Primary Advantage Handbook

Primary Advantage is an inclusion Federation; we focus on the well-being & progress of every child and we are committed to ensuring all members of each community of the communities we serve are of equal worth. 

The Equality Act provides a framework to support our commitment to valuing diversity, tackling discrimination, promoting equality and fostering good relationships between people. It also ensures that we continue to tackle issues of disadvantage and underachievement. We recognise that these duties reflect international human rights standards as expressed in the UN Convention on the rights of the Child, the UN Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities and the Human Rights Act 1998. 

Our approach to equality is based on 7 key principles

1. All learners are of equal value. Whether or not they are disabled, whatever their ethnicity, culture, national origin or national status, whatever their gender and gender identity, whatever their religious or non-religious affiliation or faith background and whatever their sexual orientation.

2. We recognise, respect and value difference and understand that diversity is a strength. We take account of differences and strive to remove barriers and disadvantages which people may face, in relation to disability, ethnicity, gender, religion, belief or faith and sexual orientation. We believe that diversity is a strength, which should be respected and celebrated by all those who learn, teach and visit here.

3. We foster positive attitudes and relationships. We actively promote positive attitudes and mutual respect between groups and communities from each other. 

4. We foster a shared sense of cohesion and belonging. We want all members of our school community to feel a sense of belonging within the school and wider community and to feel that they are respected and able to participate full in school life. 

5. We observe good equalities practice for our staff. We ensure that policies and procedures benefit all employees and potential employees in all aspects of their work, including in recruitment and promotion, and in continuing professional development. 

6. We have the highest expectations of all our children. We expect that all pupils can make good progress and achieve to their highest potential. 

7. We work to raise standards for all pupils, but especially for the most vulnerable. We believe that improving the quality of education for the most vulnerable groups of pupils raises standards across the whole school. 

The Public-Sector Equality Duty or “general duty” requires all public organisations, including schools to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation

• Advance equality of opportunity between different groups

• Foster good relations between different groups

Roles and Responsibilities

We expect all members of the community and visitors to support our commitment to promoting equalities and meeting the requirements of the Equality Act. 

We will provide training, guidance and information to enable them to do this. 

Governing Board/Local Advisory Boards

The Governing Board/Local Advisory Boards are responsible for ensuring that we comply with legislation, and that this policy and its related procedures and action plans are implemented. 

Every governing body committee keeps aspects of the school's commitment to the Equality Duty under review, for example, in terms of standards, curriculum, admissions, exclusions, personnel issues and the school environment. equalities objectives are set every four years by the LAB. The LAB assess the success in reaching the objectives annually. 

Headteacher and Leadership team

The Headteacher is responsible for implementing the policy; for ensuring that all staff are aware of their responsibilities and are given appropriate training and support; and for taking appropriate action in any cases of unlawful discrimination.  

A senior member of staff has day-to-day responsibility for co-ordinating implementation of the policy and for monitoring outcomes. 

All Primary Advantage Staff Members will:

• Promote an inclusive and collaborative ethos in the workplace

• Challenge prejudice and discrimination

• Deal fairly and professionally with any prejudice-related incidents that may occur

• Maintain the highest expectations of success for all pupils

• Support different groups of pupils and students

• Keep up to date with equalities legislation relevant to their work

Primary Advantage strives to be a diverse and inclusive community. A place where we can ALL be ourselves without prejudice or bias. We welcome applicants from all cultures and backgrounds as we are a Federation made up from all cultures and backgrounds and continue to positively advocate for this. Please see the Primary Advantage Professional Behaviours

Please refer to the equalities policy for full details of our approach to promoting equality

Everyone's Responsibility 

All members of staff are responsible for reporting Health & Safety concerns to the site manager of whichever school they are based at (this information can be found on the school's website). Health & Safety concerns must be reported both verbally and in writing immediately and handed to the Site Manager. Health and Safety concerns include any issues that could result in an accident/injury, for example, a broken cupboard door, a wobbly shelf or a loose carpet tile. Please do not ignore any issues that could pose a risk. 

Personal Risk

Staff are responsible for considering their own safety and for assessing associated risks. Staff must never stand on furniture. Staff must not move or lift heavy items without first seeking advice and assistance from the Site Manager of that school. A manual handling policy is available. 

Hot Drinks

Hot drinks must not be taken into any areas where children are or can be present. If you are moving from room to room with a hot drink, it must be carried using a safety cup with a lid. 

Electrical Appliances

Electrical appliances from home must not be taken onto school premises without authorisation from the Headteacher of the school (please check as different schools may have different policies about electrical appliances). All electrical appliances must be PAT tested. Please speak to the Site Manager if you have any concerns or queries. 

General Maintenance

All requests for repairs or Health and Safety concerns should be logged in the correct file located in the school's office. General maintenance requests should be made to the School Site Manager. Ensure you keep areas tidy, avoiding any trip hazards. 

Pregnancy Risk Assessment

Any member of staff who is pregnant should inform their line manager or the Executive Principal so an appropriate risk assessment can be carried out. 

