Everyone belongs. Everyone participates. Everyone has the opportunity to flourish.

At Captain Shaw's, equality is part of how we understand inclusion.

Our vision calls us to seek what is best for everyone, beginning with the last, the least, the lost, the most vulnerable and the most forgotten. This means paying particular attention to the barriers that may make it harder for a child or adult to participate, belong, achieve or flourish — and considering what we can reasonably do to remove or reduce them.

Equality does not always mean treating everybody in exactly the same way. Sometimes different people need different support, reasonable adjustments or opportunities in order to participate fully.

Our Public Sector Equality Duty

The Equality Act 2010 places a Public Sector Equality Duty on schools.

When carrying out our functions and making decisions, we must have due regard to the need to:

• eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act;
• advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not; and
• foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.

Having due regard means that equality is considered as part of our decision-making. It is not something considered only after a decision has been made.

Protected characteristics

The Equality Act protects people from unlawful discrimination because of particular characteristics.

The protected characteristics are:

• age;
• disability;
• gender reassignment;
• marriage and civil partnership;
• pregnancy and maternity;
• race;
• religion or belief;
• sex; and
• sexual orientation.

Not every provision of the Equality Act applies to pupils in exactly the same way. For example, age and marriage and civil partnership are not relevant protected characteristics for the schools provisions concerning pupils, although they are relevant in other contexts such as employment.

What this looks like at Captain Shaw's

We seek to make equality visible through what children and families actually experience.

This includes:

• maintaining high expectations for every pupil while adapting teaching and removing barriers where necessary;
• making reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils and considering accessibility when planning provision;
• using our developing Inclusion Framework and evidence-informed classroom practices to strengthen inclusive teaching across the school;
• using carefully sequenced curriculum stepping stones so that pupils can access important curriculum ideas at an appropriate level while remaining part of the shared learning of their class;
• ensuring pupils with SEND can participate meaningfully in the wider life of the school, including trips, clubs, sport and community experiences;
• ensuring financial disadvantage does not unnecessarily prevent children from participating in opportunities offered by the school;
• teaching a curriculum which helps children encounter and understand people, beliefs, cultures, families and experiences beyond their own;
• challenging prejudice, discriminatory language, stereotypes and bullying; and
• listening to pupils and families and considering individual circumstances when making decisions.

Our approach is therefore not simply to ask “Does everybody have the same?”, but also, “Can everybody belong, participate and flourish?”

Equality and our curriculum

Our curriculum has an important role in fostering good relations.

Children learn about lives and experiences both similar to and different from their own. Through the curriculum, Religious Education, collective worship, relationships and health education, British values and the wider life of the school, pupils are encouraged to develop respect, curiosity and understanding.

Our school values — be truthful, be respectful, be a good friend, show courage, show wisdom and persevere — help children understand how these principles should shape the way we live and learn together.

Disability and accessibility

We are committed to improving access for disabled pupils and adults and to making reasonable adjustments where these are required.

As a small school in a listed building, there are physical constraints that we must take into account. We consider these carefully rather than allowing them to lower our ambition for inclusion.

Our Accessibility Plan sets out how we work over time to:

• increase the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the curriculum;
• improve the physical environment where reasonably practicable; and
• improve the accessibility of information.

Our SEND Information Report, SEND Policy and Accessibility Plan provide further information about this work.

How we demonstrate compliance

We review equality as part of the normal work of the school rather than treating it as a separate annual exercise.

Evidence may include our curriculum and inclusion work; SEND and accessibility provision; participation in trips, clubs, sport and wider opportunities; attendance and behaviour information; pupil outcomes; safeguarding; pupil and parent voice; reasonable adjustments; and the impact of significant decisions.

Because Captain Shaw's is a very small school, information about particular groups can sometimes identify individual children even where names are removed. We therefore publish equality information proportionately and do not publish granular pupil information where doing so could compromise confidentiality.

We review and update our published equality information annually.

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Equality Objectives 2026–2030

Our equality objectives reflect the circumstances and priorities of our school. They are intended to be meaningful and measurable rather than generic statements.

Objective 1 — Strengthen inclusive participation

To ensure that pupils with SEND and other pupils who may experience barriers to participation are able to participate meaningfully in the curriculum and wider life of the school.

We will monitor participation in curriculum learning and wider opportunities, including clubs, trips, residential experiences, sport and community activities, and identify and address avoidable barriers.

Objective 2 — Strengthen inclusive teaching

To further develop consistent, evidence-informed inclusive classroom practice so that pupils with different starting points and needs can successfully access ambitious shared curriculum learning.

During 2026–2030 we will develop and evaluate our Inclusion Framework and associated evidence-informed practices, using pupil learning, participation, staff development and appropriate outcome information to evaluate their impact.

Objective 3 — Develop understanding and respectful relationships

To ensure that our curriculum and wider school life develop pupils' understanding of difference and prepare them to participate respectfully in a diverse society.

We will review curriculum opportunities across subjects and the wider life of the school and use pupil voice and other appropriate evidence to evaluate children's developing understanding of respect, difference, belonging and equality.

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Equality information last reviewed: September 2026
Equality objectives: 2026–2030
Next annual equality information review: September 2027
Equality objectives to be reviewed no later than: September 2030