At Arnold Mill, we are committed to creating an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment for all pupils, staff, and visitors. We aim to ensure that all members of the school and wider communities feel valued, respected and are offered opportunities to make maximum progress to achieve their full potential. We actively encourage our children to play a full part in the diverse society in which we live. Our school vision is at the heart of everything we do and we want all Arnold Mill pupils to feel that they belong. There are no outsiders here!

The 2010 Equality Act makes it an offense to discriminate against a person due to their protected characteristic(s).

Under the Equality Act, there are nine Protected Characteristics:

The 9 Protected Characteristics are actively promoted in our school through:

• Our school rules and class charters
• Our school vision and values 
• Personal, Social, Health and Economic education (PSHE) sessions - SCARF scheme of work embedded throughout the school
• Assemblies
• Current affairs explored within Picture News assemblies and Newsround topics
• British Values embedded within the curriculum 
• A cross-curricular approach to learning
• Religious Education (RE) lessons and Protected Characteristic talks
• Sporting, Art and Cultural Events
• School Council and Pupil Voice
• Engagement and communication with parents and carers
• Educational visits and visitors in school
• Celebratory events, e.g. Diwali dinner, Eid fair, Christmas celebrations, Festival of Faith
• Displays and posters 
• Real-life learning outside the classroom
• Age-appropriate texts within storytime and lessons
• Developing links with local, national and international communities, where possible
• Extra-curricular activities, after-school clubs and charity fundraising

We do not teach about all the Protected Characteristics in every year group. Everything is done in an age-appropriate way, and within the guidance from the DfE, to ensure that we help our children to understand the world they are growing up in and how to live alongside, and show respect for, a diverse range of people. Our SCARF PSHE curriuculum is a spiral curriculum which develops themes as topics that are revised in greater detail as pupils get older. The scheme provides age and developmentally-appropriate inclusive PSHE education. 

Spiritual, Moral, Social and Cultural development plays a significant role in how we promote inclusivity and equality at Arnold Mill. Our SMSC calendar, attached below, highlights how we create a school culture that is inclusive of the Protected Characteristics, whilst also supporting pupils' overall well-being, emotional intelligence and social responsibility. The calendar is updated on a regular basis to ensure that we provide as many opportunities as possible for our children to deepen their SMSC understanding, in addition to lessons covering these topics.

At Arnold Mill, we do not tolerate discrimination of any type and any incidents are dealt with in line with our behaviour policy.