Protected Characteristics

No form of discrimination is tolerated at Grazeley, but it is particularly important that children are taught about these protected characteristic groups and the importance of showing respect to people within these groups. We only talk about the protected characteristics that are relevant to the age of our children and do so in an age appropriate way at all times.

The Equality Act 2010 aims to prevent discrimination. It is illegal to discriminate against people based on these protected characteristics and wee address this in a number of ways, for example through our collective worship, where we think about respect and tolerance;  through our curriculum that is planned and delivered in order that children learn about these protected characteristics in an age-appropriate manner; in PSHE lessons where teaching and learning about protected characteristics is fully integrated into SCARF, through age-appropriate content across the SCARF spiral curriculum, and we have recently invested in an extensive range of diversity, inclusivity and equality books for our school library.

The UK government recognises how important it is that “All children gain an understanding of the world they are growing up in, and learn how to live alongside, and show respect for, a diverse range of people. When we inspect schools, we assess how well they equip children to do this.”  (Ofsted guidance: Inspecting teaching of the protected characteristics in schools, UK Gov. 2021).

Teaching and learning about protected characteristics is fully integrated into SCARF (our PSHE Curriculum), through age-appropriate content across the SCARF spiral curriculum, and threads through the vast majority of SCARF lesson plans.

However, some protected characteristics benefit from the in-depth coverage that will give children time to explore the knowledge and attitudes that develop their appreciation of them. We’ve mapped the SCARF lessons that provide this greater depth to the relevant protected characteristics below.