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Specific Equality Duty Strategy and Information

January 2012

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Contents Page

1. Policy Statement 04

2. Equality and Diversity Week 06 3. Age 16

4. Disability 19

5. Sex/Sexual Orientation 29

6. Race 39

7. Religion and Beliefs 48

8. Fair Trade And Human Rights 49

9. Summary 51

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Executive Summary The area of Equality & Diversity continues to develop across the UK, through both political and social cohesion agendas and the new Equality Bill implemented in April 2010. Sunderland College embraces the equality legislation and has moved on to the next stage of development well in advance of legislative requirements. The college’s six core values underpin everything we do. Equality and diversity is one of our key values but is also embedded within all the other five values. Partnership The college promotes and develops partnerships with a wide range of organisations and individuals locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. It has forged strong partnerships with organisations which can enhance and contribute to the training and education of people from a wide range of backgrounds and support needs. It also develops partnerships with organisations that support aspects of equality and also contribute to a number of activities in the college. Respect The college aims to provide an inclusive environment where students and staff are highly valued, and relationships are based on mutual respect to provide a positive experience for all members of its community. Innovation The college embraces innovation across all areas; particularly in the ways we provide both access and support, enabling students to learn in ways which meet their needs and aspirations. Diversity The college has a reputation for working to remove barriers to achievement. This ethos enables us to recruit from a diverse range of staff and students and to ensure that they progress and achieve successfully. Ethical The college aims to provide fair practices and a commitment of Corporate Social Responsibility for staff and students.

Pride We aim for our whole college community to take pride in our record on equality and diversity and strive to embed good practice throughout the organisation. Equality and Diversity principles are now an integral part of everything the college does. Our Equality Scheme ensures that college decisions are made in consultation and consider any negative impact on any of the diverse range of students we attract. This report will outline the measures being taken to assess the impact of actions taken by the college in the last twelve months. This supports our ambitions to be a centre of excellence for equality and diversity. 03

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1. Policy Statement

City of Sunderland College actively promotes equality and diversity in all aspects of its work and aims to provide an environment where all individuals have the opportunity to achieve their full potential with a feeling of self esteem. It will eliminate unfair discrimination through a zero tolerance approach, regular target setting and monitoring and the development of positive action programmes. In exercising its functions as a public authority, the college welcomes its duty towards those individuals sharing one or more of the protected characteristics of age, disability, gender re-assignment, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation and, where relevant, marriage and civil partnership. The college is mindful of the need for it to have due regard to: • Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010. • Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. • Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. As part of its commitment to advancing equality, the college will endeavour to: • Remove or minimise disadvantage experienced by people due to their protected characteristics. • Take measures to fulfil the needs of individuals from protected groups where these are different from the needs of other persons. • Support and encourage individuals with protected characteristics to participate in the public life of the organisation, especially where participation is disproportionately lower.

POLICIES

Area Relevant Legislation College Policies and Practices

Age

Age Regulations October 2006

Policies impact assessment and practices informed by regulations. Signed up to Age Concern pledge. Retirement policy introduced

Disability

Disability DDA 1995 SENDA 2001 DDA amended 2005

Code of practice for employing disabled people. Disability Equality Scheme. Disability tick symbol employer. Committed to the Mindful Employer charter and practice. Single equality scheme and action plan (from Jan 2010). Disability support team.

Race

Race Relations Amendment Act (RRAA) 2003

Race equality scheme. Single Equality action plan.

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Area

Relevant Legislation

College Policies and Practices

Religion or belief

EU Regulations on Religion or Belief 2003

Equality and Diversity Policy encompasses religion and beliefs. College chaplaincy service available to students. Faith rooms available on all sites

Sex/Gender

Sex Discrimination Act 1975, amended 2003. Equal Pay Act 1970, amended 2003. Gender Duty 2007

IIP standard for fair recruitment and selection. Equal pay policy and annual audits. IIP standard for our suite of Work-Life balance policies. Gender equality scheme and Action Plans

Sexual orientation

EU Regulations on Sexual Orientation 2003. Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007

Policy on sexual orientation.

Fixed term staff

Fixed-term Employees Regulations 2002

Consistent application of HR policies to fixed term staff

Part time staff

Part-time Workers’ (prevention of less favourable treatment) Regulations 2002

Pro-rata equivalence of terms and conditions

Equality - All protected characteristics • Age • Disability • Gender Re-Assignment • Pregnancy and Maternity • Race • Religion and Belief • Sex • Sexual Orientation • Marriage and Civil Partnership (where relevant)

Equality Act 2010

• Equality and Diversity Committee • Current involvement in 157 Group E&D Project • Development of Equality Objectives • Re-assessment of Equality Impact Assessment process • All managers trained in EIA procedures • College involvement in regional equality awards judgement panel (2011)

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2. Equality and Diversity Week

A. Background

The college makes a genuine and realistic commitment to continually raising awareness of equality and diversity matters both within and outside of curriculum settings to challenge and minimise discrimination and prejudice in all of its forms. Recognition of the college’s stance and approach to equality and diversity and the benefits this bestows on the student experience was of course given by OfSTED following a full college inspection in January 2010 when an Outstanding grade was awarded for this important area of provision. In addition the implementation of the new Equality Act in October 2010 and the wider range of protected characteristics it entails reinforces the importance of maintaining momentum and recognising the college’s public duties in terms of promoting and celebrating equality and diversity at every opportunity. Following on from the success of the first Equality and Diversity (E&D) Week event held in December 2009 and subsequent discussion and evaluation by the college Equality and Diversity Committee, a decision was taken to hold a further E&D Week event during December 2010. It is now envisaged that Equality and Diversity Week will become a regular and enduring feature of the college events calendar. As such the college has held a third E+D Week event in December 2011. As previously, the aim of the week-long event is to focus a range of activities, campaigns and information sessions in order to further inform and raise the awareness of the college community on equality and diversity based issues. The event is complemented throughout by curriculum based activity focussing on equality and diversity themes via tutorial, and enrichment. Such an event to campaign equality and diversity issues also acts as an important framework for the college to fulfil its specific equality duty in terms of advancing equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not and in fostering good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. During Equality and Diversity Week 2011 (Dec 5

th – Dec 9

th) all protected characteristics as

outlined in the Equality Bill were represented both in the rolling roadshow and in presentations to students and staff from equality groups. The college recognises the difficulties inherent in collecting information on some protected characteristics e.g. transgender. However it is hoped that ongoing events aimed at advancing equality of opportunity for all will help to foster an environment in which individuals feel confident to declare a protected characteristic either formally or informally.

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B. Equality and Diversity Week 2011 – “Pride not Prejudice”

Area Relevant Legislation College Policies and Practices

.

Equality and Diversity Week

December 2011

“Pride not Prejudice”

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Sunderland College Equality and Diversity Week December 2011

A. Background

Equality and Diversity Week at (City of) Sunderland College has now become a mainstay event in the college annual diary. The event showcases the organisation’s on-going commitment to good practice in equality and diversity and aims for the whole college community to take pride in this obligation. In addition the implementation of the new Equality Act in October 2010 and the wider range of protected characteristics it entails, reinforces the importance of maintaining momentum and recognising the college’s public duties in terms of celebrating and advancing equality and diversity at every opportunity. As a genuinely interactive event, quality and diversity week thus reinforces the need and extends the college’s efforts to have due regard to:

Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010.

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

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

In practical terms and as part of its desire to advance equality and diversity the annual event also contributes greatly to raise awareness of the need to:

Remove or minimise disadvantage experienced by people due to their protected characteristics.

Take measures to fulfil the needs of individuals from protected groups where these are different from the needs of other persons.

Support and encourage individuals with protected characteristics to participate in the public life of the organisation, especially where participation is disproportionately lower.

The theme of the December 2011 event was thus - “Pride not Prejudice” - to encapsulate the college core values of Partnership, Respect, Innovation, Diversity, Ethical and to further instil within the college community the commitment and desire to challenge prejudice in any of its forms.

