| Introduction |
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| In Scotland, we have always recognised
the importance of equality of opportunity within our society as a
whole and within our educational system in particular. The aim of this publication
is to help schools to evaluate their quality of practice in combating discrimination
and achieving equality of opportunity for success. |
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The materials look at equality
and inclusiveness in terms of:
- how we value people
- how we treat people
- how we support equality of opportunity.
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All schools develop policy statements
and guidelines designed to ensure a consistent delivery of a high quality
service. Such statements and guidance often concentrate on those whole-school
issues considered to be central to normal working practices, such as:
- learning and teaching
- communication
- assessment
- partnership
- equality
- support for learning
- staff development.
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| In order to assure quality and
bring about improvement, you may find it helpful to use one or more of these
issues as a focus for self-evaluation, using the performance indicators
(PIs) in How good is our school?. Effective learning and teaching,
for example, is one PI which all schools are likely to address. |
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| Using performance indicators in school self-evaluation |
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A Route to Equality and Fairness
is one of a series of support materials which is designed to be used
alongside How good is our school?, and other relevant documentation.
It is based on the same three questions:
- How are we doing?
- How do we know?
- What are we going to do now?
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| To answer these questions, you
are encouraged to take a broad view across all key areas and then
a closer look at some, using performance indicators to help you.
You could include the evidence you gather in the audit section of your development
plan. This information would also contribute to your school's Standards
and Quality Report covering all seven key areas and the 33 performance indicators
in How good is our school?. |
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| A Route to Equality and Fairness
applies the three questions to the issue of equality and fairness.
It is in four parts: |
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| PART 1 Practical guidance on using performance indicators for evaluating
equality and fairness |
| PART 2 Self-evaluation audit tools similar to those set out in Part
4 of How good is our school? |
| PART 3 A self-evaluation audit template |
| PART 4 Staff development activities. |
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| Addressing targets within the development plan |
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| Self-evaluation is part of the
wider process of development planning. |
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It is designed
- to improve the quality of experience of
the young people in our schools
- to raise attainment.
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| This document focuses on the
key processes in achieving equality and fairness. It follows up issues
through relevant PIs, themes and illustrations and addresses the key target
of providing a high quality education which is responsive and sensitive
to the needs of all members of the school community. The group of PIs which
you finally identify can be used to follow up specific issues. For example,
you may wish to look at gender issues related to attainment in a particular
curriculum area or at a certain stage. |
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| The quality of learning and teaching
in our classrooms is the key to raising the levels of achievement of our
pupils. Schools must ensure that all children, irrespective of background,
develop their full potential by working towards their common goals and taking
into account their differences. |
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| A number of national and international
documents and legislation are central to the issues addressed in this document.
A selection of these would include: The United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child (1990); The Children (Scotland) Act (1995); The Race
Relations Act (1976); Sex Discrimination Acts (1975 and 1986); Code of Practice
(Scotland) (1991) for the elimination of racial discrimination in education;
and The Disability and Discrimination Act (1995). |
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Using this package as part of
normal practice should help schools to address some of the key questions
from these documents, such as:
- How effectively do our policies and practices
ensure that each pupil is treated fairly, valued and respected as an
individual?
- How effective are we in promoting and
supporting social inclusion?
- How good are we at valuing the achievements
and progress of each pupil?
- How well do we match activities to the
ability, attainment and interests of pupils?
- How appropriate is the balance of classroom
activities for different pupils?
- To what extent are we flexible in responding
to pupils' academic, personal and social development?
- How effectively and sensitively do we
respond to individual differences without drawing undue attention to
them?
- How effectively does our reporting of
assessment provide a basis for dialogue and co-operation between each
home and the school?
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| Using the materials |
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| The materials in this pack are
intended to be used selectively and flexibly within the context of your
own school. You may wish to adopt them as they stand or to modify them to
suit the needs of your own school and the way you prefer to work. Before
you start, you should be fully acquainted with the approach of How good
is our school?. You may wish to photocopy pages from that publication
to use in conjunction with selected pages from this package. |
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