EASTLEIGH COLLEGE EQUALITY & DIVERSITY ANNUAL REPORT 2014-2015 1. Terms of Reference The Equality & Diversity Board are responsible for monitoring the equality and diversity policy, maintaining the action plan, monitoring data regarding staff and students, receiving reports regarding incidents of harassment/discrimination and to recommend initiatives or action to be taken. The Board will also consider training needs and procedures to be adopted to raise awareness of equality and diversity for staff and students throughout the College and to ensure that it is an integral part of the staff development process. 2. Procedures The Equality & Diversity Board meets each term. The E&D Working Group ensures that the College is proactive in bringing about improvement. The College E&D action plan is informed by the selfassessment process and relevant legislation. This is reviewed and updated throughout the year by the working group and monitored by the E&D Board. The Human Resources Manager is instrumental in informing the Board of changes to legal requirements and ensures compliance. There is a wider responsibility for key managers across College in respect of admissions and on-going student support. Expertise within the Student Support team ensures that staff are well informed and trained and that students needs are swiftly identified and steps taken to meet them. Premises & Estates work to improve access and working conditions for students so that no individual group of students is disadvantaged. They also ensure that contractors and suppliers that the College works with actively promote equality and diversity. There is an overarching policy, strategy and procedure, a cross-college action plan and local curriculum and department quality improvement plans. An annual report is prepared against the E&D Strategy and reviewed by the Standards Committee. 3. Outcomes and progress against the Equality & Diversity objectives 3.1 Promote tolerance and understanding between those with protected characteristics A wide range of specific, tailored activities take place across the College, for both students and staff, which promote tolerance and understanding between those with protected characteristics. The College prides itself on removing barriers to accessing learning and employment and providing an equitable learning environment for all. Staff All staff (teaching and support) are required to attend equality and diversity training on a 3 year rolling program. Sessions are available via Moodle, during the working day, evenings and at weekends to ensure that staff have the availability to attend. This year the College has introduced and started to roll out an E&D VRQ for all new staff as part of their induction; the HR team are supporting staff through this qualification. Once staff successfully complete the VRQ, they will only be required to do the online refresher assessment every three years to keep this up to date. There are currently 52 new starters enrolled on the E&D VRQ with a further 23 due to enrol on 27 January 2015. With regard to refresher training, there are currently 98 staff that will be due their three year review in July 2016. They will be given the opportunity to complete the VRQ or the online assessment during achievement week. 24
This year Diversity UK calendars have been printed and displayed across the College in all staff rooms. This is to help staff identify and understand the different festivals and religious celebrations that happen throughout the year and that their students may participate in. A comprehensive roll out of Prevent and British Values training is well underway to all staff. To date, 283 staff have attended this training with catch up sessions planned for later in the year. All new staff will now receive Prevent training as part of their safeguarding training and British Values as part of their E&D training; both are delivered as part of the new staff induction session. Students All teams actively plan to reduce barriers to learning and promote tolerance of those with protected characteristics. This is evidenced through the range of good practice relating to equality and diversity which is seen within teaching and learning reviews, the bespoke study programmes that are put in place to meet different needs, the College Council and learner voice, high quality Education and Health Plans which are tailored to learners needs, ongoing training to staff and students around Prevent and British Values and adherence by students and staff to the wider College values. Analysis of student feedback by protected characteristic indicates no significant difference in levels of satisfaction compared to those