B. Outline of Sunderland College Equality and Diversity Week (Dec) 2011 The Equality Act 2010 includes a new single public sector Equality Duty which replaces’ the previous race, disability and gender equality duties and extends to cover gender re-assignment, age, religion or belief and sexual orientation as well as marriage and civil partnership and pregnancy and maternity. These are now known as protected characteristics and refer to aspects of a persons’ identity explicitly protected from discrimination. A core feature of the week-long event would be the “rolling roadshow of external and internal agencies/organisations representative of equality and diversity to visit a different college centre each day. This would give all of the college community the opportunity to interact and liaise with such groups. A major focus therefore was to attempt to gain representation throughout the week from as full a range of protected groups (characteristics) as was possible. Participants during the week included:

Sunderland Arch- ARCH is a network of organisations working together across the city to help support victims of hate incidents (racist, religious, homophobic, transphobic or disability) and where possible take action against the suspect.

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Age UK - has a vision of a world in which older people flourish. Age UK aims to improve later life for everyone through information and advice, campaigns, products, training and research.

We’Ar Out!(MESMAC) Sunderland work to promote LGBT health and wellbeing.

Early Intervention into Psychosis Team - EIP teams promote early detection and engagement to reduce the duration of untreated psychosis to less than three months.

HMRC – LGBT

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Services

Washington MIND - An independent charity providing locally based Mental Health services across the city of Sunderland -affiliated to National Mind, the largest Mental Health Charity in England.

UNICEF - UNICEF is the world’s leading organisation focusing on children and child rights, with a presence in more than 190 countries and territories. UNICEF work with local communities, partners and governments to ensure every child’s rights to survive and thrive are upheld.

Amnesty International -Are a campaigning organisation. Amnesty’s purpose is to protect people wherever justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied. The focus of the Amnesty stand was the stoning of women prisoners in Iran. (Staffed by college students)

FairTrade (Traidcraft) -Traidcraft is the UK’s leading fair trade organisation whose mission is to fight poverty through trade, practising and promoting approaches to trade that help poor people in developing countries transform their lives. (Staffed by college students)

Chris Ellis/Mavis Brenna (Guide Dog etiquette and talks)

Young Asian Voices -YAV offers a range of activites for young people between the ages of 8 - 25 years including: * Indoor sports * Issue Based Work * ASDAN * Group Work * Fundraising * Youth Committee * Consultations * Homework and Career Workshops

Auschwitz memorial Exhibition

College Nursing Team –

College Enrichment Team –

College Learning Support Service

A Disadvantaged Dalek!!

Air Fish!!

Curriculum Exchanges Over the course of the week the Roadshow managed to represent and provide information on, all of the protected characteristics covered by the Equality Act in terms of: Age, Disability, Sex and Sexual Orientation, Religion and Belief, Pregnancy and Maternity, Gender Re-assignment. Roadshow participants offered face to face information on a range of topics as well as a range of interactive activities including – stress dot tests (EIP), E+D key ring making, Henna tattooing and blind football simulation (Enrichment team), Fairtrade shopping pledges, Amnesty petition (Stop the stoning of women in Iran) and Japanese traditional dress. Roadshow participants were requested to complete a review questionnaire of the event and to date 6 responses have been received. In general terms most agencies felt that student and staff interaction and participation in the roadshow was higher than in previous years. This was reinforced by comments, in response to the question - “What is the most useful aspect of participation in Equality and Diversity Week? - such as:

“The opportunity to meet with students and staff, particularly those who haven’t attended a diversity week event before;

introducing them to LGBT diversity and encouraging them to challenge some of their existing preconceived ideas and prejudice;

enhancing their learning and awareness.” (HMRC LGBT Lead)

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“Gathering issues that are relevant to students within the City.”

(ARCH and Sunderland Partnership)

“The events allow us to gel more with students” (College Nursing Team)

E+D Roadshow

All respondents indicated a high level of satisfaction with such things as hospitality and daily timings of the event at all centres. There were some suggestions however that the college might consider holding the event at a different (warmer) time of year as some locations (St Peter’s; Hylton) were particularly cold being held in the open foyer areas at both centres. Evaluation responses also complemented comments made during the week to indicate that external partners place much value in participating in the event – e.g. “A very worthwhile event which is always a pleasure to attend.” (Ken Mortimer HMRC LGBT Lead) The roadshow event was complemented by a range of “in-house” equality and diversity oriented tutorial and curriculum activities which included - bite sized language classes, kick boxing and belly dancing sessions (Bede international students), guide dog and vision impaired information talks, mixed Zumba dancing classes, and a Kick Racism out of Football five a side football tournament. Hair and Beauty students from both Shiney Row and Hylton Centres also provided insight into specialist vocational curriculum areas by holding mobile nail and beauty bars at some centres.

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Amanda and Emma running the nail bar at Bede

Humaira and Shafia, 2 ex students who have recently completed their Beauty Therapy studies at the college also gave eyebrow threading demonstrations (using staff and students as their models!) at the Hylton Centre.

Eyebrow threading session by Shafia

In addition catering students (below) and staff from the Hylton centre researched, designed, made and delivered a Halal buffet (funded by the college) for over 100 individuals representing 17 different nationalities attached to the North East Refugee Service (NERS) drop in centre in central Sunderland.

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Danielle, Sarah, Melissa, Nicole, Louise, Amy, Ryan and Rebecca

The message below from Dorothy Ishmail is evidence of the success of this initiative and the appreciation shown by NERS and its client group to college students and staff.

“Can I say once again how much we enjoyed and appreciated the hard work of all those involved in producing that splendid meal.

I think you missed it, but when the students were leaving the asylum seekers spontaneously clapped while they left, and some

have done for us. What a lovely bunch of people! Please pass on our appreciation to Johnny as well, for leading this wonderful event.” The Pride not Prejudice message was also reinforced through tutorial throughout the week and students from all college centres were given the opportunity to participate in a number of competitions including an Equality and Diversity on line quiz which generated 268 attempts. A total of 12 students scored a full 100% (20 out of 20) with the winner (Reece Hanson an A2 student studying at St. Peter's and Bede)drawn by random number generator, receiving a £20 music voucher. An Equality and Diversity logo competition was also organised by tutorial teams and a cross college Racial Equality poster competition was arranged by the ESOL team (Samia). Both of these competitions generated a range of imaginative and creative responses with logos’ such as the small selection below submitted:

“Fair to Others – Fair to yourself” (Reece Metcalf – S Row)

“Don’t Turn Away – I Was Born This Way” (Danielle Puttick – S Row)

“People Have the Equal Right to be Diverse”(Emily Howey – St P) “Whatever Age, Race or Colour – We’re All No Different From Each

Other” (Anon) Two other features of the event generated much student (and staff) interest. The Amnesty International “Stop the Stoning of Women” campaign desk was reinforced by full sized Air Shark and Air Angel Fish Carrying the slogans - “Stop the Stoning.”

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Students at Hylton operating the “Stop the Stoning Air fish

Each day of the event also witnessed the attendance of an Equality and Diversity Dalek emblazoned with a range of equality and diversity stickers and slogans. This aspect of the week was covered by the local media (S/land Echo) under the headline; “Prejudice must be Exterminated!” The replica Dr Who character, created by Assistive Technology Technician Keith Lawler in his spare time, dropped in on each of the event’s days and generated much student and staff interest to reinforce the negative effects of prejudice and discrimination. E+D Dalek and fans!

