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Adult and Cultural Services

Corporate Information Team  Lower Gaolyard

The Courts  Carlisle  CA3 8NA  Fax 01228 606706

Tel 01228 221234  Email [Cumbria County Council request email]

25 February 2010

Your Reference:

Our Reference: 2010-013

Email: [FOI #26710 email]

Dear Mr Walker

- DISCLOSURE

REFERENCE: 2010-013

The Council has completed its search relating to your request for information about combating racism in schools, which we received on 11 January 2010.

The Council information within the definition of your request

The information has been provided by the Children's Services Directorate:

What evidence is there, that schools' equal opportunity policies are effective in combating racism?

The Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 requires all schools to be proactive in:

Eliminating unlawful racial discrimination
Promoting equal opportunities
Promoting good relations between people of different racial groups.

In order to achieve this, all schools are required to publish a Race Equality Scheme that highlights how the school will:

Prepare a written statement of the school's policy for promoting race equality, and act upon it
Assess the impact of school policies and procedures on pupils, staff, parents and the wider community, including, in particular, the impact of attainment levels of these pupils
Monitor, assess and review the attainment level of black and minority ethnic pupils and act accordingly
Make information available and accessible to all groups
Train and support all school staff and governors to understand race equality and the practical implications for the school and its community
Take reasonable steps to make available the results of its monitoring on an annual basis.

All schools are required to record any racial incidents and report them to the Local Authority regularly. In Cumbria, we require schools:

To use the electronic reporting system provided by Children's Services when incidents occur and to provide a termly summary.

We also recommend that schools respond appropriately to any racial incidents that happen in school by following the procedures they outlined in their behaviour, or anti-bullying policy.

Schools have been asked to report racist incidents electronically since September 2006. In the past three years, there has been an increase in reported racist incidents, and anecdotal evidence shows us that this increase is partly due to many schools finally understanding and adopting Macpherson's recommended definition of what constitutes a racist incident, that is `any incident that is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person'.

Furthermore, all except three schools in 2008 complied with the LA procedures which, also shows a greater understanding of schools duties with regards to the Act.

What are schools in your area doing to promote racial equality and promote community cohesion? Examples of measures deemed to be good practice and recognised as being successful would be useful.

Schools across the County are encouraged to promote race equality by taking steps to implement the General and Specific duties under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act.

In practice this means that many schools take part in training and projects organised by the Development Officer for Human Rights and Anti-Racist Education (School Improvement Team), such as:

`Persona Dolls training' for cluster of Primary schools
Community Cohesion and Equality Legislation CPD training
County wide projects, such as An exploration and celebration of English Identities: St George's Day (see www.stgeorgesdayproject.org.uk); or `Right Here Right Now' project in partnership with Amnesty International
`UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Award', a pilot project coordinated by the Development Officer for Anti-racist and Human Rights Education, run in partnership with UNICEF whereby a cluster of 6 secondary schools are working together to achieve Level 2 of the award.
An exploration of Traveller culture: challenging myths and stereotypes.

In terms of policy, the LA has produced a Single Equality Scheme Model for Schools that has been distributed to all schools, supported by input sessions run by School Improvement Team. Following its publication, Workington's Consortium of Headteachers published their own Single Equality Scheme, who's Action Place for Race Equality was praised in a recent Ofsted inspection.

Can you provide me with any evidence that the measures listed above have been effective (if this has not already been done)?

The LA has run INSETs on Community Cohesion through Local Inset Network, and the county's Continuing Professional Development Programme. A great number of schools have attended, and more will attend the next scheduled course in April 2010.

At these training events schools are strongly recommended to audit their current provision in terms of Community Cohesion, and take action to fill any identified gaps in provision. One of the recommended resource pack, is published on Teachernet, see http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/wholeschool/Communitycohesion/communitycohesionresourcepack/

The LA has also managed to secure funding from the national organisation, Schools Linking Project, which will allows up to 20 schools to link with one another. The LA is also taking steps to liaise with outside agencies in Lancashire, such as Burnley Multi-faith Centre and Building Bridges in order to support schools in meeting the Faith and Ethnicity & Culture strand within Community Cohesion.

Are further measures required to either maintain trust in the teaching profession or protect children and young people?

The LA has issued guidance on Equalities and Safeguarding to schools. We are investigating whether this is sufficiently robust in relation to the duty to forbid the teaching of partisan political activities in schools.

Most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases the copyright will be owned by Cumbria County Council.

However the copyright in other information may be owned by another person or organisation, as indicated on the information itself.

You are free to use any information supplied for your own non-commercial research or private study purposes. The information may also be used for any other purpose allowed by a limitation or exception in copyright law, such as news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for example by publishing the information in analogue or digital form, including on the internet, will require the permission of the copyright owner. Where the copyright owner is the Council you will need to make an application under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2005.

For information where the copyright is owned by another person or organisation you must apply to the owner to obtain their permission.

If you are dissatisfied with the way we have responded to your request or wish us to review our decision please write to:

Customer Services, Cumbria County Council, FREEPOST NWW6059A, The Courts, Carlisle, CA3 8NA. Tel: 0800 121 8800 E-mail: [email address]

Yours

Building pride in Cumbria

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