Equal Opportunities

St James Cottage is committed to equality of opportunity and recognises that people are subject to discrimination on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic or national origin, marital status, sexual orientation, disability, caring responsibilities, religious belief, age, social class, political beliefs, employment status, union membership, place of residence or whether they are HIV positive.

It is the policy of the St James Cottage that no job applicant, employee, trainee, volunteer, member or service user receives less favourable treatment on any of these issues set out above.

St James Cottage will comply with it’s obligations under the Race Relations Act 1976, the Race Relations Act 1976 (Amendment) regulations 2003, the Sex Discrimination Act 1986, the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974, the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (as amended by the Special Educational Needs Act 2001), The Employment Act 2002, The Children Act 1989 and The Employment Equality Regulations 2003 and the Age discrimination Act 2006

It is the Childcare provision’s intention to take positive action to ensure that its Equal Opportunities Policy is implemented. The St James Cottage Management Committee will monitor and review the effectiveness of the Equal Opportunities Policy and its Inclusion policy

We aim to:

• Acknowledge and value equally each child's individual stage, culture, religion, language, racial background, and family group.

   

• Actively seek to combat sexism and promote equal opportunities for girls and boys, men and women;

   

• Encourage equality of opportunity for children with special needs and their families.

   

• Achieve and maintain, within the framework of the law, a workforce which represents, as far as practical, the composition of the population and recruitment areas, including people with disabilities.

   

To achieve the above we will:

·         Plan our programme to extend the children's experience and knowledge of other cultures, language, celebrations and festivals.

• Ensure that the activities reflect the diversity of our society, not just our group;

   

• Encourage children to explore in a positive way the differences and diversity of people ensuring that representatives of people are accurate and realistic;

   

• Positively challenge stereotypes and assumptions - racist, sexist or concerning disabilities;

   

• Enable adults with disabilities to take part in our group where it is safe and reasonable to so do.

   

• Offer a flexible payment system for families with differing means.

   

• Conduct committee meetings at a suitable time and place so as to ensure all families have an equal opportunity to be involved in the running of St James Cottage.