C. Conclusion

A noticeable outcome of the 2011 equality and diversity week event was the level of student participation and interaction in all aspects of the weeks’ activities. This included involvement in centre based and cross college E+D quizzes, competitions and associated tutorial activities as well as volunteer staffing at some of the roadshow stands and activity stalls. The planning element of Equality and Diversity Week was also a major contributory factor in the success of the event. The planning group combining enrichment, tutorial, E+D and learning support elements of college provision to represent all college centres met from September onwards on several occasions to make preparations for the event. The planning group consisted of: Laura Mitford, Judith Nicholson, Deb Simpson, Gill Humphries,

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Don Peattie, David Lee, Ruth Magnus, Gerard Elder, Samia Gillani, Mike Lanaghan, Joe Leggett During the daily Roadshow events, centre based Disability Advisors (Tom Routledge; Jude Letham; Kevin Lynch; Pam Savage; Bill Spedding; Bill Wildish; Peter Mulligan; Richie Marshall) were present at their centres with Enrichment Officers (Laura Mitford; Alex Mallett; Kayleigh Knowles and Chris Smith) attending daily at all times to set up exhibitions/ desks with caretaking staff, meet and greet and settle external participants, as well as leading activities and campaigns (e.g. E+D key rings, Japanese culture, Henna tattooing, Olympics/Paralympics)interact with students and assist in the closure of the Roadshows. Both prior to and during the week-long event the college Marketing team also provided invaluable coverage via college websites and in engaging local media interest. Another successful outcome of the event was the enthusiasm of external participants both during the event and in expressing a desire to engage in follow up work in the college with staff and students. As an outcome follow up planning meetings and events have been made with Age UK, Young Asian Voices, Early Intervention into Psychosis Team, Sunderland ARCH North East Refugee Service and “We’Ar Out”. Such partnerships enable Sunderland College’s Equality and Diversity week to take place within the spirit and philosophy of the college’s core values of PRIDE and continue to contribute to raise awareness amongst all of the college community of the negative and unacceptable effects of prejudice, discrimination and harassment. These ongoing partnerships will also enable the college to make preparations for and celebrate the range of associated external events throughout the year of 2012 including:

Holocaust Memorial Day – 27th Jan 2012 (“Speak Up Speak Out”)

Info/resources available at www.hmd.org.uk

LGBT History Month (February 2012) – info at www.lgbthistorymonth.org.uk – test your LGBT knowledge at www.empowertoolkit.org.uk

Age UK Bobble Day (to reduce suffering and preventable winter deaths during winter amongst people in later life) – Friday 10

th Feb 2012

International Women’s Day (IWD) – 8th March 2012 – info at –

www.internationalwomensday.com

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination – 21st March 2012

World Health Day – 7th April 2012 info at – www.who.int

Depression Awareness Week – April 2012 info at – www.depressionalliance.org

Deaf Awareness Week – 7th – 13

th May 2012 info at www.deafcouncil.org.uk

International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) – 17th May 2012 info at –

www.homophobiaday.org

Interfaith Day – 22nd

June 2012

Pride events – Summer 2012 – info at www.stonewall.org.uk

World Population Day – 11th July 2012 – (to celebrate our common humanity and

diversity)

International Youth Day – 12th August 2012

European Day of Languages – 26th Sept 2012

International Day of Peace – 21st Sept 2012 info at

www.internationaldayofpeace.org

Black History Month – October 2012 – info at www.blackhistorymonthuk.co.uk

UK Older People’s Day – 1st October 2012

World Mental Health Day – 10th October 2012

Armistice Day – 11th Nov 2012

International Day for Tolerance – 16th Nov 21012

World Aids Day – 1st Dec 2012

International Day for Persons with Disabilities – 3rd

Dec 2012 The above list is not exhaustive and does not include the wide range of Multifaith dates throughout the year many of which the college also celebrates.

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3. Age

Employment legislation

The college reviewed its employment policies in line with the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 that came into effect in October 2008. We have provided training for managers on age discrimination legislation and reviewed a number of procedures and requests for information which may result in age discrimination. The default retirement age was removed in October 2011 in line with national employment legislation. A possible outcome of this is that the college may develop a more ageing workforce.

Staff Data

The tables (I and ii) below indicate the number and percentage of college staff by age and gender.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Under 18 18-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 Over 65

Pe

rce

nta

ge

City of Sunderland College Employees 2010-11

Female

Male

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Table iii below shows the breakdown of applicants for college posts by age

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

18-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 Not

Known

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Ap

plic

an

ts

Age Category

City of Sunderland College Applicants 2010-2011

Female %

Male %

Unspecified %

Grand Total %

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Under

18

18-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 Over 65

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Age Category

City of Sunderland College CPD Applications 2010-11 Female

unsuccessful

Female

successful

Female

Total

Male

unsuccessful

Male successful

Male

Total

Grand

Total

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To To date the college has not had to deal with any age discrimination issues.

Partnership Activities The college is a key member of the Sunderland Local Strategic Partnership alongside representatives from the third sector and Age Concern. The City aims to be an ‘age friendly’ city where people of all ages can enjoy a healthy life with opportunities to work and study in Sunderland. One-third of the population is over 50 and every effort is being made to enable them to contribute to the economy of the City and maintain healthy, active enjoyable lives. The college, due to lack of funding, has had to stop providing some of the programmes previously offered in the community, which often recruited those over 50 years of age. However, we have maintained a curriculum offer based on leisure activities for which a charge is made to cover the costs of the venue and the lecturer. We also offer the use of our premises for any informal ‘learning’ groups which have been established in our local communities. 12

Student Data There is little difference in the success rates of learners of different age groups: 86% for learners aged 16-18 and 88% for learners aged 19+. The age differential has narrowed from 7% points in previous years to only 2% points difference in 2010-11.

Success Rate Trend by Age

Year

19+

16-18

Whole College

No. of Starts

Success Rate %

No. of Starts

Success Rate %

No. of Starts

Success Rate %

2008-2009

7479

91

14160

84

21639

86

2009-2010

7033

90

11888

83

18921

86

2010-2011

6366

88

12156

86

18522

87

(Source CPR, Rules Applied – via Proachieve excluding key Skills and Functional Skills – Sunderland College – Equality and Diversity Data Booklet Dec 2011)

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4. Disability

Disability Equality Scheme The original College Disability Equality Scheme (DES) and Action Plan has now ended its three year life span. The scheme has served as a realistic and effective framework to develop the disability agenda within the college during this period both to comply with legislation and create a more inclusive mind set and environment amongst the college community. The Disability Equality Duty did require public bodies to revise and publish a new Disability Equality Scheme (DES) no later than the end of the period of three years beginning with the date of publication of its first Scheme; and subsequently at intervals of no more than three years beginning with the date of publication of the last revision of the Scheme Regulation 2(4), Disability Discrimination Regulations 2005. The purpose of revising a DES is: • to base actions on current evidence and the views of disabled people. • to reflect on what has been achieved and focus on where more work is required. • to ensure the scheme accurately reflects current business and gives attention to areas that have changed since the last Scheme. • to ensure priorities are refocused to tackle the most relevant and significant issues to bring about disability equality. In large part the new equality legislation (Equality Act 2010) over-rides the requirements of disability law. However, the college decided to publish a revised DES and Action Plan in December 2009 which will, if necessary remain live until December 2012. The College Disability Equality Scheme also served as an important and influential document in the development of the draft college Single Equality Scheme and Action Plan, which it published in January 2009. The college is now well prepared to adjust to the requirements of the general and specific duties of the new equality legislation and is currently involved in a 157 Group project to develop a human resource toolkit for further education colleges. In keeping with the new equality legislation which was introduced in October 2010, the college has also published a set of draft Equality Objectives which incorporate the protected characteristic of disability. The college has consulted widely on its equality objectives, both within and outside of college, with organisations including: Equality North East, Sunderland Arch, Early Intervention into Psychosis team and Sunderland People First.

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Disabled Student Questionnaire/Student Voice The Learning Support Directorate organise and oversee in year surveys and live forums of students with disabilities and/or learning difficulties. Such consultation with, and involvement of, disabled individuals are now regular features of the college disability strategy. The college chair of governors is scheduled to attend the next disability/ALS forum in May 2011. These procedures are designed to gain insight and information on issues and barriers faced by disabled individuals in the college context. Topics covered include accessibility and mobility around college centres and suggested improvements, the quality and effectiveness of support, and the promotion of disability equality. For 2009-10 an ALS/Disability student survey was conducted between April 19th 2010 and April 30th 2010 which attracted 149 respondents including individuals with a range of disabilities from vision and hearing impairments to dyslexia, learning difficulties and physical difficulties. An ALS/Disability student forum, overseen and supported by college Disability Advisors was also held on 28th April 2010. The Department of Supported Learning has also worked in conjunction with the college Quality and Standards team to develop symbols versions of cross college student surveys to maximise the involvement of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities in such important information gathering exercises. As in previous years, the outcomes of these information gathering exercises were discussed and actioned by the college Equality and Diversity Committee. Student Survey results and feedback are available on Moodle under the Equality & Diversity section.

