. Inclusive practice should be put into place for the day to day running of the school. If any problems arise they should be dealt with, identified and sorted as soon as possible. All children have the same access to an education and the curriculum.
3.2 Indentify barriers to children and young people’s participation.
Barriers to participation- anything that prevents the pupil participating fully in activities and experiences offered by the setting or service. (Support teaching and learning in school. L Burnham, B Baker)
Barriers that may stop participation could be physical barriers, such as not being able to access an activity or not having the correct equipment or not having equipment that is needed. This equipment could be needed for a child to participate fully. It could also be where things in the school need adapting such as ramps, toilets, lifts etc. The Disability Discrimination Act 2001, states that all schools built from 2001 need to have physical access for all pupils. There could also be organizational barriers, which may be that the school policies have not been set up to make sure that they ensure all children are equally included. This could be due to lack of training and understanding. It also could be the attitudes within the school of the staff, governors, parents and other pupils. They may have views which could lead to discrimination within the school. This can make the school an unhappy place to learn, this could also give the children conflicting messages, which could be confusing for the children and they may rebel against what the school has put into place.
3.3 Demonstrate ways of supporting inclusion and inclusive practices in own work with children and young people.
When I work in my placement in school, I support children of all abilities. I am aware of the schools polices regarding inclusion and inclusive practice as well as their equal opportunities and follow these in my practice. I have positive relationships with the children and staff in the school setting. I support children that need it more than others and I would challenge any discrimination if or when it may occur.

Bibliography
Baker B, Burnham,L. Supporting Teaching and learning in Schools (Primary) 2010. Heinemann.
Pound L. How Children Learn. 2006, Practical pre-School Books.
oxforddictionaries.com

Bibliography: Baker B, Burnham,L. Supporting Teaching and learning in Schools (Primary) 2010. Heinemann. Pound L. How Children Learn. 2006, Practical pre-School Books. oxforddictionaries.com