A working group of leaders at Exceed Academies Trust has enhanced how we articulate our Equity, Diversity and Belonging (EDB) priorities for our Trust, schools and organisations. In March 2024, we launched our EDB Strategy to guide our actions. Our Equity, Diversity and Belonging (EDB) Strategy is ambitious, hence its focus on equity as well as equality and belonging rather than solely inclusion. 

This Strategy remains an evolving working document with regular reviews and revisions as knowledge, practice and provision evolves. Managing diversity and developing a culture of inclusion is a continuous process of improvement, not a one-off initiative.

Strand 1: Improving Representation and Belonging

Aim: Understand and communicate how it feels to work for the Trust.

Belonging is more than mere presence in a room or membership in a group or team; it's an emotion. Equity empowers our staff to be their best. Our goal is for our workforce to feel respected, valued, safe, trusted, and have a genuine sense of belonging. Unfortunately, the pandemic and other societal challenges have negatively impacted this sense of belonging within school communities across the country. Exceed Academies Trust is working towards being more representative of people from a range of diverse backgrounds. We recognise the importance of fostering an inclusive working environment - one that values individual differences, actively supports staff authenticity, and addresses individual needs. Such an environment leads to improved decision-making by better representing our workforce and community, greater job commitment, increased job satisfaction, improved workplace relationships, and ultimately better health outcomes. Especially during the ongoing national teacher and support staff recruitment and retention crisis, prioritising these principles is crucial.

Actions

1	Staff voice: Engage with the workforce to better understand how it feels to work for the Trust
2	Inclusivity: Better understand homophily in the workplace
3	Feedback: Learn from the staff and student voices to inform the subsequent review of this strategy and the actions the Trust and schools need to take to enhance equity, diversity and belonging
4	Recruitment: Enhance recruitment campaigns, advertisements, recruitment packs and selection processes, including those for teacher development programmes and governors
5	Retention: Retain greater diversity at all levels, including through the early identification and investment in talent, and tailored support via our teacher development providers
6	Role models: Enhance the visible representation of diversity within the Trust through accessible case studies and role models, by providing individual accounts of positive experiences of belonging within the trust to illustrate the sense of belonging experienced by a diverse pool of employees
7	Belonging: Enhance communications with all staff to make it more visible and accessible so all staff feel included and informed
8	Data: Track and monitor EDB data relating to vacancies, leavers, promotions, flexible working and access to professional development

Outcomes

• Outcome 1: We will use staff and student voice to inform and refine this strategy as an evolving working document.
• Outcome 2: We will increase the representation of role models that demonstrate the trust has an inclusive environment where everyone can feel like they belong and where career progression is supported and encouraged for all.
• Outcome 3: Through attracting more diverse applicants to vacancies, we will incrementally increase the number of potential appointments to substantive posts and to teacher training programmes from under-represented groups annually.
• Outcome 4: At trust-level, we will reduce the gap between the staff diversity profile to the local and national diversity profile by 2027. 

Strand 2: Develop an Inclusive Culture

Aim: Build a culture where all staff feel respected, valued, safe and have a sense of belonging.

At Exceed Academies Trust, we aim to make the implicit aspects of our culture explicit by codifying our equity, diversity and belonging practice. This begins with reviewing our vision and values that underpin all we do and developing the policies and practices that align with these. We know inclusive leadership starts at the top and this is where we will begin. Data will be central to our work, allowing us to know our staff well; know how it feels to work for the Trust; and to measure the impact of this strategy, including levels of trust that reflect high performance and a sense of belonging. Our staff should be able to voice or share concerns without judgment or fear of negative consequences.