Disability Support Team/Curriculum In its efforts to continue to develop high quality support and promote disability equality across the college, the Learning Support Directorate maintains a Disability Support Team. Whilst all of the Directorate personnel are members of the support team there is a core team of Disability Advisors (DAs) deployed across all college centres. All DAs are qualified teachers who deliver specialist support to learners with identified needs for a range of areas of disability/learning difficulty. DAs also contribute significantly to ongoing CPD for all college staff in matters related to disability and maintain a portfolio of staff development/awareness raising modules. Disability Awareness delivered by the Learning Support Directorate remains a compulsory element for all college staff in their continuing professional development. Within the LS Directorate there is also an extensive Learning Mentor (LM) team who deliver 1:1 or small group support to students for a range of difficulties including: Challenging Behaviours; Moderate to Severe Learning Difficulties; MHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders. The LM team includes Lead Mentors for MHD, ASD and DHD. From the Basic Education Directorate the college delivers programmes in line with Regional and National strategies and government targets as identified in the North East Regional Strategy document, Sunderland NEET Strategy and Learning for Living and Work. It has a cohort of 19+ learners with a wide range of disabilities and/or learning difficulties and taught in a supported environment. 14

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The provision within this department is diverse and includes courses over 11 different levels, from Milestone 4 to Milestone 8, Entry Level 1 to Entry Level 3, Level 1 and Level 2. The aims of these courses are: • to provide opportunities for students with learning difficulties and disabilities to access differentiated contextualised programmes to enable them to develop their literacy, numeracy and communication skills • to provide opportunities for students with learning difficulties and disabilities to develop independent living, personal and social and vocational preparation skills, as appropriate to the individual • to provide opportunities for students with little or no previous academic achievement to develop the necessary personal, study and basic skills to enable them to enter, progress through college and to gain appropriate employment • to support the progression of each individual as appropriate • to promote inclusivity, equality of opportunity, widening participation and lifelong learning A dedicated Visual Impairment Facility also provides expert support and learning resources for all learners with a visual impairment, regardless of degree. This unit has specialist, well experienced staff, including a Qualified Teacher of the Blind, who support learners across a variety of curriculum areas. The facility has the capacity to convert print to Braille.

Mental Health In recent years there has been much activity in the area of mental health provision to build on the existing college commitment. This includes: • Disability Advisor (as the further education national representative) contributions to a personality disorders forum organised by NIACE in London. • College contribution to regional Mental Health and Employability “Face to Face” events in January 2010. • NHS Early Intervention into Psychosis team input to cross college CPD Days and involvement in college Equality and Diversity Weeks. In addition most recently the college has introduced a rolling programme of Mental Health First Aid the initial cohort of 16in October 2011 consisting of members of the Learning Support Directorate and senior staff from Human Resources. The next cohorts for the MHFA training will consist of college managers and the college has committed to funding a training the trainer post in order to roll out this important Continuing Professional Development to all college staff.

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As a corollary student declarations at enrolment for mental health have shown an overall increase over the last 3 years

Campaigns/Promotions The college maintains a commitment to the advancement of equality of opportunity and the fostering of good relations between people who have a disability and/or learning difficulty and those who do not. In doing this the college organises and maintains involvement in a number of events and campaigns. These include: • World Mental Health Day (10th Oct 2010) – this event took place at all college centres and Included participation by external agencies including MIND and the EIP team who organised a “Happiness Is...”activity. All college centres organised local competitions and a college wide online mental health quiz attracted 800 student entries – the prize being an iPod Nano. Free apples were a feature at all centres to emphasise the importance of the five a day campaign to good mental health. The WMHD campaign was complemented well by mental health oriented tutorial activity throughout the week. • Equality and Diversity Week - disability awareness also remains a core feature of the college (Dec 6th 2009 - Dec 10th 2009) – disability campaign groups participated enthusiastically throughout the week including: Road Ahead Group (Vision Impairment); NHS Early Intervention into Psychosis team; MIND; Age UK. The week also incorporated poetry readings by a blind former student and a Disability Awareness Tutor Support Pack was also published. The college also recognises other areas of Learning Difficulties and Disabilities in the context of dedicated campaign focussed time as well as on an ongoing basis. e.g. • Dyslexia Awareness Week • World Autism Awareness Day • Disability Awareness Day

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Student Data The college is committed to including and supporting students with Disabilities and/ or Learning Difficulties and to ensure equality of opportunity therein. For those learners receiving additional learning support the overall retention rate in 2009- 10 was 1% point higher than those not requiring support. The overall success rate for those learners with disabilities and/or learning difficulties (LDD) is equal to those with no LDD. Given the barriers and disadvantage presented through having a LDD, including the likely prospect of failure or non-completion, the figures suggest that the strategies the college organise to support students with disabilities is successful in enabling such learners to stay on and achieve in their chosen course of study.

For the year 2010-11 (see Table below) moreover there continues to be little difference between the overall success rate for learners with a learning difficulty or disability compared to other learners (86% and 87% respectively). Differences in success rates by learning difficulty/disability feature within the following Subject Sector Areas: SSA4 Engineering (67 starts) success rate is 12% points lower; SSA8 Travel and Sport (56 starts) success rate is 10% points lower; and SSA13 Education and Training (31 starts) success rate is 10% points lower than other learners in this SSA.

23

The overall retention rate for those learners who received Additional Learning Support in 2010-11, compared to those not requiring support, is 94% and 92% respectively. The success rate of learners receiving ALS at 88% is also 2% points higher than for those learners not requiring support and suggests that this support has been successful in retaining these learners on their courses and helping them to achieve. Subject areas where the impact of ALS appears to have been less effective are SSA2 Science and Maths (62 starts) success rate is 10% points lower; and SSA13 Education and Training (only 3 starts) success rate is 16% points lower than other learners in SSA. In such cases follow up investigation and action plans are implemented to address these anomalies.

Success Rate Trend by Learning Difficulty or Disability 2008-2011

Year

Difficulty / Disability No Difficulty / Disability Difficulty / Disability

by Success

Rate Difference

%

No of Starts

Success Rate %

No of Starts

Success Rate %

Wh

ole

Co

lleg

e

2008-2009

2602 86 19037 86 =

2009-2010

2733 86 16188 86 =

2010-2011 2813 86 15709 87 -1

16 -

18

2008-2009

1637 83 12523 84 -1

2009-2010

1611 83 10277 83 =

2010-2011

1728 85 10428 86 -1

19 +

2008-2009

965 90 6514 91 -1

2009-2010

1122 90 5911 90 =

2010-2011

1085 88 5281 88 =

24

The table below indicates those areas of disability declared by students at the enrolment stage of college entry for the 2011-12 academic year. The figures show that there will be a likely decrease in numbers of students with disabilities accessing college in the 2011-12 academic year. There are numerous opportunities to declare such information and Learning Support Directorate staff work closely with Admissions and Guidance including conducting joint interviews to determine support needs and follow up strategies prior to enrolment. All public enrolment sessions also include a learning support help desk to further encourage declaration. The figures at the left hand side of categories column equate to the national student database (ILR)

Declared Student Disability Numbers by Category

2011-12 Academic Year Total

01 Vision Impairment 67 02 Hearing Impairment 100 03 Disability Affecting Mobility 78 04 Other Physical Disability 52 05 Other Medical Condition (e.g. Epilepsy, Asthma, Diabetes, Dysphasia, Dyspraxia, Anaphylaxis 314 06 Emotional/Behavioural Difficulty 57 07 Mental Ill Health 85 08 Temporary Disability 10 09 Profound/Complex Disabilities 11 10 Asperger’s Syndrome 29 90 Multiple Disabilities 31 97 Other 137 98 No Disability 10260 99 Not Known/information not provided 280 Not provided 3

Grand Total

11,514

25

Progress on Action Plan The table below summarises progress on the College Disability Equality Scheme Action Plan 2006-2009 which has now been subsumed by a revised Disability Equality Scheme (2009- 2012), a draft Single Equality Scheme and the compilation of a new set of Equality Objectives in preparation for the General and Specific duties required by the Equality Act 2010. The Plan had 15 sections and the audit has shown the following progress – where an action is ongoing this is being addressed in the revised plan. Strategic Priority Areas and Targets

Progress

Organisational leadership which promotes and supports the development of disability equality and ensures the CoSC DES is put into practice

All actions complete

Ensure CoSC policies procedures and plans and practices reflect the promotion of Disability Equality (Impact Assessment)

All actions complete

Promote the consultation with and active involvement of staff and students in the development and monitoring of the CoSC Disability Equality Scheme

All actions complete. Draft Learner Involvement Strategy has been discussed at the Student Support Committee. Actions now complete and embedded into directorate strategy

Ensure there is appropriate and sufficient information to inform the promotion of Disability Equality across the College

All actions complete

Ensure College Information, course Materials and Services are accessible and encourage the inclusion of disabled individuals

All actions complete.

