Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

» We know that often there is an under-representation of people from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds (BME) in some areas at college.  We know for example that our staff profile at leadership level does not reflect our student community. We know also that we are not attracting people with a BME background into apprenticeships. Is there something stopping BME people from recognising this is an opportunity for them, or stopping them from being successful in becoming an apprentice? The strategy has actions to do something about these kinds of inequalities.

» We want to ensure that every student feels welcome and safe to be themselves at college. Our work around promoting sexual orientation and gender diversity will help create an environment where everyone is recognised and celebrated for who they are. This means different family types and people being included as examples in lessons, it means having a zero tolerance approach to homophobic and transphobic language and behaviour and increasing people’s understanding of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender people through celebratory events.

» We know that our employees are not always disclosing any disability, difficulty or health condition they might have which means that we cannot give the support that might be helpful. The strategy has actions to look at how welcoming we are of disabled people, how accessible and inclusive the college environment is for them and how effective our support is.

» We want you to have confidence working with an organisation which puts equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of everything it does. We also need you to understand all employers’ legal duties and the college’s diversity and inclusion objectives.  The strategy has actions which will implement EDI health checks when we start working with you, offering support to organisations which might need it.

» We know that often access for people with learning disabilities/difficulties could be better. For example, the information the college has can be difficult to understand. The strategy has actions which will help this, for example by creating easy read versions of key documents which will mean that people who may have difficulty reading are not being left out.

» Integrating equality, diversity and inclusion into teaching and learning is vital to ensure that our students have the best experience and are able to progress at college. We know that not every teacher feels confident about supporting students with diverse needs, promoting diversity and challenging prejudice and stereotypes. The strategy has actions to support curriculum staff to ensure the college is meaningfully embedding EDI into everything it does.

» We want parents and guardians to have confidence in the college as an organisation which puts equality, diversity and inclusion at its heart. We want them to know that the person in their care is well looked after and supported to progress whilst they are with us. We want them to understand how they can best support their young person’s education. The strategy has actions, including around improving accessibility for our parents/guardians who speak English as an additional language.