without. Specific activities during 2014-15 included: Updated College noticeboards promoting College Council roles and responsibilities linked to E&D; updated Respect and Diversity posters; regular messaging on the College Information screen which helps to promote an awareness, tolerance and understanding of different needs and backgrounds. The internal self-assessment review process was strengthened to include student representation and feedback which enabled triangulation of department judgements with student feedback, outcomes and staff. Prevent and radicalisation is now embedded into the student tutorial programme. A refreshed student council now includes a dedicated Disability Officer, BME Officer, LGBT Officer and an Equality & Well-being Officer who will all offer support for minority groups. A chaplain is available for students and staff regardless of faith or belief. A prayer room is also available. A range of cross-college themed weeks including a focused diversity week. Foundation learners once again prepared and performed an entertaining dance show and were supported by learners from mainstream dance. They also work with the hair and beauty learners for special events. Discriminatory behaviour is rigorously challenged resulting in disciplinary action whether this is by staff or students. The promotion of E&D within lessons remains a key priority with a renewed focus on the integration and promotion of British Values. The majority of curriculum teams now confidently promote opportunities to openly discuss E&D issues and use naturally occurring aspects of their curriculum to cover this important area. 3.2 Make reasonable adjustments to support students and staff with protected characteristics Staff and student needs are met where possible and adjustments to their working and/or learning environment adapted to meet their needs. This is particularly evident through the work of the IAG and Admissions team, Learning Support department and Supported Learning areas of the College. 25
Staff The College has a very supportive absence procedure for the long term sick or those with a disability. Rehabilitation programmes, occupational health and counselling are used effectively and in addition a disability panel or case conference may be used to discuss with key experts and personnel what can be done to support a member of staff or a student. Reasonable adjustments are carefully considered and there are many examples of staff and students who have been provided support, a change of working arrangements or duties and or equipment to meet their needs, eg hearing loops, adjustable desks, IT equipment, software etc. On a bi-annual basis a staff opinion survey is distributed. Part of this survey captures whether staff know how to disclose and whether they would feel supported enough to do so. Feedback regarding this has suggested that staff feel safe to disclose and fully supported, be it for the short or long term. Staff appear to be more willing to disclose a physical disability than a mental health disability and this is in line with national statistics and the perceived stigma relating to mental health. During the year 2014-2015 the College lost a total of 838 working days to mental health absence; 653 of these days were through long term absence. This is compared to 460 days for acute medical conditions such as cancer/heart attack etc. Removing the stigma relating to mental health is an ongoing concern and the College continues to be proactive in its approach. The College has signed up for the Mindful Employer Charter; this is a charter mark that can be used on marketing publications and letterhead that determines as an employer, we support staff with mental health conditions. In addition the staff counselling service has been reviewed, now opting to go with an individual who is able to signpost people to specialists allowing for a more robust support service to be offered. The annual review of the Occupational Health service has been undertaken and a decision made to stop using RPS except for pre-employment checks. The government have introduced a new occupational health scheme whose emphasis is on supporting staff back to work after a period of absence of four weeks or more; this service will now be utilised instead of RPS. Part time staff have equal access to College activities including staff development and events are organised wherever possible at times that suit part time staff, eg mandatory training sessions are arranged for evenings and weekends. In addition, a growing range of training is available online for staff who are unable to attend staff development events or have other commitments. Staff