Ensure that CoSC endeavours to establish and develop a workforce to reflect representation from the disabled community and promotes equality of opportunity with regard to staff training and promotion

2/4 actions complete. Remaining two scheduled to be completed by end of term (HRM) All actions now complete

Maximise opportunities for disabled individuals to gain physical access to - and be mobile within - college facilities and services

All actions complete

Ensure there are appropriate and adequate staff development opportunities to enable the CoSC workforce to address the DED/DES agenda

All actions complete

Establish an assistive resource and equipment capacity to cater for the wide spectrum of disability the college is likely to need to cater for

All actions complete and development of accessibility ongoing

Ensure the college curriculum enhances the inclusion, progression and achievement of individuals with disabilities

All actions now complete

Ensure account is taken of those with disabilities when addressing the Not in Education Employment or Training (NEET) agenda

Action complete and ongoing

Ensure CoSC application, admissions and enrolment procedures maximise the participation of individuals with disabilities

All actions complete

Ensure that CoSC assessment and examination procedures do not disadvantage disabled individuals

5/6 actions complete, 1 ongoing. Where appropriate, liaison with exam bodies takes place to discuss access issues as they arise

Ensure college tasters, external visits, placements and residential experience allow for participation by all learners

All actions complete. Examples provided show that learners with disabilities have been able to attend these events. All visit plans should include impact assessment

Liaison with other agencies Communication and liaison with a wide range of external agencies is ongoing

26

Staff data Disability and Recruitment/Employment The tables below indicate recruitment patterns in terms of declarations of disability by gender The figures for no disability are very similar, with male declarations slightly above those of females. Less than 10% of the current workforce have declared a disability and the college has conducted further staff surveys to determine any further declarations on the basis of any perceived support needs.

Disability Female % Male % Unspecified

%

Grand Total

%

No

89.77 89.42 10.81 85.34

Not Known 5.40 4.10 86.49 9.24

Yes 4.83 6.48 2.70 5.43

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Female % Male % Unspecified % Grand Total %

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Ap

plic

an

ts

Disability

City of Sunderland College Applicants 2010-2011

No

Not

KnownYes

27

Employee declarations of disability are outlined below by numbers and percentage. The college endeavours to encourage staff to declare any condition which may require support and has set in train awareness raising packages to develop knowledge and understating in the area of disability.

Disability Female Male Grand

Total

No

24.26 21.05 23.07

Not Known

73.16 76.78 74.51

Yes

2.57 2.17 2.42

The “not knowns” indicate a reluctance on the part of some staff to declare what might be perceived as sensitive information. In order to address this, the college has introduced a new HR/Payroll system (iTrent) and all staff have received training in self service which enables them to view and amend individual data.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Female Male Grand

Total

Pe

rce

nta

ge

City of Sunderland College Employees 2010-11

No

Not Known

Yes

28

5. Sex/Sexual Orientation

The table below summarises progress on the five areas of the college Gender Equality Scheme Action Plan 2007-2010 – updated at January 2010. There are 27 actions in total across the Gender Equality Scheme.

The college fully implemented the actions/plans in relation to its Gender Equality Scheme which came to an end in December 2010 except for one action which is ongoing. The new Equality Act does not have a requirement for a specific Gender Equality Scheme but the overall college action plan for equality (Chapter 11) does identify some key actions in relation to improvements in gender equality.

29

Student Data In 2009-10 the overall success rate for 19+ learners was 90% and for 16-18 learners 83%; both were above the relevant national averages which have a similar differential. The

difference in success rates for male and female learners across the college has not been significant, the success rate for female learners is 3% points higher. The table below shows that we do tended to recruit less 19+ males than females. There continues to be little difference in the overall success rates for male and female learners (85% and 88% respectively) through the academic year 2010-11 (see Table below).

30

However, differences in success rates by gender feature within the following Subject Sector Areas: the female success rate (17 starts) is 12% points lower than males in SSA5 Construction and the male success rate (435 starts) is 8% points lower than females in SSA2 Science and Maths.

Success Rate Trend by Gender including figures for 2010-11

(Source CPR, Rules Applied – via Proachieve excluding key Skills and Functional Skills – Sunderland College Equality and Diversity Data Booklet December 2011)

Current student figures for the 2011-12 Academic Year by Gender and Age

Female Totals Male Totals

16-18

2168

16-18

2538

19+

3613

19+

3108

Under 16

43

Under 16

41

5824

5687

The figures above are for individual students with a Live or Completed status at course level for the current Academic Year (2011).

Events Organised to Promote Gender Equality

Year

Female Male Gender by Success

Rate Difference

%

No of Starts

Success Rate %

No of Starts

Success Rate %

Wh

ole

Co

lleg

e

2008-2009

11939 87 9700 86 -1

2009-2010

10428 87 8493 84 -3

2010-2011

9922 88 8600 85 -3

16 -

18

2008-2009

7173 84 6987 84 =

2009-2010

5857 84 6031 82 2

2010-2011

5856 88 6300 84 4

19 +

2008-2009

4766 91 2713 91 =

2009-2010

4571 91 2462 88 -3

2010-2011

4066 88 2300 89 1

31

The Construction Department have continued this year to deliver a construction programme for females to all school pupils with the aim of encouraging females to consider a career within this area. We have also visited all secondary schools and carried out career talks focusing both on Construction, Green Technology and Building Services. Students have continued to be involved in E&D events within the college and recently produced a cross for Easter festivities that was used by the college. The Construction Department is currently producing a curriculum offer that addresses the NEET agenda for students to enrol on courses during the year and also to experience all trades prior to deciding on a particular career route. The department is also working with schools in offering level one courses to pupils who are disengaged with the school curriculum.

Work with Bridge (Associate College) The college continues its long term support to Bridge. Bridge provides a wide range of confidence building and vocational courses all supported with quality childcare. Programmes are run within Bridge centres and in various outreach venues across the City including the local children’s centres, community centres etc. Bridge runs the Connect programme for young mothers and pregnant young women aged 16-19 years who are not engaging with education and training. Last year they worked with 30 young women providing the crucial support needed to enable them to engage and achieve. Bridge and the Sunderland Women’s’ Centre (also part of the network) take time out each year to celebrate International Women’s Week by organising celebratory events, tasters etc. which is used to highlight the plight of women globally and to celebrate women’s economic, political and social struggles and achievements in the past and present. The college is also working with Sunderland-wide young mums from age 14. They attend college, do ‘buddy’ days and engage in college activities.

Childcare The college tries to remove as many barriers as possible in people accessing its provision. For women in particular, childcare support is crucial in removing such barriers. The college provides childcare on site at Hylton Skills Campus. However, childcare funding is available to eligible students in order to access the facilities near their place of residence or the college. In 2010-2011 CoSC had 40 students receiving support from Care to Learn which is a national scheme providing free childcare support for students up to the age of 20. In addition CoSC utilises Learner Support Funds to support students aged over 20 in receipt of a means tested benefit with childcare support at Hylton Nursery, at franchise venues and at local childcare providers. In the 2010-11 academic year the college accommodated 94 students over 20 being supported with childcare costs through Learner Support Funds.

