Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at The Priory 
Equality and Diversity Statement
- To promote equality of opportunity and representation for all with and without protected characteristics
- To eliminate discrimination
- To close the gap academically of disadvantaged pupils as well as provide equal opportunity for disadvantaged and vulnerable members of our school community
- All stakeholders to have a good understanding of our principles, values and beliefs that are weaved through our Equality Statement and put these into practice through their work in the school
- Promotion of our vision and values of equality and anti-discrimination is apparent in all of school life through the curriculum, Collective Worship, interactions with pupils, staff and parents, events and through PSHE.
- We actively share our message in our Equality Statement annually with families at parent information meetings and review it regularly.
- We review our curriculum continuously to adhere to our commitment to represent and promote diverse faiths and beliefs, family models, abilities, gender and sexual orientation.
- We are working towards a Rights Respecting Award https://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools/ and actively promote this within our community and use the UN's rights of a child in our curriculum
- Our collective worships focus on children's rights, British Values and protected characteristics and we are always adapting our curriculum to reflect those with and without protected characteristics, disadvantaged This action is part of our school development plan.
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We hold termly Cultural Awareness Days to celebrate cultures of our community and from across the world to ensure our pupils and families feel represented, are able to share their identity and learn about others.
- We are partaking in anti-racism RE units provided by the Southwark Diocese Board of Education as we understand the need to actively stand against racism
Cultural Awareness Days / Celebrating diversity and inclusion
Watch this space - content incoming!
Inclusion
Inclusion at The Priory 
At The Priory, we hold aspirational aims for our pupils. We are committed to meeting the needs of all individuals to ensure that they reach their full potential.
Furthermore, we pride ourselves on the inclusive nature of our curriculum; we aim to cater for each individual, taking particular account of any specific needs or abilities.
What is SEND?
If your child has more challenges than most children their age with aspects of their learning, communication, behaviour or day to day living, they are likely to benefit from additional support in school which will enable them to access the curriculum at their level.
We categorise special educational needs and/or disability under 4 broad categories:
Communication and Language Needs
Social, Emotional and Mental Health Needs
Cognition and Learning Needs
Physical and Sensory Needs
The level of support that a child requires is then established, based on the level of intervention they require.
School Level Support
Within school, this means that they may be identified on the school's special educational needs (SEN) register so that provision to meet their needs can be planned for. This may be small group intervention, pastoral support, pre-teaching or extra resources to scaffold their learning in class.
You will be contacted by our Inclusion Lead, Alex Williams, if your child has been identified as requiring additional support, so that you are able to share your views and preferences on a way forward to meet their needs.
The school's SEN register is a working document that is updated termly. As children progress, they may be taken off of the register at a future point, when their needs have successfully been met and they no longer require significant, additional support.
Specialist Level Support
Following the graduated approach to SEND, if the planned provision has not had a significant impact on the pupil’s progress, specialist support and advice may be sought. A SEN Support Plan will be written by the class teacher, in collaboration with parents and our Inclusion Lead, to ensure a collaborative approach.
Our Inclusion Lead works with a wide range of professionals including: Educational Psychologists, Speech and Language therapists, Occupational Therapists, CAMHS, Education Wellbeing Practitioners, Paediatricians, GPs, Physiotherapists, School Nurses and Merton's Learning, Behaviour and Language Service to ensure pupils' needs are robustly catered for, and that teaching staff are confident in the delivery of provision and intervention.
This September, 2022, we have also commissioned support from Jigsaw4U, a charity based organisation who provide therapy-based 1:1 support for pupils and/or carers, within the school setting (see below for further information).
See the link below for a full list of support we provide for our pupils, under all 4 categories of Need:
/docs/Intervention_overview_2022-23.pdat The Priory, please click here:
The Graduated Approach - Applications for an EHCP
In circumstances where a pupil does not make expected progress over a sustained period time, despite appropriately pitched differentiation and intervention, our school’s Inclusion Lead will meet with parents to discuss whether requesting an assessment for an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP) is appropriate.
Under the Inclusion tab, you will find a number of pages holding further information on the wide range of support and interventions we offer to meet the needs of our pupils.
Furthermore, at the bottom of this page, you will find links to useful websites for further reading.
