Managing Equality and Diversity: Part 1 - Equal measures

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We are not just a multi-cultural society but one that spans differences in language, belief, disability, family models, income, background, age and sexual orientation. Almost a tenth of the UK population were not British nationals in 2017, according to the Office for National Statistics. In January 2018, more than one in seven pupils in England had a special educational need (SEN). Some 300 different languages are spoken in our schools. And Department for Education figures from 2017 show almost a tenth of all children adopted were done so by same-sex couples.

With so much difference, the need to be inclusive has never been higher. Early years practitioners are uniquely placed to instil inclusive attitudes in the country’s youngest citizens. To do so, they need to hire a workforce that reflects the UK’s diversity. Yet achieving equality is challenging.

Central Government cuts to local government funding are impacting negatively on the sector’s ability to care for all children equally. Cuts have hit SEN provision, with Ofsted figures from December 2018 showing that between 2010 and 2017, the number of children with a plan designating their needs, who did not receive provision, increased fivefold. The Government removed a ringfence from grants to support minority ethnic pupils in 2010, leading to an immediate reduction in such support. An NUT survey in 2011 found 70 per cent of local authorities had deleted such posts. And with 4.1 million children living in poverty, according to the Joseph Rowntree Foundation last December, cuts to universal services such as Children’s Centres are felt more acutely.

The early years sector fills some of the gaps. Yet it is hampered by the shortfall in funding it receives from local authorities to deliver the ‘free’ childcare offers for disadvantaged twos, threes and fours. Data published by research firm Ceeda in May 2018 suggested early years settings face an average funding shortfall of 17 per cent to deliver places for three- and four-year-olds, and 32 per cent for two-year-olds.

Other factors creating divisions in UK society include the EU referendum and terrorist attacks, both of which the Home Office blames for a 17 per cent hate crime rise between 2016/17 and 2017/18. Meanwhile, rising inequality is becoming evident in areas such as health, with studies showing the increase in childhood obesity disproportionately affects children from more deprived sections of society.

Such issues, and how they impact inclusion and equality within early years, will be the focus of a new eight-part series for Nursery World. This aims to set out how managers can ensure equality and diversity practices run throughout settings among staff, children and their families.

We will hear from some of the top experts on early years inclusion, who will give advice on how to ensure inclusive practice runs throughout a setting. Every piece will include reflective questions to help practitioners judge whether they are managing their setting in a non-biased way.

WHAT IS INCLUSION?

Early years experts agree inclusion is a huge subject and one of much debate. It is also hard to achieve. University of Sheffield professors Cathy Nutbrown and Peter Clough say, ‘Inclusion can only really mean anything in practice, and there are as many versions of inclusion as there are settings, practitioners, children and families who together make up particular living and learning cultures.’

Mary Dickins points out in her book, A to Z of Inclusion in Early Childhood, that diversity used in the context of equality ‘is usually understood to be about recognising and valuing individual as well as group differences. This means treating people as individuals, and displaying a positive attitude towards all of the differences found in the community and the workplace.’

This attitude is backed by the wording of the statutory framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), which states it aims to deliver ‘equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice, ensuring that every child is included and supported’.

Experts agree that the child-centred approach in the EYFS is a good starting point for thinking about equality. ‘It means you’re not grouping children and thinking about a cohort, you’re thinking about an individual, personalising their learning, and trying to help them progress from that starting point,’ says Linden Learning early years consultant Tamsin Grimmer. ‘If you have that very child-centred ethos, which the majority of our settings are striving for, then you can’t help but be inclusive.’

Church Park Consultants co-director Julie Revels agrees the EYFS’s idea of the ‘unique child’ is ‘the starting point to look at how provision needs to work in order to be inclusive. Equality is about taking each child individually and thinking about their needs, who they are as an individual, and make sure all barriers are removed as far as possible so that child can have access to what’s available.’

Ms Revels suggests practitioners should always return to the Equality Act 2010 for guidance. It covers all discrimination law in Great Britain (see box). For example, the act is referenced throughout the Government’s SEND code of practice, which states that early years providers ‘must make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services, to ensure that disabled children and young people are not at a substantial disadvantage compared with their peers’.

When caring for children with differences, particularly SEND, Revels stresses the need for practitioners to think positively. They should ask what does a child have, rather than what they do not. ‘Practitioners see the disability or SEN first and think about that before they think about the whole child,’ she says. ‘People try to understand the diagnosis rather than the child. It’s not the child that is the problem, it’s about how we adjust our policy, practices and environment to include the child.’

Revels also emphasises the standards set by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article two states that every child has the same rights without discrimination, whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion, language, abilities or any other status, whatever they think or say, and whatever their family background.

Key to creating an inclusive and egalitarian ethos in settings is getting management and staffing right, advises Centre for Research in Early Childhood director Chris Pascal. ‘You’ve got to really look at your employment practices and how inclusive they are for special needs, disability, race, ethnicity – all those things,’ she says. ‘That is what children and families learn from. Then it’s how you create that culture to model that with the children and families, and deal with that diversity in a respectful, inclusive and affirmative way.’

OFTEN OVERLOOKED

With so much to consider when establishing equal practices in early years management and delivery, practitioners agree settings overlook some areas. This is particularly the case in recruitment. ‘Retention levels of staff in nurseries can be very poor,’ says Kalra Legal Group senior employment lawyer and managing director Anita Kalra. She frequently performs HR ‘health checks’ within early years settings. ‘It’s not just getting the ad right, but attracting the right individuals so they do retain,’ she says.

Ms Kalra also highlights that she has dealt with several cases that have arisen because an early years setting has had poor whistle-blowing procedures. ‘In childcare it is especially crucial because children are vulnerable and unable to clearly voice their thoughts and feelings,’ she explains. ‘Safeguarding children is a key part of the childcare profession. By having the ability to blow the whistle on any wrongdoing, it adds to the protection of children.’

Gender balance is another common problem, as are low salaries, which tend to only attract younger applicants. Ms Grimmer says settings can overlook age imbalance in the workforce. ‘I don’t think it’s in the forefront of their thinking,’ she says.

‘We are living in more diverse times,’ she adds. ‘In the light of that, we need to make sure that we are managing this to the best of our abilities.’

Reflective questions

1. Can you find an equality ethos underpinning all your policies and practices?

2. Are you following the Equality Act 2010 accurately?

Diversity and equality: the legal requirements

Equality Act 2010

This act identifies certain protected characteristics: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. It applies to all early years settings and schools. In making inspection judgements, Ofsted inspectors consider how well settings comply with relevant duties set out in the act.

Children and Families Act 2014

This includes legislation covering children with SEND, the right to request flexible working, time off work for antenatal care, shared parental leave rights and provision of free school lunches, among other areas.

Childcare Act 2006

Sets out local authority duties around securing and inspecting childcare, and providing information to parents.

This series will cover

1. February – Age
2. March – Special educational needs and disability (SEND)
3. April – Sexual orientation
4. May – Race, ethnicity and culture
5. June – Religion
6. July – Gender
7. August – Poverty and inequality