32

Staff Data

The table below indicates a breakdown of staff by Gender and Age. In general up to the plus 50s age categories female employee numbers are higher than males with significantly higher proportions of males in the 50+ categories.

The breakdown of staff by job type below shows that there are more males employed in the areas of management and teaching with females being more predominant in the support (non academic) areas of the college.

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Under

18

18-25 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-45 46-50 51-55 56-60 61-65 Over 65

Pe

rce

nta

ge

City of Sunderland College Employees 2010-11

Female

Male

33

Gender Pay Gap Sunderland College remunerates staff according to the role undertaken and the level of responsibility. The College currently uses the AoC recommended pay scales for academic and support staff. The gender pay analysis uses the average hourly salary (the mean) for men and women excluding overtime. The methodology for the calculations is taken from the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s research paper from the spring of 2011.

Gender Pay Gap Hourly

Women: full-time £14.46

Men: full-time £15.53

Women: part-time £11.22

Men: part-time £12.62

Women: all £13.19

Men: all £15.20

Full-time gender pay gap:

women F/T as % of men F/T 6.90%

Part-time women's pay gap:

women P/T as % of men F/T 27.74%

Part-time men's pay gap:

men P/T as % of men F/T 18.73%

Women (all) as % of men (all) 13.22%

0

10

20

30

40

50

Management Support Teaching Teaching Support

Pe

rce

nta

ge

City of Sunderland College Employes 2010-11

Female

Male

Grand

Total

Job category Female Male Grand

Total

Management 4.41 7.74 5.65

Support 51.29 34.67 45.10

Teaching 41.54 55.42 46.71

Teaching Support 2.76 2.17 2.54

34

Sunderland college currently does not have a comparator to benchmark gender pay gap figures within the FE sector. It is hoped that this will be resolved in the 2012-13 academic year. The figures above however reflect the measures the college has taken to reduce the pay gap such as the removal of salary protections.

2Sexual Orientation and Gender Re-assignment Sexual orientation and Gender re-assignment as protected characteristics are areas for which arguably there is the least information available currently. Sunderland college in line with the majority of the Further Education sector recognise the inherent difficulties in collecting and acting upon appropriate information in this area of equality and diversity. Whilst it is accepted that this can potentially affect the confidence of lesbian, gay and transgender employees and students the college is totally committed to the inclusion and promotion of persons sharing LGBT protected characteristics. Most recently Sunderland college took a prominent role along 5 other colleges in the sector to participate in a 157 Group project to develop an Equality Toolkit . The college has for the last 2 years celebrated Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) History Month as well as marking International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) year on year. For the last 3 years the college has held an Equality and Diversity Week which has included LGBT lobby groups (MESMAC; Sunderland Arch; We Ar’ Out; HMRC lead) to raise awareness and challenge stigma against LGBT protected characteristics. The most recent E+D Week event (Dec 2011) also included a regional Transgender lead which resulted in a noticeable level in student interest in volunteer help desk duties. The college is now working in partnership with the groups mentioned above to roll out staff development and tutorial opportunities, develop hate and mate crime procedures and continue to challenge the stigma and misinterpretation associated with LGBT protected characteristics. In 2010 the college also worked with Stonewall, the gay rights campaign organisation, attending an event held in the region, which shared good practice ideas across public sector organisations. Stonewall has provided publicity materials for displaying College Learning Resource Centres and Student Services centres. Currently, the college does not directly (e.g. from enrolment returns) collate student data in relation to sexual orientation or gender re-assignment. However, through events and partnerships such as those mentioned above, Sunderland college continually restates its commitment to advancing equality of opportunity within these protected characteristics and continues to develop an environment in which individuals feel confident to make a declaration in order that any adjustments can be made and support programmes developed and implemented in conjunction with individual learners. The college does endeavour to collect staff information on sexual orientation as the tables below indicate.

35

Job Applicants to Sunderland College

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Bisexual Gay / Lesbian Heterosexual Not Known Prefer not to say

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Ap

plic

an

ts

Sexual Orientation

City of Sunderland College Applicants 2010-2011

Female %

Male %

Unspecified

%

Grand Total %

Sexual

Orientation

Female

%

Male

%

Unspecified

%

Grand

Total

%

Bisexual 1.42 0.34 0.00 0.88

Gay / Lesbian 2.56 3.41 2.70 2.93

Heterosexual 83.81 87.71 10.81 81.52

Not Known 8.24 3.75 86.49 10.56

Prefer not to

say 3.98 4.78 0.00 4.11

36

Sexual Orientation of College Staff as outcome of recent survey

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Bisexual Gay / Lesbian Heterosexual Not known Prefer not to say

Pe

rce

nta

ge

City of Sunderland College Employees 2010-11

Sexual Orientation

%

Bisexual

0.23

Gay / Lesbian

0.35

Heterosexual

18.45

Not known

79.70

Prefer not to say

1.27

37

Sexual Orientation in relation to Continuing Professional Development

Sexual

Orientation

Female

unsuccessful

Female

successful

Female

Total

Male

unsuccessful

Male

successful

Male

Total

Grand

Total

Bisexual 0.00 0.40 0.39 0.00 0.31 0.30 0.36

Gay /

Lesbian 0.00 0.26 0.26 0.00 0.61 0.61 0.39

Heterosexual 7.14 18.05 17.98 11.11 25.02 24.92 20.52

Not Known 92.86 79.88 79.96 88.89 71.68 71.80 76.98

Prefer not

to say 0.00 1.41 1.40 0.00 2.38 2.36 1.75 Although some level of LGBT declaration is evident in the figures the overwhelming declaration of not known reinforces the need to continue with the commitment to create an environment in which individuals feel confident and re-assured to declare a protected characteristic.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Female

unsuccessful

Female

successful

Female Total Male

unsuccessful

Male

successful

Male Total Grand Total

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Sexual Orientation

City of Sunderland College CPD Applications 2010-11 Bisexual

Gay /

LesbianHeterosexual

Not Known

Prefer not

to say

38

6. Race

The Race Equality Scheme and Action Plan was completed in December 2010. The table below summarises progress on the nine areas of the plan. RACE EQUALITY SCHEME 2007-2010 The table below summarises progress on the nine areas of the College Race Equality Scheme Action Plan 2007-1010 – updated in January 2010. There were 36 actions in total across the Race Equality Scheme which was subsumed initially by a Single Equality Scheme and subsequently by publication of Sunderland College’s Equality Objectives in keeping with the organisations’ General Equality Duty.

39

Student Data Part of the action plan related to the analysis of data by race in a number of areas including participation numbers, success rates, retention and achievement. The table below sets out this data which is monitored on a regular basis by the Equality and Diversity Committee. Monitoring also occurs throughout the college during the curriculum reviews and self assessment process when course teams, curriculum areas and subject sector areas analyse the data and develop action plans to address any issues identified. As the table below shows, there continues to be little difference in the overall success rates of non-white British learners compared to other learners (85% and 87% respectively). However, the success rate of non-white British learners aged 19+ is 8% points lower than other learners aged 19+. Differences in success rates by ethnicity feature within the following Subject Sector Areas: SSA5 Construction (non-white British learners success rate (17 starts) is 12% points lower than other learners in this SSA); SSA1 Health and Care (non-white British learner success rate (51 starts) is 8% points lower than other learners in this SSA); and SSA14 Life and Work (non-white British learner success rate (413 starts) is 7% points lower than other learners in this SSA)

Success Rate Trend by Ethnicity 2008-11

Year

White British Non-White British Ethnicity Success

Rate Difference

%

No of Starts

Success Rate %

No of Starts

Success Rate %

Wh

ole

Co

lleg

e

2008-2009

20617 86 1022 90 +4

2009-2010

17863 86 1058 87 +1

2010-2011

17735 87 787 85 -2

16 -

18

2008-2009

13634 84 526 88 +4

2009-2010

11453 83 435 90 +7

2010-2011

11807 86 349 90 +4

19 +

2008-2009

6983 91 496 91 =

2009-2010

6410 90 623 84 -6

2010-2011

5928 89 438 81 -8

40

Ethnicity Breakdown in 2010-11

(% shows in brackets identifies proportion of Starts)

The tables below indicate the proportions of ethnicity within the College, which continues to be around 3% of total starts, with a slightly higher representation within the 19+ age group. The largest groups by ethnicity, other than white, is Bangladeshi.

