Equality and Diversity Statement
“You are, all of you, sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. All baptised in Christ, you have clothed yourself in Christ and there are no more distinctions between Jew and Greek, slave and free, male and female, but all of you are one in Jesus Christ”
Galatians 3: 26-29
Objectives
To ensure that all staff are fully aware of the requirements of the Act and the implications of this for delivery of their subject through effective staff training.
To raise awareness of indirect discrimination which can occur when policies, criteria and practices inadvertently result in pupils with a particular characteristic being treated worse than other pupils.
To review the subjects covered in PSHE to ensure they include equality and diversity.
To collect and analyse data to ensure all groups are making good progress and no group is subject to disadvantage.
Statement of Commitment: Racism in Catholic Schools
There is no place for racism in our Church and education community. The Diocese of Brentwood is actively working with pupils, teachers, parents, governors and service providers, through the Brentwood Diocesan Education Service, to promote inclusion and a culture of respect. We believe that every person is created in the image and likeness of God and we uphold fairness and justice for all people.
The Diocese of Brentwood is committed to:
- ensuring that no pupil leaves any of our schools without knowing and understanding that all human life is sacred and that, racism can never be justified in any circumstances
- ensuring that our schools celebrate the richness of racial diversity in our day to day lives and throughout the world
- providing regular opportunities for pupils, teachers and others to share their stories and be heard
- ensuring that no pupil in our schools is subject to prejudice or discrimination or experiences bias based on their social, cultural or ethnic heritage
- regularly reviewing and developing the curriculum in our schools so that it presents and explores society, culture, literature and history accurately and fairly
- actively encouraging the creation of diverse staff and governance teams that reflect our school communities and ensures that black, Asian and minority ethnic team members have equal opportunities to all posts/roles
- collating, reviewing, monitoring and evaluating school-level data in a way that enables us to address any concerns relating to discrimination and to identify exemplary practice, reporting these annually to the Diocesan Board of Education (DBE)
- setting up of a working group to help us find the best ways to deliver on these commitments.
“Supporting Catholic schools to provide excellent education where pupils flourish, and Christ is made known to all.”
Disadvantaged students at St Thomas More High School
The Pupil Premium is a government funding initiative to provide additional money to schools in order to raise the attainment of children from disadvantaged backgrounds. You can view our Pupil Premium Statement on the below PDF, including how Pupil Premium funding assists in minimising the achievement gap between disadvantaged students and their peers as well as how to apply for financial support.
Our Pupil Premium funding is used to pay for a huge range of resources and activities both within and beyond school with the aim of fully supporting those students to achieve their full potential.
If your child currently receives Free School Meals or has received Free School Meals in the past 6 years, and you require financial support, we urge you to contact us for advice. Please contact our Finance Team, finance@st-thomasmore.southend.sch.uk, or alternatively contact Mrs Lindsay alindsay@st-thomasmore.southend.sch.uk who is the Pupil Progress Mentor for Pupil Premium students.
Current Profile of Pupil Premium Students at St Thomas More High School 2023-2024
| Year 7 | Year 8 | Year 9 | Year 10 | Year 11 | TOTAL | |
| Percentage | 15.14% | 13.51% | 16.57% | 13.97% | 17.22% | 15.27% |
You are eligible for Pupil Premium if you:
- are from a service personnel family
- are looked after by the local authority/in foster care for one day or more
- have ceased to be looked after by a local authority in England and Wales because of adoption, a special guardianship order, a child arrangement order or a residence order
- have had free school meals at any point in the past 6 years
- are eligible for free school meals now.
If you think you may be entitled to apply for free school meals then please make an application through your local council Apply for free school meals – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) who will let us know if you qualify.
The Pupil Premium Strategy was introduced to help schools to help raise the attainment of Disadvantaged students of all abilities and close the gap between them and their peers.
In the 2023-2024 financial year, schools receive the following funding:
- £1035 for each student registered as eligible for free school meals (FSM) at any point in the last 6 years
- £2530 for each student identified in the school census as having left local authority care as a result of:
- Adoption
- A special guardianship order
- A child arrangements order (previously known as a residency order)
- £2530 for each student who has been in local authority care for one day or more
- £335 for each service child
For the financial year 2023 to 2024, the Pupil Premium allocated to St Thomas More High School is expected to be £135,585.00.
Please note that school are free to spend this money in any way that they feel will improve student progress within school. It is not spent on each individual.
Schools have the flexibility to spend their funding in the best way for their cohort and circumstances. To support school to make the best use of this funding, the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) published Support Guide for Schools with evidence based approaches to support education recovery. St Thomas More has used this document to help direct additional funding in the most effective way.
Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.