Our School Support team recently hosted a series of Equality Act 2010 webinars aimed at anyone in schools who is responsible for drafting and reviewing policies, handling complaints or championing inclusion and diversity in schools, including headteachers and principals, senior leaders, SENCOs, inclusion managers, school business managers, HR, governors and trustees.
Recordings of all three sessions are now available to view.
Part 1: Gender Reassignment and schools
Originally broadcast: November 2020
Allegations of discrimination towards pupils in schools are becoming more frequent, and are often the basis for parental complaints, negative publicity on social media or in the press, and claims in the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.
This webinar looks at schools’ duties under the Act with a particular focus on transgender issues concerning pupils. Using practical examples and case studies, we address considerations such as:
- What is discrimination?
- The public sector equality duty
- Protected characteristics
- Confidentiality and information sharing implications for schools
- Practical issues such as admissions, uniform, use of toilets etc.
- Policy considerations
Part 2: Disability discrimination and the additional challenges of Covid-19 from an HR perspective
Originally broadcast: December 2020
There is no denying that Covid19 and the myriad of ever-changing government guidance has placed significant pressure on schools and school leaders during this time. Not only are they faced with the normal business of running a school and managing staff, added to this is the requirement to operate in a Covid-19 secure environment, ensure compliance with latest government guidance and deal with pressure from the unions. This may mean that normal internal processes such as absence management have been suspended or overlooked, or that school leaders are uncertain about how to deal with staff that may be disabled, as defined in the Equality Act 2010, during these unprecedented times.
This webinar covers:
- The definition of disability under the Equality Act 2010;
- Managing the OH/GP relationship and getting the most from your medical expert;
- Staff mental health, sickness absence and new disabilities in the time of Covid-19;
- Duty to make reasonable adjustments;
- Associative discrimination.
Part 3: Educating and assessing pupils with SEND during Covid-19 – Legal considerations for schools
Originally broadcast February 2021
In this webinar, our School Support Service team discuss the challenges facing schools in identifying and making provision for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities in light of the current public health restrictions. The session will have a particular focus on the challenges associated with teacher assessments, drawing on our experiences from summer 2020.
Topics covered include:
- SEND Code of Practice – what schools should know
- When to seek specialist advice
- Taking a holistic view and involving parents
- Delivering provision remotely
- Identifying and addressing potential new and emerging needs
- What are access arrangements?
- Our experience of last year’s appeal processes for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities
To read the briefing paper that accompanies this session please click here.
To request a recording of this session please email schoolsupport@wslaw.co.uk
Further resources:
If you would like a copy of the slides or have any queries regarding these topics, or any other schools matter, please contact the School Support team on schoolsupport@wslaw.co.uk or you can find out more about the School Support Service in this brochure.