(Source CPR, Rules Applied – excludes Key Skills and Functional Skills – via Proachieve – Sunderland College Equality and Diversity data Booklet December 2012)

Ethnicity

19+

16-18 Whole College

No of Starts

Success Rate %

No of Starts

Success Rate %

No of Starts

Success Rate %

Black African

81 (1.3%) 84 34 (0.3%) 88 115

(0.6%) 85

Other Asian

50 (0.8%) 70 17 (0.1%) 82 67

(0.4%) 73

Mixed

77 (1.2%) 84 69 (0.6%) 91 146

(0.8%) 88

Any Other

31 (0.5%) 81 23 (0.2%) 91 54

(0.3%) 85

Chinese

31 (0.5%) 68 30 (0.2%) 93 61

(0.3%) 80

Bangladeshi

43 (0.7%) 84 118 (1.0%) 89 161

(0.9%) 88

Indian

41 (0.6%) 90 29 (0.2%) 100 70

(0.4%) 94

Pakistani

22 (0.3%) 95 14 (0.1%) 100 36

(0.2%) 97

Black Other

0 (0%) - 0 (0%) - 0 (0%) -

Black Caribbean

7 (0.1%) 100 5 (0.04%) 60 12

(0.1%) 83

Unknown

55 (0.9%) 73 10 (0.1%) 70 65

(0.4%) 72

White

5928 (93%) 89 11807 (97%) 86 17735(96

%) 87

Total

6366

(100%)

88 12156 (100%)

86 18522 (100%)

87

41

Ethnicity Breakdown in 2010-11 for 19+ students

Ethnicity Breakdown in 2010-11 for16-18 yr old students

As the tables show there is a higher representation of students in the 19+ category which is largely due to the increased numbers of international students now attending college.

Any other White Background

British (English)

British (Scottish)

British (Welsh)

Carribean

Chinese

Indian

Irish

Not stated

Any other White Background

British (English)

British (Scottish)

British (Welsh)

Carribean

Chinese

Indian

Irish

Not stated

Other White

Pakistani

42

Ethnicity Breakdown (Students) 2010-11 for the whole college

Staff data The college annually monitors workforce data in the organisation and reports the details to the Equality and Diversity Committee. The low numbers of staff from ethnic minority backgrounds is still an issue for the college. We have taken a number of actions to try and improve the ethnic diversity of the staff, including developing links with local ethnic minority communities, providing training on completion of application forms and providing opportunities for training to work in the sector. The table below indicates ethnic origin in relation to job type in the college currently (figures for 2010-11)

Any other White Background

British (English)

British (Scottish)

British (Welsh)

Carribean

Chinese

Indian

Irish

Not stated

Other White

Pakistani

43

Sunderland college employees by ethnic origin 2010-11

Sunderland college employees by nationality 2010-11

Applicants to Sunderland college for posts by ethnic origin 2010-11

British (not Channel Islands orIOM)

English

French Overseas Depts

Irish

Italian

Maltese

Not Stated

Pakistani

British (not Channel Islands orIOM)

English

French Overseas Depts

Irish

Italian

Maltese

Not Stated

Pakistani

Scottish

44

Ethnic Origin %

African 0.73

Any other Asian background 0.15

Any other background 0.59

Any other Mixed background 0.15

Any other White background 1.03

Bangladeshi 0.59

British (English) 56.30

British (Scottish) 1.17

British (Welsh) 1.03

Caribbean 0.15

Chinese 0.29

Indian 0.88

Irish 1.47

Not Stated 33.14

Other White 1.47

Pakistani 0.44

White and Asian 0.15

White and Black African 0.29 The tables above indicate that applicants for college positions are from predominantly white ethnic backgrounds. The college is however a member of the Network for Black Professionals. This network provides training and mentoring and also brokers secondment opportunities for staff from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds with the aim of increasing the numbers of BME staff in management positions within the FE sector.

0

10

20

30

40

50

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Ap

plic

an

ts

Ethnicity

City of Sunderland College Applicants 2010-11

45

Equality and Diversity Focus Group Equality and diversity is one of the six core values at City of Sunderland College. With regard to ‘race equality’ the college policy is based on Race Relations Amendment Act (RRAA) 2003. Through its race equality scheme and single equality action plan, the college aims at recruiting students and staff from a diverse range of backgrounds and ensuring that they progress and achieve effectively. In line with the college plans and practices, the Racial Equality Focus Group (REFG) was set up in November 2009. The group is committed to the creation of an inclusive working and learning environment for all students and staff at City of Sunderland College. The Group aims at ensuring a proactive stance in tackling racial discrimination, promoting racial equality and fostering the development and maintenance of parity between all racial groups in order to support and create effective opportunities for all staff and learners. The group meets every eight weeks at the Bede Centre to plan their activities and represents 17 ethnicities including English, Pakistani, Zimbabwean, Eritrean, Bangladeshi, Kazakh, Iranian, Kurdish, Chinese, Estonian, Polish, Thai, Afghan, Indian, Turkish, Bulgarian and Ukrainian. The group also runs a site on Moodle which contains key information for students and staff on current members, minutes of past meetings, useful resources and information on various past, present and future activities the group has organised or is planning to organise. It also includes a selection of music from various countries around the world. In addition, there is a beautiful gallery of pictures of various past events

International Cultural Event The most important event the group organised was an International Cultural Day on 28th May 2010. A small steering group comprised of students and staff was set up to organise the event and was later joined by the Bede Enrichment Team. The Steering Group met every week to provide updates on the arrangements being made.

46

Feedback on the event:

“The function was excellent! I have attended this kind of get- together for the first time since I arrived in the UK. It was absolutely fantastic. The function was very well organised; everyone had obviously put in tremendous effort. I think we should have these types of celebration every year. In this way we will know each other’s culture and we will develop respect towards different customs and religions. Many thanks for organising this function.” (Mohamed and Aaisha Salim: ESOL Entry 3 Students)

“It was a great day and we had a lot of fun. I saw people from various nationalities dressed up in their traditional clothes. I also had the chance to learn their French and Romanian languages. Some people danced their traditional dance and some others sang their traditional songs. I gained a lot of knowledge about their cultures and languages. This show was very well-organised and the presentation was really nice. I came to this show with my family and we all had a lot of fun. In fact, it is a memorable day for all of us. I wish to see many such international cultural events in future. Thank you for inviting me to the show!” (Ye Kyaw Thu / Moe Thu/: Burmese Students) “I saw all my friends from college wearing their national costumes. They looked very different from the way they usually dress. I also enjoyed looking at all the pictures of the different countries.” (Agneszieka Kubiak: A Polish Student) “I came to college in a long dress from Eritrea and I saw the other students wearing clothes from lots of different countries. I liked watching the clothes show and eating with my friends.” (Elsa Girmay: An Eritrean Student) “I really enjoyed wearing my silk dress from Thailand because usually I just wear jeans to college. When we all held hands outside on the field, all of our clothes looked very colourful.” (Oy Irving: A Thai Student)

Arch Sunderland ARCH went ‘live’ in 2007. It is a system designed for reporting, recording, monitoring and acting to combat racist incidents. The introduction of this system to Sunderland will enable residents, students, refugees, migrant works and other visitors to the city to report race crimes through a variety of sources and agencies. The University of Sunderland is a key partner in this initiative which now links the information gathered by Campus Watch security team to colleagues across the city. ARCH is an efficient way of reporting incidents via partner organisations and enables responses to be co-ordinated. This helps to ensure that a victim receives appropriate support and that effective action is taken against perpetrators. By bringing ARCH to Sunderland, partners can make referrals for support from other agencies and co-ordinate these through a case management system and operational support group meetings. ARCH addresses the issue of under-reporting, identifies ‘hotspots’ more easily and improves community intelligence. The aim is that an initial increase in reported cases, due to this better co-ordination, will ultimately lead to a reduction of incidents via a concerted approach against discrimination and the promotion of social inclusion. ARCH made a significant contribution to the colleges Equality & Diversity Week. They had a presence at each site one day during the week to promote their work. In addition they have delivered a number of awareness raising sessions for International students new to the city. 36

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7. Religion and Beliefs The college aims to support and share experiences across faiths within Sunderland. We encourage all students to feel free to express their faiths and religious beliefs without fear of discrimination.

