EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY REPORT 2017-2018

EKC GROUP STRIVES TO PROVIDE A WORKING AND LEARNING CULTURE WHICH CELEBRATES DIVERSITY AND PROMOTES AND ADVANCES EQUALITY IN ALL ITS FORMS.

The Group is fully committed to adhering to the general and specific public sector duties, going beyond the duties wherever possible; this report outlines how the organisation is doing this and captures the extent of equality and diversity related activities over the past year.

In February 2018, Canterbury College and Sheppey College merged with East Kent College and EKC Group was created on 1st August 2018 to form the largest further education organisation in Kent and Medway. EKC Group has campuses in Broadstairs, Canterbury, Dover, Folkestone and Sheppey and also operates community learning provision on an outreach basis in all these areas as well as community cafés in Deal and Folkestone. EKC Commercial encompasses the Yarrow Hotel at Broadstairs College, a unique training venue for Catering and Hospitality students and there are Nursery facilities at Broadstairs, Canterbury and Folkestone Colleges which provide a service to the local community as well as training opportunities for Early Years students. The College’s Technical School offers the national curriculum alongside a vocational qualification to a small number of students aged 14-16.

The areas that the Group serves have an urban population of around 455,000 and contain some of the most deprived wards in the South East of England. In particular Thanet, Swale, Shepway and Dover are respectively ranked as 1, 2, 3 and 5 of the most deprived areas in Kent, with Thanet (Cliftonville) ranked 4th nationally of the most deprived areas. A significant proportion of our students are from these areas, with 40% in receipt of free school meals and/or eligible for support from the

College bursary. The College provides a very inclusive environment with good support in place for a diverse range of learners, which ensures that achievement gaps are minimised.

The Group has the highest number of care leavers in Kent as well as the highest number of leaners with High Needs in Kent who are based across our mainstream provision as well as in discrete provision for students with severe learning difficulties and disabilities.

East Kent College was inspected by Ofsted in January 2017 when it was found to be Good overall with Outstanding grades in the following categories:

y Leadership and management

y Personal development, behaviour and development

y Adult learning programmes

y Apprenticeships

y High needs provision

Canterbury College (including Sheppey College) was inspected by Ofsted in February 2017 and gained an overall grading of Good.

INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT1

EKC GROUP IS BOUND BY THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR EQUALITY DUTIES WHICH ARE PART OF THE EQUALITY ACT 2010.

OVERVIEW OF GENERAL AND SPECIFIC PUBLIC SECTOR EQUALITY DUTIES2

THIS MEANS THAT WE HAVE TO:

y Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act.

y Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

y Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

THE GENERAL EQUALITY DUTY REQUIRES THE GROUP TO CONSIDER HOW WE CAN POSITIVELY CONTRIBUTE TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF EQUALITY AND GOOD RELATIONS WITH OUR STAFF, STUDENTS AND COMMUNITIES.

HOW EKC GROUP MEETS THE PUBLIC SECTOR DUTIES3

Equality considerations are therefore reflected in the design of policies, the delivery of our services and our relationships with communities and stakeholders.

The specific duties require us to publish information to show how we are complying with the general equality duty. This information needs to demonstrate the effect that our policies and practices have had, evidence of the analysis and engagement we have undertaken and details of the information that we have considered. We set our equality objectives based on a robust and honest evaluation of our performance and progress our goals through our Equality Action Plan.

POLICIES, PROCEDURES AND PRACTICES ARE DEVELOPED UNDER CONSULTATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS VIA MECHANISMS SUCH AS RELEVANT COLLEGE COMMITTEES, LEARNER VOICE INCLUDING STUDENT UNION AND STUDENT REPS AS WELL AS FOCUS GROUPS AND QUESTIONNAIRES.

Equality impact assessment is built into the development stages of all policies and procedures and processes are tested to ensure that they work before full implementation.

The following policies and procedures related to equality are in place. There is also a four year Equality Action Plan in place which is monitored by the Curriculum and Student Experience board. Policies are reviewed by the Policy Committee to ensure that they are appropriately consulted upon.

y Anti Bullying and Harassment Policies (staff and student)

y Code of Conduct (staff and students)

y Equality and Diversity Policy

y Equal Pay Policy

y Maternity, Paternity, Parental and Adoption Leave Policy

y Fees Policy

y Student Disciplinary Policy

y Staff Disciplinary Policy

y Staff Support and Wellbeing Policy

y Recruitment of Staff Policy

y Safeguarding and Preventing Extremism and Radicalisation Policy

y IT Acceptable Use Policy

y Additional Learning Support Policy

y Dress Code Policy

y Assistance Dogs Procedure

y Procedure for Handling Applicants with Criminal Convictions

y Equality Action Plan 2016-2020

y Student Mental Health policy

y Student Mental Health Charter

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES4

5.1 GENDER

STAFF 5

2015/16*

67%FEMALE

33%MALE

2016/17**

65%FEMALE

35%MALE

2017/18

65%FEMALE

35%MALE

*East Kent College data**East Kent College and Canterbury College data.

