BNP Teachers
Dear Sir or Madam,
By letter of 30 September 2009, The Secretary of State Ed Balls appointed Maurice Smith to enquire into the "promotion of racism in schools". Part of the review is aimed at determining whether members of the British National Party (BNP) should be allowed to work as teachers or in the wider school workforce.
At present there are a number of measures and safeguards in place in place to protect children and young people in schools from racially motivated discrimination and the promotion of political doctrines that advocate discrimination and promote racist views. These are:
• The requirement on schools to have equal opportunity policies
• The duty upon schools to promote racial equality
• Their duty to promote community cohesion
• The duty on governing bodies, headteachers and local authorities to forbid the teaching of partisan political activities in schools
• The powers of the GTC (England) regarding suitability of registration and where teacher conduct could bring the profession into disrepute
I would like you to provide me with evidence of how effective these measures are including whether they are sufficient to maintain trust in the profession and protect children and young people.
Please provide the following information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
1) What evidence is there that schools’ equal opportunity policies are effective in combating racism?
2) 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.
3) Can you provide me with any evidence that the measures listed above have been effective (if this has not already been done)?
4) Are further measures required to either maintain trust in the teaching profession or protect children and young people?
Yours sincerely
Mark Walker
Solidarity Trade Union
www.solidaritytradeunion.org
Our reference: 1768 FOI
Dear Mr Walker
Thank you for your request of 18 December 2009 in which you asked for the
following information:
1) What evidence is there that schools' equal opportunity policies
are effective in combating racism?
2) 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.
3) Can you provide me with any evidence that the measures listed
above have been effective (if this has not already been done)?
4) Are further measures required to either maintain trust in the
teaching profession or protect children and young people?
Your request is being considered and Oxfordshire County Council will
respond as soon as possible within the next 20 working days in compliance
with the Freedom of Information Act 2000. This means that the council
will send a response to you by 20 January 2010.
There may be a fee payable for this information. You will be informed if
this is the case and you can decide if you wish to proceed with your
request.
If appropriate, the information requested can be made available in
alternative formats, including other languages, Braille, large print, and
audiocassette. If you require any of these formats then please let me
know.
Please contact me if you have any have further enquiries about your
request. I would be grateful if you could quote the reference number
given at the top of this email.
Yours sincerely,
James Willoughby
Senior Information Officer
Oxfordshire County Council
Corporate Core
Freedom of Information Team
County Hall
New Road
Oxford
OX1 1ND
Tel: 01865 815906
Fax: 01865 247805
E-mail: [email address] (direct)
E-mail: [1][Oxfordshire County Council request email] (FOI team)
Internet: [2]www.oxfordshire.gov.uk
This email, including attachments, may contain confidential information.
If you have received it in error, please notify the sender by reply and
delete it immediately. Views expressed by the sender may not be those of
Oxfordshire County Council. Council emails are subject to the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildiscl...
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Oxfordshire County Council request email]
2. http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/
Our reference: 1768 FOI
Dear Mr Walker
Thank you for your request of 18 December 2009 in which you asked for the
following information:
1) What evidence is there that schools' equal opportunity policies
are effective in combating racism?
2) 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.
3) Can you provide me with any evidence that the measures listed
above have been effective (if this has not already been done)?
4) Are further measures required to either maintain trust in the
teaching profession or protect children and young people?
The County Council holds a record of the number of racist incidents by
academic year; please see the attached table.
<<Summary 2005-2009.pdf>>
Please note that this information is provided directly by the schools. The
term `racist incident' is open to interpretation and it may be that
individual schools define `racist incident' differently to each other.
Changes in the definition and recording methods by each school may mean
that the figures for each year are not directly comparable.
The County Council does give advice to schools in relation to racism in
schools and some of these guidance documents are attached below:
<<Race_Equality_Statement.pdf>> <<Evaluating_Educational_Inclusion.pdf>>
<<Learning_For_All.pdf>>
Further information in relation to promotion of racial equality in schools
may be held by individual schools and you may wish to contact them
directly.
Contact details of schools in Oxfordshire are available on the council
website, [1]www.oxfordshire.gov.uk or by following the link below:
[2]http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/wps/portal...
Feedback
If you would like to feed back to the FOI Team, please email
[3][Oxfordshire County Council request email].
Help Us To get It Right
If you are dissatisfied with the service or response you have received you
can complain as follows:
o Use the online complaints form on our website -
[4]www.oxfordshire.gov.uk;
o Complete the leaflet "How do I complain about a council service?".
Copies are available from any Oxfordshire library or by telephoning 01865
815906. Large print and audio tape versions are available on request from
this number;
o Write to us at our FREEPOST address:
Complaints and Comments
Oxfordshire County Council
FREEPOST (SCE 7709)
Oxford OX1 1YA.
Please let me know if you have further enquiries. I would be grateful if
you could use the reference number given at the top of this email.
Yours sincerely,
James Willoughby
Complaints & Freedom of Information Manager
Oxfordshire County Council
Complaints & Freedom of Information Team
County Hall
New Road
Oxford
OX1 1ND
Tel: 01865 815906
Fax: 01865 247805
E-mail: [email address] (direct)
E-mail: [5][Oxfordshire County Council request email] (FOI team)
[6][email address] (Complaints)
Internet: [7]www.oxfordshire.gov.uk
This email, including attachments, may contain confidential information.
If you have received it in error, please notify the sender by reply and
delete it immediately. Views expressed by the sender may not be those of
Oxfordshire County Council. Council emails are subject to the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/emaildiscl...
References
Visible links
1. http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/
2. http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/wps/portal...
3. mailto:[Oxfordshire County Council request email]
4. file://../3.04%20Information%20requests/3.16.02%20Requests%202006/Local%20Settings/3.16.02.08%20Requests%20August%202006/FOI%20344/www.oxfordshire.gov.uk
5. mailto:[Oxfordshire County Council request email]
6. mailto:[email address]
7. http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now