Chaplaincy The college now has 2 members of staff operating as Chaplain in a job share capacity with time allowed from teaching timetables. Both are now members of the college’s Equality and Diversity Committee and work with the college in supporting all of its students. The college has begun to talk with the head teachers of the Faith Schools to link into their faith networks to further support students to attend events and activities linked to their beliefs.

Prayer Rooms The college provides multi-faith prayer rooms at Shiney Row, Bede, Usworth and St Peter’s centres and is looking to develop a facility at the Hylton Skills Campus.

Easter Cross Event The carpenters and joiners at the Hylton Skills Campus fabricated a man-size crucifix to be carried from the Bede Centre to Sunderland Minster the week before Easter. Students at each Centre were posed the question: “Who are the Oppressed?” in tutorial sessions. Their responses were then represented graphically on the cross, with the help of local artist Maria Makepeace. Following the procession to the Minster, the cross was on public display over the Easter period.

Staff Data

The table above indicates the religious background of applicants to college posts. As is evident the majority of declarations refer to Christian religious belief with just over 30% of respondents declaring no religious belief.

0

10

20

30

40

50

Pe

rce

nta

ge

Ap

pli

ca

nts

Religion

City of Sunderland College Applicants 2010-11

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In year surveys of college staff indicate that religion for the majority of respondents is not specified. Via a range of activities and measures the college recognises and celebrates religious diversity. During the 2010-11 academic year the college celebrated two religious festivals Baisakhi (Sikh New Year) and Diwali (Hindu festival of lights). Each college centre organised information displays for these events and visits to a local Sikh temple were also a feature of the celebration.

8. Human Rights and Fair Trade

Human rights and fair trade are also 2 further elements of the Sunderland college commitment to equality and diversity. Indeed, it is fair to say that the college views equality and diversity from a human rights perspective and much activity and campaigning takes place within the college and local community throughout every academic year to focus on issues affecting other cultures and races.

Fair Trade Sunderland college was the first in the country to become a fair trade institution. Staff from all centres have been involved in the organisation, planning and implementation of a number of Fair Trade/Human Rights projects. It is to their credit that they have built on the successes of previous years and have extended the range of activities and rates of participation throughout the whole college. Staff have been pro-active in encouraging the participation of students with disabilities/learning difficulties/different cultures in all these activities.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Agnostic Atheist Christian Islam Muslim None NotSpecified

Other Prefer notto say

Pe

rce

nta

ge

City of Sunderland College Employees 2010-11

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Fair Trade Fortnight This annual event continues to be well supported college wide. Fair Trade food samples and resources were distributed to all tutor groups and a quiz on Moodle was also used to publicise the principles of Fair Trade. A Fair Trade stall was held at each centre, run by students and a representative from Traidcraft, during Equality and Diversity week. A total of £200 was raised from the sale of these craft goods from the Thai/Burma border and will be sent to the Boarding High School for Orphans on the border as part of our new link with the school and City of Sunderland College. A representative from the Co-op ran a promotional stand on Fair Trade at the Hylton and Bede Centre during Fair Trade Fortnight.

Link with school for orphans on the Thai/Burma border Lecturer Peter Mulligan visited the Thai/Burma border to try and establish links with a community school. He also met with ex-political prisoners and sourced a variety of Fair Trade products to sell in college. The leaders of the AAPP (Assistance Association of Political Prisoners) sent a video message of thanks to show to the students and staff who have helped to raise awareness of the abuse of rights of political prisoners in Burma. Students from the school on the border sent a PowerPoint presentation which showed activities from their daily lives. The resource has been used in tutorial activities at the Usworth Campus.

Greetings Card Campaign – Amnesty International This event has proved popular as an annual Christmas time activity. All centres received materials to cover this and Bede students sent over 200 cards to prisoners of conscience in nine different countries this year.

Human Rights The college actively promotes Human Rights through the tutorial curriculum and a range of events organised by the college Human Rights Group, a student led/organised group facilitated by Peter Mulligan, a tutor based at the Hylton Skills Campus.

41 Visit from Jewish Human Rights organisation: ICA HD Yohav Zohar, from ICAHD, the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, spent an afternoon explaining to students and staff at Shiney Row about the abuse of human rights in Palestine. Following his presentation he took questions from the floor and later said that of all his presentations on his national tour this year, this was the best one because of the pertinence of the questions asked ! Approximately 65 people were at the event and further publicity followed with an article in the local press.

“Dog cell” and political prisoners in Burma A “dog cell” replica of punishment cells used in Burmese jails was built by the joiners at the Hylton Skills Campus and used to draw attention to the abuse of rights of political prisoners in Burma. The cell has been used to promote the “Free Zargana” campaign (from Amnesty International) at all centres. The event was covered by the Sunderland Echo.

Visit to Speaker’s Apartments – House of Commons Bede student Nadia Caney was invited to make a presentation in London at the Speaker’s apartments to commemorate 10,000 student visits paid to Auschwitz by students from the U.K. (A scheme run by the Holocaust Educational Trust). Nadia met with John Bercow, Michael Gove, Ed Balls, several Lords, other MPs and Holocaust survivors and was congratulated on her eloquent and passionate speech

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to the invited dignitaries. Coverage of the visit appeared in the local press.

Disability Hate Crime A DVD resource, “Tormented Lives”, with supporting literature was circulated to all tutor groups to address this shocking aspect of prejudice and discrimination.

9. Summary The above information forms the basis of the college’s adherence and compliance to the Equality Duty arising from the Equality Act 2010. The college will continue to gather and publish information and consult with its partners, stakeholders and the local community to inform its actions to continually address gaps in provision and to challenge, resolve and eliminate unacceptable practices arising from discrimination, harassment and victimisation of individuals or groups of people and any other conduct prohibited by the Act. The outcomes of collation and publishing of Equality and Diversity information will also enhance the college’s genuine efforts to advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. The information enclosed is also closely aligned to the development of the college’s equality objectives to be achieved via a series of strategic (SMART) targets.

The College’s Equality & Diversity Strategic Objectives Within The 2011-14 Strategic Plan

STRATEGIC AIM 6: Advance, celebrate and respect equality and diversity Strategic Objective 6.1: Actively challenge institutional discrimination to create a culture of social cohesion and harmony

Strategic Objective 6.2: Create an environment which welcomes and supports learners and staff with a wide range of backgrounds, disabilities, religions and cultures

Strategic Objective 6.3: Increase enrolment and recruitment of staff from under-represented groups

Strategic Objective 6.4: Advance equality and diversity in our teaching and learning

8 SMART Strategic Targets support the above Strategic Objectives:

Ensure ALL college strategies advance the principles and commitment to an Equality

Duty

BY JULY 2014 (lead: Principal)

ALL full-time 16-18 year olds will experience tutorial activities which advance equality

and diversity IN EACH YEAR OF PLAN (lead: VP Curriculum and Student Support)

The college will develop A MINIMUM OF 3 events throughout the year which actively

involve staff and students and will advance equality and diversity (lead: Principal)

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The college will increase the number of foundation and entry level students BY AT

LEAST 1% EACH YEAR (lead: VP Curriculum and Student Support)

100% of staff to be training in equality and diversity, including updates in relation to

Equality Action 2010 BY JULY 2012 (lead: Principal)

Ensure that ALL marketing literature contains images which positively promote all

aspects of protected characteristics IN EACH YEAR OF PLAN (lead: Marketing

Manager)

Ensure ALL language and imagery used with observed lessons positively promotes

protected characteristics and fosters relationships between protected groups IN

EACH YEAR OF PLAN (lead: AP HE and T&L)

Produce the required staff and student data to meet the requirements of the Equality

Duty IN EACH YEAR OF PLAN (lead: Principal)

January 2012