Actions

1	Culture: Review the Trust’s vision, values and ethical goals and articulate them to the workforce and communities
2	Belonging: Define what it means to belong within the Exceed family for staff and students
3	Culture: Adopt an inclusive leadership framework to support the Trust Board, central teams, and school leadership teams to take responsibility for EDB within their setting
4	Culture: Establish a common language for EDB
5	Culture: As Inclusive Leaders, ensure inclusive behaviours are consistently modelled from the top
6	Equality: Review existing and/or implement new inclusive policies and statements to ensure the language we use is inclusive and encompasses our ethos and commitment
7	Belonging: Collect and track data on both diversity and inclusion, including how it feels to work for the Trust and schools
8	Inclusivity: Become a Disability Confident Employer
9	Policy: Review and update existing policies and identify any policy gaps that need to be addressed

Outcomes

• Outcome 1: Our trust and school leadership will report being increasingly confident in maintaining an inclusive culture in their organisation annually.
• Outcome 2: The trust and school workforce will be increasingly representative of our communities each year.
• Outcome 3: An increasing proportion of our staff will report feeling respected, valued, and a sense of belonging annually.

Strand 3: Provide Training and Support

Aim: Develop inclusive leaders at all levels.

We need to continue to invest in our leaders. Equity, Diversity and Belonging (EDB) is not ‘another thing we do’, it underpins ‘all we do.’ Feeling trusted by your manager is fundamental to a culture of inclusion, so leaders need training and support to develop effective habits. Equally, as new staff join the Trust – including when a new school joins the trust or a new external appointment is made – they too need to understand our vision, values and Equity, Diversity and Belonging (EDB) ambition. Building the confidence of our workforce to take the next step in their career – ideally with us – is vital, including through coaching, mentoring, networks, training programmes and internships in other trust schools.

Actions

1	Investment: Equip all leaders with the knowledge and understanding of the leadership framework, common EBD language, and inclusive behaviours
2	Training: Implement a universal and targeted programme of professional development, including allyship, unconscious bias, and managing difficult conversations, to enhance the leadership mindset
3	Culture: Induct all new staff to the culture of the Trust
4	Investment: Review and enhance the trust and school Continuous Professional Development strategy and programme to support the recruitment and retention of a diverse workforce, including via organisations that support wider partnerships
5	Investment: Explore the development of coaching and internship programmes for the Trust’s workforce
6	Networks: Support the establishment of active staff networks, including exploring external partnerships
7	Access: Promote and provide fair and considered access to professional development

Outcomes

• Outcome 1: All our senior leaders will access high-quality inclusive leadership training within 12 months. 
• Outcome 2: All our staff will complete basic EDB training at least every 2 years.
• Outcome 3: Our CPD programme will cater for all staff.
• Outcome 4: We will establish at least one active staff network by 2025.

Strand 4: Ensure the School Curriculum Promotes EDB

Aim: Promote diversity, relationships and opportunity whilst challenging discrimination and stereotypes.

Diversity varies between our schools. Our goal is for our workforce to feel respected, valued, safe, trusted, and a genuine sense of belonging. We understand that by fostering a sense of belonging; promoting social justice and equality in communities; preparing students for a diverse world through the understanding and appreciation of different perspectives; enhancing cognitive development to challenge stereotypes, assumptions and biases; and improving the overall positive and inclusive school culture, Equity, Diversity and Belonging (EDB) initiatives can significantly contribute to the success of the Trust, schools and the students.

Actions

1	Guidance: Consider national guidance relating to eliminating discrimination and advancing equality of opportunity, e.g. Ofsted’s Education inspection framework EDI statement
2	Public Sector Equity Duty: Ensure the school curriculum promotes diversity, good relationships and advances opportunity whilst challenging discrimination and stereotypes, including racial literacy, anti-racism and decolonising the curriculum
3	Training: Provide training for teachers on delivering a culturally responsive curriculum, including developing their confidence to support and challenge culturally sensitive issues
4	Networks: Establish an EDB curriculum network for the sharing of effective practice
5	Communication: Awareness and cultural events that have been incorporated into the school curriculum and celebrated with parents and the wider community (e.g. via social media)

Outcomes

• Outcome 1: Our teachers report high confidence in planning and delivering culturally responsive teaching annually.
• Outcome 2: The school curriculum, faith assemblies and PHSE lessons will be rich learning opportunities for children and young people that promote diversity and challenge stereotypes.
• Outcome 3: The Trust will increasingly acknowledge and celebrate with pupils, parents and the wider community a diverse range of awareness and cultural events through frequent communications.