are paid to attend staff development or operational activities where it occurs outside of their normal working hours. The College has a job share procedure and flexible working procedures which are well utilised with large numbers of fractionate staff making up the population. Requests to reduce or increase hours are individually reviewed and assessed by SMT. All support posts are open to job share at point of recruitment and for current staff. Flexible working is now a legal right for all staff, however as the College has always offered flexible working to its staff, a change to the wording of the procedure was all that was required. The College also has a flexible and supportive approach to staff who wish to retire but continue to work beyond retirement age and all requests made thus far have been supported. This was reviewed in 2014 2015 with a clearer strategy developed which involves the appraisal process; this allows us to determine who is considering retirement and when. It allows us to have an open conversation with the individual about how we can facilitate this, ensuring we do not lose skills, whilst enabling staff to plan and action their retirement. The Health & Wellbeing strategy includes a programme of proactive activities and support for staff and students including free health screening for all staff and participation in the Global Corporate Challenge. The schedule of events is agreed via consultation with staff and fed back via CCG. 26
Students Significant work is undertaken by specialist student support teams and tutors, across the College, to make reasonable adjustment to support students with protected characteristics. Effective support is in place for learners with disabilities and learning needs. The Additional Learning Support team have developed effective systems for identifying needs and in providing support. For example interpreters are provided for deaf students, exam concessions put in place and 1-2-1 additional support tutors provide specialist advice and guidance for students with specific learning difficulties such as dyslexia. Reasonable adjustments to College facilities are considered for example adaptations to the toilets for students with physical disabilities. The College curriculum is inclusive and specialist provision is offered to meet the needs of particular groups of learners. A broad range of highly successful part time ESOL courses, including English for academic and vocational purposes and ESOL for living and working in the UK are offered. The College has a commitment to reducing NEETS. The College runs a well-established Gateway to Work or learning programme. It has close links with the Princes Trust and offers pre-apprenticeship programmes or other courses for these learners. The Engage Recruit team, through an ESF funded project, ran a highly successful programme of courses and activities supporting the unemployed back into work. With 42% successful progression outcomes, this places the College top in the country. The College has a unique outstanding residential facility for 16-18 year olds with moderate learning difficulties. There is a ground floor bedroom with an ensuite bathroom for learners with mobility difficulties. All windows have been replaced increasing the safety in the house. A greenhouse with full accessibility makes it possible for learners to grow vegetables and there is a fully accessible barbecue area which was built by College construction students. College House was judged to be Outstanding by Ofsted during the last two reports. College House is in receipt of the Customer Service Excellence Award College House allows the students to truly experience independent living; there are two self-contained flats which individual students live in for periods of up to one month. During this time they do all their own food purchase, cooking and cleaning; they must also arrange and prepare a number of social events where they invite guests to their flat for an evening meal. The College is inclusive in that College House and other Foundation learners are engaged on well planned programmes from which they can progress and are fully integrated into the life of the College 3.3 Reduce the achievement gap between those with protected characteristics and others As part of the College s equality and diversity monitoring, the enrolment, retention, achievement and success data is analysed using declared ethnic origin and known learning difficulties and disabilities. These results are laid out in the tables below and overleaf and Ofsted benchmarks for performance in GFEs nationally have been used. Learners identified with an ethnic background were found across the curriculum at all levels. The only exception to this distribution was ESOL, which by its nature is exclusively provided for ethnic learners. Learners by Ethnicity (Classroom based including functional skills) For all learners, their success is well above the national average and in some cases significantly better. The work of the National Partnership represents a significant proportion of learners from BME backgrounds and these learners do exceptionally well. 27
