Greenway School – Gender Anti-Sexist Policy

Greenway School stands against sexism and all forms of discrimination on the grounds of gender, race, origin, religion, or disability.

Aims:

· to promote justice, equality of opportunity and fair treatment for all and thereby allow all pupils, irrespective of their gender, to achieve the level of success and self respect which they deserve.

· to instil in pupils an awareness of sexism and to establish an environment where school becomes effective in reducing prejudice and raising self esteem.

· to provide a safe and welcoming place for all of its members.

· to provide an environment where sexist assumptions, attitudes and behaviour are continually challenged.

· to provide a curriculum which gives children the confidence that sexism can and must be eradicated.

· to contribute towards imparting a sense of citizenship in the pupils.

· to support the Local Education Authority in its antisexist policy, and to take the appropriate action to deal with any form of sexism within the School.

· to recognise in our teaching the contributions to the development of Science, Technology and the Arts which have been made by both genders.

· the teachers will, by careful use of language and choice of resources, avoid reinforcing stereotypical views of society.

· to use self-evaluation by whole school discussion to assess the implementation of this policy.

· all subject co-ordinators will continually review their schemes of work in the light of this policy with respect to content, methodology, aims and resources.

The School recognises that although science and design/technology are core subjects for all up to the age of sixteen, some elements of each are still perceived by a significant number of pupils and their families to be strictly ‘male’ or ‘female’ domains. We do not accept this view as is shown by the way we portray the subjects. We therefore hope our schemes of work and their implementation:

i. reflect the interests of both boys and girls.

ii. challenges the existing notion that some subjects are purely masculine or feminine activities by celebrating the achievements and careers of famous men and women.

iii. discourages boys from dominating lessons and encourages girls to view their contributions as having equal value. Effective active classroom management can reduce much of this ‘domination’ problem.

iv. values equally the experiences of both girls and boys.

v. are set in a familiar context to which all pupils can relate.

Research has shown that girls in particular are less interested in science and technology if they perceive them as being about ' things' rather than about people. Therefore we must:

i. Emphasise that science is a human activity which relates to people’s lives.

ii. Provide opportunities to use a more personal, expressive language, in work such as projects, reports and posters and of course classroom discussion.

iii. Provide opportunities to discuss and explore opinions which relate to science and technology related social issues.

iv. We should demonstrate the importance of scientific and technological education for everyone, showing the importance of science and technology in a wide range of careers and everyday life e.g. healthy living, environment, communication/ICT skills and wise consumer choice.

Recent research has shown that both genders experience increased levels of motivation and interest if learning is delivered through the medium of ICT. The increase is more marked in boys who attain lower levels of achievement, as a whole, than do the girls.

Choice of reading schemes, books and other literary resources

Choose resources that:

1. portray a world view as seen from male and female perspectives and thereby communicate how it may feel to be of another gender.

2. are factually accurate and use up-to-date text, illustrations and maps.

3. do not:

a) stereotype individuals or groups.

b) equate men with being the dominant gender or women the subservient gender.

4. which show the achievements and attributes of both genders, both past and present.

5. show children of both sexes involved in the activities described e.g., physics, design, music, mathematics.

6. in which both boys and girls can find characters which enhance their self esteem, where males and females have important roles and hold positions of authority.

7. show characters not having to justify their gender by being exceptionally virtuous or brave etc.

8. where illustrations avoid caricature.

Action to be taken when sexist behaviour is suspected

If sexism is suspected we talk to the suspected victim, the suspected sexist and any witnesses. If any degree of sexism is identified, the following action will be taken:-

Help, support and counselling will be given as is appropriate to both the victims and the sexists:

We support the victims in the following ways:

· by offering them an immediate opportunity to talk about the experience with their class teacher, or another teacher if they choose.

· informing the victims’ parents/guardians.

· by offering continuing support when they feel they need it.

· arrange for them to be escorted to and from the school premises.

· by taking one or more of the seven disciplinary steps described below to prevent more sexism.

We also discipline, yet try to help the sexists in the following ways:

· by talking about what happened, to discover why they became involved.

· informing the sexists’ parents/guardians.

· by continuing to work with the sexists in order to get rid of prejudiced attitudes as far as possible.

· by taking one or more of the seven disciplinary steps described below to prevent more sexism.

Disciplinary steps:

1. They will be warned officially to stop offending.

2. Informing the sexists’ parents/guardians.

3. They may be excluded from the School premises at break and/or lunch times.

4. We may arrange for them to be escorted to and from the School premises.

5. If they do not stop the sexist behaviour they will be suspended for a minor fixed period (one or two days).

6. If they then carry on they will be recommended for suspension for a major fixed period (up to five days) or an indefinite period.

7. If they will not end such behaviour, they will be recommended for permanent exclusion (expulsion).

Approved by Governing Body:

Review Date: September 2008