Purpose

This policy sets out First Kick Football’s commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion for all children, staff, parents/carers, and visitors. We provide a safe and caring environment free from discrimination, in line with the Equality Act 2010, the EYFS 2023 (paras 3.67–3.71), and Keeping Children Safe in Education 2025. 

Principles

We will:
– Respect and value children’s racial origins, religions, cultures, languages, gender identities and family structures.
– Not discriminate on the grounds of disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, class, family status, or health status (including HIV/Aids).
– Provide a wide range of resources and activities that reflect diversity and promote inclusion.
– Support children in celebrating their cultural and religious identities.
– Ensure all services are accessible to all members of the community.
– Ensure recruitment, selection, and training are open, fair and non-discriminatory. 

Roles & Responsibilities

– The Equal Opportunities Named Coordinators (ENCOs) are Suleman Desai and Claire Ashton.
– The ENCOs are responsible for:
  – Ensuring this policy complies with legislation.
  – Challenging discriminatory attitudes, behaviour, or language.
  – Supporting staff with advice and training.
  – Monitoring practice and reporting equality and inclusion matters to management. 

Challenging Discrimination & Harassment

– Any form of racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic or discriminatory behaviour will not be tolerated.
– Staff will challenge such behaviour and use incidents as a teaching opportunity.
– All incidents will be recorded and reviewed by the Manager/DSL. 

Racial Harassment

– The club will not tolerate any form of racial harassment.
– Racist remarks, attitudes, or behaviours will be challenged whether from children, staff, parents, or visitors.
– Serious incidents will be reported to the DSL and recorded in the Incident Log. 

Supporting Individual Needs

– We make reasonable adjustments to meet the needs of children with SEND or additional needs, in line with the Equality Act 2010.
– Where one-to-one support is required, we will assist parents in accessing relevant funding.
– Staff will liaise with external agencies where appropriate. 

Monitoring & Review

– We regularly monitor practice and seek feedback from staff, children, and parents to ensure equality and inclusion are upheld.
– This policy will be reviewed annually, or sooner if legislation or practice changes.