13/14 12/13 13/14 14/15 Including BDU Nat. Suc- Bench Learners cess mark ners ners Ethnicity Asian 85% 411 905 93% 278 532 91% 457 1095 95% Black 82% 691 2326 90% 465 1236 92% 601 1395 98% Chinese 88% 27 51 98% 23 51 84% 28 58 91% t provided 84% 87 164 87% 79 155 96% 73 175 87% Other 82% 308 822 95% 223 447 91% 183 393 92% White 82% 4996 8353 89% 4913 6987 88% 4388 8969 87% Grand Total 84% 6520 12621 90% 5981 9408 89% 5730 12085 89% Learners by Gender (Classroom based including functional skills) There is no difference in the success rates of male and female students across the College and on all classroom based learning. College success rates for males and female students are comfortably above the national average. 13/14 12/13 13/14 14/15 Including BDU Nat. Suc- Bench Learners cess mark ners ners Gender Female 85% 2997 4646 90% 2711 3897 89% 2426 4775 89% Male 84% 3523 7975 90% 3270 5511 89% 3304 7310 89% Grand Total 84.5% 6520 12621 90% 5981 9408 89% 5730 12085 89% Learners by Age (Classroom based including functional skills) There is a difference in the success rates by age for the College which is also mirrored in the national average figures. However, the College difference is significant at 15% compared to a national average of 7%. The College difference is magnified by the Study Programme success rates falling below the 2013-14 national average and the adult success rates being well above the national average. Study Programme (16 18) success rate improvement is a key objective identified on the College s Quality Improvement Plan. 13/14 12/13 13/14 14/15 Incl. BDU Nat Suc- Bench Learners cess mark ers ners Age 16-18 81% 1596 3212 87% 1444 2253 86% 872 3100 78% 19+ 88% 4924 9409 91% 4537 7155 90% 4858 8985 93% Grand Total 84.5% 6520 12621 90% 5981 9408 89% 5730 12085 89% Learners with Disabilities (Classroom based including functional skills) For learners with specific learning difficulties or disabilities the tables relate performance to the previous year and national benchmarks, although the numbers are small and show widely varied distribution between years, making meaningful judgements difficult. The E&D Action Plan addresses some of the differences between College success and the national average with tailored specific activities to explore and understand the reasons behind the differences. In addition the College has introduced the new role of E&D Champions who represent groups with protected characteristics. 28
13/14 Nat. Bench mark Learners 12/13 13/14 14/15 Suc- cess Disability ners ners Asperger's 83% 43 70 93% 40 61 97% 14 65 74% Emotional/ Behavioural Difficulties 78% 93 187 82% 90 167 87% 47 224 79% Hearing Impairment 85% 41 56 93% 33 68 87% 21 45 82% Other medical condition 85% 131 224 85% 163 234 91% 162 371 82% Mental health difficulty 79% 28 63 68% 73 101 87% 82 148 77% Disability affecting mobility 86% 37 58 98% 24 32 94% 24 31 97% Multiple disabilities 83% 16 20 95% 7 8 88% 17 31 94% disability 85% 5912 11577 90% 5061 7957 89% 5161 10371 90% t provided 83% 142 224 83% 350 591 88% 134 620 82% Other 83% 23 27 100% 26 46 96% 24 43 93% Other physical disability 85% 29 71 92% 88 112 96% 30 90 94% Temporary disability after illness 88% 2 2 100% 0 0-1 1 0 Visual Impairment 85% 23 42 91% 26 31 81% 13 45 74% Grand Total 84% 6520 12621 90% 5981 9408 89% 5730 12085 89% Learners with Learning Difficulties (Classroom based including functional skills) 13/14 12/13 13/14 14/15 All Ages Incl. BDU Nat. Bench Learners Learning Difficulty mark ners ners Autism Spectrum Disorder 84% 36 65 91% 48 86 93% 29 102 80% Dyscalculia 81% 0 0-3 3 100% 9 16 69% Dyslexia 82% 256 508 89% 296 403 90% 223 600 84% Moderate learning difficulty 84% 110 191 93% 115 212 92% 43 219 89% Multiple learning difficulties 84% 10 11 91% 6 7 71% 9 21 90% learning difficulty 85% 5656 10979 90% 5141 8078 89% 5136 10113 91% t provided 84% 148 235 82% 82 115 84% 50 146 73% Other 81% 17 23 87% 12 13 85% 22 41 83% Other specific learning difficulty 83% 272 588 86% 269 481 88% 208 824 75% Severe learning difficulty 87% 15 21 95% 9 10 100% 1 3 100% Grand Total 84% 6520 12621 90% 5981 9408 89% 5730 12085 91% 29