First Aid

If a member of staff has an accident at work, an accident report MUST be completed and given to the Finance and Admin Manager at the school. 

Fire Drills

Fire drills are held regularly in each school, if you know you visit specific schools regularly please familiarise yourself with the specific instructions for each school. Identify who the lead Fire Warden is for each school (usually the Site Manager) if you have any Fire drill related questions please contact the lead Fire Warden. 

The information below details the Holy Trinity Fire drill/evacuation procedure - please consult specific school handbooks for more information on their fire drills.

When the fire alarm sounds everyone must evacuate the building through your nearest exit to the fire assembly points (fire assembly point 1 for Primary Advantage staff) located to the North End of the school site, outside the concierge of the Vibe Apartment Building. Adults leading groups on site each day must bring their iPad to complete the register for their class once evacuated. Camilla Addison will account for all staff and/or others on the school site at the time of evacuation. For the full breakdown of Holy Trinity's fire evacuation please click here.

No one is permitted to use the lift in the event of a fire alarm. Any persons unable to get down the stairs are to wait at the alarm points in the North and South stairwell, where there are to await assistance from the Emergency Services via the EVAC phones linked directly to the fire panel in the main school lobby. 

No persons are permitted to re-enter the building until permission is given by the Senior Leader in charge

Incidents

Occasionally serious incidents do occur on school premises. When an 'incident' does occur, staff should record the details on an 'event log'. Should the incident directly involve a Primary Advantage staff member, a copy should be given to the Executive Principal if the incident incident directly relates to another Primary Advantage staff member. 

Crisis Management

Immediately

• Obtain as much factual information at the start of the crisis

• Alert the most senior member of staff who will then contact the director of education and other authorities as appropriate

• Establish an incident management team using key personal information. State their names in the incident log.

• Make arrangements for handling the media

Within the first hour

• Carry out a quick review of the immediate response required.

• Select and set up control arrangements

Within hours if practical

• Call a staff meeting to give information

• Inform pupils in a sensitive way

• Arrange a debriefing meeting for the staff involved

• Arrange a debriefing meeting for pupils involved

Next few days

• Facilitate and support for high risk pupils and staff

• Funerals, rituals and memorials

As soon as possible and for as long as necessary

• Decide and agree on a range of response and support measures, these may run for weeks/months

Lost Children

• Organise a search using school staff immediately 

• Inform the headteacher if a child is missing for more than 5 minutes

• if not located within 15 minutes the Headteacher will make the decision to contact the police and parents

• All incidents must be recorded in the school's log book

• Parents must be informed if their child goes missing at any point during the school day. This should be done by the person who deals with the incident or referred to a senior member of staff. 

Primary Advantage receives a number of visitors to our base at Holy Trinity, through teaching schools and various meetings. We follow the Holy Trinity’s guidance for visitors to the school. 

All visitors to the school must provide a current DBS, if the visitor does not have one they need to be supervised on-site at all times and not left unattended with children. 

Visitors must report to reception and sign-in on the electronic display. They will be given a label which they must wear at all times on the premises, this must be easily visible. It is the responsibility of staff who the visitor is linked with to show them where the facilities are, emergency procedures and introduce them to other members of staff. 

Visitors are not privy to confidential matters in the school. Confidential matters regarding children, families, members of staff and school developments should not be discussed with visitors to the school. for this reason, visitors should have breaks in the Primary Advantage office, Main School Hall, or the foyer, rather than the staff from where confidential information regarding staff and children may be on display and may also be discussed. 

As a Federation, we have a single governing board covering seven schools, with an individual local advisory board (LAB) for each school. One of the underpinning principles of the Primary Advantage Federation is to ‘promote a collaborative approach whilst developing the capacity of each school to serve its community and retain its distinct identity.’ The structure of the current Governing Board ensures decisions can be made at LAB level and the LAB can closely monitor the work in their school.

This handbook was written as a reference guide to the Federation’s day to day running. If you have any concerns, queries or are unsure about any procedures referenced it is your responsibility to ask your line manager or locate the Primary Advantage policy relating to the matter. 

Primary Advantage has a number of policies for all schools across the Federation. We also adopt policies from Hackney Education (for our Community Schools) and the London Diocesan Board for Schools (for our Church of England Schools). All our policies can be found in the Federation Shared Drive or on the Policies page. We also have a policy list; this will guide you on the number of policies Primary Advantage use across the federation and which schools use specific policies. 

Please see below for the policies that you are required to read when starting a new position at Primary Advantage:

• Child Protection & Safeguarding

• Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) 2024

• Keeping Children Safe in Education (KCSiE) 2024 (Part one)

• Teaching, Learning and Assessment 

• Behaviour 

• Health and Safety 

• Equalities 

• Whistleblowing 

• Collective worship 

• Medicines and Pupils with Medical Needs

• Managing Sickness Absence 

• Staff grievance and discipline

• Data Protection

• Code of Conduct for Schools

• Positive Handling (within the Behaviour policy)

• Online Safety & Acceptable Use

• Staff Privacy Notice

• Social Media & Networking and Social Media & Networking cheat sheet