As Black history month comes to an end, and in light of world events during the year, we thought it would be a good opportunity to raise with our families how we deliver our diverse and inclusive practice at Orchard Lea.

At Orchard Lea we take a strong stance against racism in all its forms and our anti-discriminatory practice forms a core part of our principles and belief system (vision statement) as an early years setting. We understand the importance of a reflective practice in providing quality care and are always open to suggestions from parents/carers and our local community in terms of ways we can continue to improve and evolve our practice.

As a setting we aspire to have a high standard of inclusive practice and promoting equality. 

Here of some to the policies and procedure we have created which help contribute to our practice as a diverse and inclusive setting:

  • British Values – British values are Democracy, Rule of Law, Respect and Tolerance, Individual Liberty. Fundamental British Values underpin what it is to be a citizen in a modern and diverse Great Britain valuing our community and celebrating the diversity of the UK.
  • Policy on Encouraging Positive Behaviour – Inappropriate attitudes and practises that contradict our policies, procedures and Mission Statement will be immediately challenged. Unacceptable behaviour can include racist or sexist remarks, take the form verbal or physical abuse and bullying and swearing. This form of unacceptable behaviour will not be tolerated towards any members of our community. 
  • Policy on equal opportunities – Our Nursery aims to demonstrate through its work, that it positively values and respects children and adults of all ethnic origins/racial groups, religions, cultures linguistic backgrounds and abilities.  Unless specifically requested by parents/carers, children of both sexes are positively encouraged by our team to participate in all activities.
  • Promoting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child – This is a human rights treaty which sets out the civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights of children
  • Diversity awareness training – Staff take diversity training provided by independent organisation as well as online training on equality.
  • Promoting the Equality act 2010 – The Equality Act 2010 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom with the primary purpose of consolidating, updating and supplementing the numerous prior Acts and Regulations, that formed the basis of anti-discrimination law in Great Britain.
  • Safeguarding and well-fare audit/Quest & Bristol Standards – Self-evaluation tool kits for reflective practice which includes the promotion of diversity and inclusive practice.
  • Cultural Capital – Cultural Capital is the essential knowledge that children need to prepare them for their future success.

Orchard Lea considers it important to provide a range of experiences and an environment that will instil in our children a positive outlook towards themselves and all people in our society whom they may see as different to themselves.

  • Toys and equipment will be chosen with the needs of our children in mind.            (E.g. Multicultural Dolls, Toys, Puzzles, Games, Songs, Puppets)
  • Themes will include varying cultural celebrations.  
  • Resources and equipment will be included to support thematic planning. 
  • Additional resources will be borrowed from the Inclusion Service Library and any other sources e.g. parents/opticians/library/dentists etc….
  • Displays will show and reflect a positive image towards the world in which we live and different languages of the families and staff who attend our settings.
  • Books will be chosen to meet all the children’s ages, abilities, cultures, languages, and various needs, and to reflect the many differing lifestyles there are in today’s society. (e.g. “What I like about me (celebrating differences)”, “a life like mine (UNICEF)”, “Play Time” (Oxfam)

We also promote a wide range of holidays and religious festivals each year these include Chines New Year, Holi, St Patricks day, Passover, Ramadan, Eid, Diwali & Hanukkah. 

We aim to employ a diverse workforce of various races, nationalities and promote equality within our staffing team and in turn providing positive multicultural role models for the children in our care. 

We recognise that the recent events have been an emotive issue for a lot of our families and the local community and can appreciate the concerns raised. We hope information we have outlined helps to clarify for our families the steps we take to promote equality within our setting.

If you have any concerns or suggestions please feel free to get touch with us at anytime.