3.4 Fully investigate and resolve complaints related to protected characteristics There is a robust Dignity at Work procedure to protect all staff who feel they are being bullied or harassed. This procedure is used effectively as an informal process to avoid potential confrontational issues developing and also as a formal procedure when the need arises. Managers receive training on Dignity at Work issues from ACAS on a bi-annual basis. There were no complaints received from staff or students in 2014-2015 relating to protected characteristics. 3.5 Recruit staff, students and Governors that reflect the community The following table provides an overview of ethnicity by local district and nationally against which the College can compare its students, staff and governor population. Ethnic group by district White British White other Mixed Asian Black Other England and Wales 80.5% 4.4% 2.2% 7.5% 3.3% 1% Eastleigh 91.7% 2.9% 1.4% 3% 0.5% 0.5% Fareham 94.7% 2.1% 1.2% 1.5% 0.3% 0.2% Gosport 94.4% 2% 1.3% 1.3% 0.7% 0.3% Winchester 91.8% 3.9% 1.4% 2.3% 0.4% 0.3% Test Valley 92.6% 3.4% 1.3% 2% 0.4% 0.3% New Forest 94.9% 2.7% 0.9% 0.9% 0.3% 0.2% Southampton UA 77.7% 8.3% 2.4% 8.4% 2.1% 1.1% Source Census 2011/ Hampshire County Council analysis Staff The staff profile is more than representative of the local population in relation to ethnicity and staff with disabilities. The age profile of our staff is less balanced than it has been in previous years but remains relatively representative of the local population. The number of staff under 30 has been increasing over the last few years which is helping to balance the profile. We continue to have a high number of staff in the 55+ categories and measures have been put in place via the appraisal process to manage this. The College operates a very robust competency based recruitment process which facilitates equal opportunities for all internal and external candidates to apply. To monitor the implementation of the policy there is in place a system of reporting of data on ethnicity, gender and age. Vacancies are advertised in a range of publications including periodically in a variety of press including ethnic minority press, gay and lesbian and disability journals as well as through the Job Centre. A member of the HR team takes responsibility for ensuring all safeguarding and pre-employment checks are completed prior to interview and appointment. Students The number of students studying at the College from BME backgrounds is well above the national average. This is heavily influenced by the College s national network of training providers. However, the College s local student population also represents a higher percentage of BME backgrounds than the local catchment areas; except for Southampton. 30
Ethnic group by district White British White other Mixed Asian Black Other England and Wales 80.5% 4.4% 2.2% 7.5% 3.3% 1% Eastleigh 91.7% 2.9% 1.4% 3% 0.5% 0.5% Fareham 94.7% 2.1% 1.2% 1.5% 0.3% 0.2% Gosport 94.4% 2% 1.3% 1.3% 0.7% 0.3% Winchester 91.8% 3.9% 1.4% 2.3% 0.4% 0.3% Test Valley 92.6% 3.4% 1.3% 2% 0.4% 0.3% New Forest 94.9% 2.7% 0.9% 0.9% 0.3% 0.2% Southampton UA 77.7% 8.3% 2.4% 8.4% 2.1% 1.1% Eastleigh College All 70.7% 9.2% 3.0% 7.3% 8.6% 1.1% Eastleigh College Internal (without BDU) 84.5% 8.2% 1.7% 3.3% 1.3% 0.9% Eastleigh College External 56.3% 10.2% 4.4% 11.5% 16.2% 1.4% (BDU only) Source Census 2011/ Hampshire County Council analysis Governors The governing body is made up of 50% male and 50% female. 6.25% of the Board are from an ethnic minority background. Age profiles, as would be expected, tend to be above 40; 4-50 yrs = 12.5%, 51-60 yrs = 37.5% and 61-70 yrs = 37.5%. The two student governors represent 12.5% and fall within the 16 20 yrs age band. 4. Conclusions The College continues to make progress in implementing the equality and diversity strategy. The College self-assessed itself for 2014-15 as Good for equality and diversity. To improve this judgement to outstanding the College needs to close small gaps in achievement rates for a minority of learners, fully embed British Values and Prevent within teaching and learning and continue to develop the student voice for minority groups of learners. Training in all aspects of equality and diversity has been comprehensive and well attended. There have been no complaints from students or staff relating to protected characteristics. Recruitment is carefully monitored and although recruitment of staff from ethnic minority groups remains low, the College is confident that its processes are transparent and fair. The College continues to monitor and develop strategies to support E&D to ensure we continue to identify any areas for improvement. Received by Standards Committee 24 February 2016 31