We are delighted to have been awarded the Silver Equalities Award, recognising our commitment  to equality and inclusion as a school community

The Silver award reflects how our school effectively promotes equality, diversity and inclusion and showcases our  commitment to equality.

The Equalities Award has been designed by a team of equality and education experts to allow schools to fulfil their statutory duties to:

  • Eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations (Equality Act, 2010)
  • Promote community cohesion (Education and Inspections Act, 2006)
  • Prevent people being drawn into terrorism (Counter Terrorism and Security Act, 2015)
  • Safeguard children and promote spiritual moral, social and cultural development (Education Act, 2002)

Equality and Diversity at St Charles

The belief in the unique dignity of the human person made in the image and likeness of God underpins the approach to all education in our Catholic school. Our approach to Personal Development therefore is rooted in the Catholic Church’s teaching of the human person and presented in a positive framework of Christian ideals. The themes of diversity and equality are taught within a carefully planned and sequenced curriculum in all year groups within the units on ‘British Values’ and ‘Living in the Wider World’.

The Personal Development Curriculum includes planned and sequenced opportunities for the children to learn about:

British Values

Equality (Protected Characteristics)

Health and well-being (Healthy bodies and healthy minds)

Living in the Wider World

Economic Well-being: Aspirations, work and careers

Economic Well-being: Money

Careers and Aspirations

Whole School Values and themes embed all that we do at St Charles through the ‘St Charles Way’. Common themes across the school include care, respect, responsibility,  and the British Values of individual liberty, tolerance, democracy, mutual respect and  the rule of law. These values underpin all that we do at St Charles. In addition they are visited through the year in planned whole school assemblies weekly.

As a school ,we take positive action to deal with disadvantages affecting a pupil or pupils because of a protected characteristic.  Resources in our Curriculum are carefully planned to ensure they represent a wide diversity.

We work to ensure that our children understand that:

Everyone is different; we celebrate our differences; we are all equal in our differences.

The Equalities Act became law in 2010. It covers everyone in Britain and protects people from discrimination, harassment and victimisation. Everyone in Britain is protected. This is because the Equality Act protects people against discrimination because of the protected characteristics that we all have.

Under the Equality Act, there are nine protected Characteristics:

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

Public Sector Equality Duty

Our Trust (St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Multi-Academy Trust) aims to meet its obligations under the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED).

Further information can be found in the Trust  document ‘Equality Information and Objectives’:

Equalities Information And Objectives 2025

School Specific Objectives at St Charles include the following:

  • To ensure that all pupils/students have equal access to a rich, broad, balanced and relevant curriculum
  • To promote cultural understanding and awareness and tolerance of different religious beliefs between different ethnic groups within our communities
  • To advance equality of opportunity by ensuring that teaching, learning and the curriculum promote equality, celebrate diversity and promote community cohesion by fostering good relations
  • Improve the attendance and lateness of all disadvantaged students in St Charles to meet national averages in all academies.