Equality of Opportunity in Service Delivery

Policy statement

The College is committed to working towards equality of opportunity in all aspects of its service delivery. It will achieve this by:

Providing opportunities for access for all local communities and individuals wishing to gain vocational qualifications
Developing access arrangements and facilities, where existing conditions present significant barriers to would-be learners
Assessing and, wherever possible, accrediting prior experience and achievement
Addressing, wherever possible, individual learning needs
Providing individual guidance and support, and monitoring progress on courses of study
Respecting individuals’ beliefs and customs
Providing a generally supportive learning environment, so that all our students can benefit from the opportunities here.

The College is intent upon achieving this within a secular ethos. However, it will respect religious beliefs and customs, and be as flexible as possible in responding to students who hold these beliefs. The College will not however, allocate its resources to any religious instruction or practice.

The communities that we serve are diverse and represent a rich source of experience, skills and values. The College aims to utilise this diversity as a positive force to examine critically the quality and relevance of its services, and to improve and develop them.

The College will not tolerate any form of harassment, intimidation or discrimination on any grounds. Also, it will not allow the expression of views that are intolerant of other beliefs, cultures and customs.

The College will not allow any activities which seek to convert people from one faith or religion to another, or to persuade people to take up a particular faith or religion.

The College will do everything in its power to ensure that it does not give less favourable treatment to students on the grounds of age, disability, gender, marital status, race, religious belief, religious practice or sexual orientation.

Implementation

The College makes it a responsibility of all managers, staff and students to uphold and implement this policy.

The College’s quality control and quality assurance systems will be developed in such a way to enable monitoring and evaluation of the operation and effectiveness of this policy.

The Corporate Plan and Faculty Business plans will address the implementation of major initiatives, and this policy will be used as a corporate standard against which other curriculum and service policies will be developed.

Equality & Diversity Steering Group

Newham College set up the Equality & Diversity Steering Group in October 2007 and this group has an active membership. It is Co-Chaired by the Director of Human Resources & Legal Services and the Director of Foundation Studies & Learning Services.

It meets on a termly basis and is responsible for setting and monitoring the equality and diversity agenda for the College. Its functions are to:

To meet to discuss the equality and diversity agenda and ways of promoting within the College;
To deal with and advise on equality and diversity issues at staff and student level;
To impact assess College policies and procedures to ensure that they are not discriminatory;
To improve communication of equality and diversity issues across the College;
To resolve issues raised by staff and students relating to equality and diversity matters;

The EDSG is responsible for monitoring progress on the Disability Equality Action Plan, Gender Equality Action Plan, Race Equality Action Plan, Sexual Orientation Action Plan and Age Equality Action Plan.

If you would like further information, please contact Equality@newham.ac.uk

Lesbian Gay Bi-Sexual (LGB) Employee Advisory Group

In July 2008, an LGB Advisory Group was established following staff demand. The group meets termly to discuss issues and advise on LGB related matters.

Its functions are to

To meet to discuss ways of promoting LGB issues within the College;
To deal with and advise on LGB issues at staff and student level;
To impact assess College policies and procedures to ensure that they are not discriminatory;
To improve communication of LGB issues across the College; and
To resolve issues raised by staff and students relating to LGB matters.

If you would like further information, please contact Olivia Besly on 0208 257 4370 or Olivia.Besly@newham.ac.uk