The Education and Training Foundation’s latest workforce survey (2016-2017) published in May 2018 reveals that across the further education sector, 62% are female so the Group is slightly out of line with the national benchmark.

5.2 DISABILITY

THE GROUP ENCOURAGES ALL STAFF TO DISCLOSE DISABILITY WITH THE EXPRESS INTENTION OF BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE APPROPRIATE SUPPORT AND ADJUSTMENT WHERE NECESSARY.

This information is made available for disclosure within the Occupational Health paperwork new starters are required to complete, as well as the ability to disclose a disability at any point throughout their employment. Many staff chose not to consider or label themselves as ‘disabled’ and the Group respects this. In this context, data on the number of disabled staff in the workforce has not been collected but data on job applicants who declare a disability at the point of application has been. This is done to ensure that the Group’s staff recruitment processes continue to be accessible to all sectors of the communities that the College serves. Staff have the option of updating their personal details on the HR Portal if they wish to record that they are disabled.

The Group uses the ‘Disability Confident’ accreditation, a three tier system that formally recognises employers and assures disabled people that recruitment processes will be fair and equitable. EKC Group is accredited at Disability Confident ‘Employer’ level and continues to promote its work on Mindful Employer accreditation. The Group is progressing a three year plan to raise awareness of mental health issues and in particular to encourage disclosure. Mental Health First Aid training has been a focus in the last year with the aim of providing appropriate and timely signposting of staff and students to mental health support mechanisms.

5 STAFF

Within the further education sector, the national ethnicity profile is 84% White and 16% BME/other so the Group is under the national average. However, within the East Kent area, the BME/other ethnic profile (ONS 2011) broadly mirrors that of the Group staff profile. The number of staff not declaring their ethnicity needs to be addressed and becomes more of a priority with the impending plans for Brexit.

5.3 ETHNICITY

STAFF 5

2015/16

4%BME/

OTHER

8%UNKNOWN

88%WHITE

2016/17

2%BME/

OTHER

10%UNKNOWN

88%WHITE

2017/18

2%BME/

OTHER

10%UNKNOWN

88%WHITE

BME/OTHER

UNKNOWN

WHITE

5.4 TRAINING AND INFORMATION FOR STAFF

STAFF RECEIVE TRAINING AND AWARENESS ON A RANGE OF ASPECTS RELATED TO EQUALITY AND DIVERSITY.

5 STAFF

EXAMPLES ARE AS FOLLOWS:

y Induction

y Embedding E&D in teaching and learning – this is largely covered by the Learning Coaches who work with teaching staff to improve teaching and learning practice and to address E&D themes and develop practices and techniques for embedding E&D seamlessly into vocational areas.

y Equality in staff recruitment

y Procedures for handling applicants with criminal convictions

6.1 AGE AND GENDER PROFILE

STUDENTS 6

AGE: 16/18

28%FEMALE

41%MALE

AGE: 19+

17%FEMALE

14%MALE

ALL AGES

45%FEMALE

55%MALE

ACHIEVEMENT RATE

81% 81%

ACHIEVEMENT RATE

84% 88%

ACHIEVEMENT RATE

82% 83%

There are no achievement gaps between male and female students in the 16-18 age bracket but males aged 19+ achieve at a slightly improved rate compared to females in the same age bracket.

6.2 ETHNICITY PROFILE

STUDENTS 6

ALL AGES

14%BME

3%UNKNOWN

83%WHITE*

83%

ACHIEVEMENTRATE

90%

ACHIEVEMENTRATE

82%

ACHIEVEMENTRATE

*White = British, Irish, White other

BME students of all ages achieve at a slightly higher rate than White students. BME/

OTHERWHITEUNKNOWN

6.3 DISABILITY AND LEARNING DIFFICULTY PROFILE

STUDENTS 6

AGE: 16/18 AGE: 19+ ALL AGES

37%NO LDD

31%LDD

ACHIEVEMENT RATE

82% 79%

22%NO LDD

9%LDD

ACHIEVEMENT RATE

88% 81%

62%NO LDD

38%LDD

ACHIEVEMENT RATE

84% 80%

The data indicates that students aged 16-18 and 19+ with no LDD achieve at a slightly higher rate than students with LDD. However, this needs to be taken in context of overall student numbers.