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NAHT’s EDI Strategy 2024-2025

NAHT is dedicated to promoting equality for all of its members, and this commitment is enshrined in NAHT’s constitution. In order to support NAHT in achieving this commitment, we have a union-wide strategy that outlines how we embed equality, diversity and inclusion at the heart of our activities.

NAHT’s work in this area, including the progress of our strategy, is overseen by NAHT’s National Executive (via our Diversity and Inclusion Group).

This strategy is centred around three main aspects; these are underpinned by the work NAHT does to empower, upskill and support NAHT staff.

Supporting our members as leaders: As school leaders, NAHT members are ideally positioned to create inclusive learning and working environments for all of their pupils and staff - one which welcomes diversity and champions equality. NAHT recognises the need to support and empower our members to effectively achieve this.

To achieve this, we have the following core objectives:

Increase our support for members to effectively embed EDI within their own settings. This includes work to:
1. Maintain our resources hub & develop our own advice and guidance as appropriate
2. Support members to mark key EDI dates throughout the year (e.g., LGBT+ History month)
3. Run three free EDI webinars for members, alongside paid EDI training and courses for members
Ensure our campaigning and policy work (in relation to pupils and school staff) explicitly considers and includes equality to achieve our aim of embedding EDI throughout the education system.
1. Areas of policy focus may include: RSE implementation and/or review, transgender pupil policy for schools, SEND/ALN/SEN sector (including funding and support), refugee pupils, accessibility in assessments and exams, inclusive curriculum and pupil mental health/well-being.

Supporting our members as individuals: We know members with certain protected characteristics face additional and/or specific challenges in their roles. As a trade union, our core purpose is protecting our members, whether proactively (for example, campaigning to remove systemic inequities in the system), or reactively (such as aiding members who are experiencing issues in their workplace, through our representation and/or legal teams).

To achieve this, we have the following core objectives:

Increase our ability to effectively represent and negotiate on behalf of all members and press forward on wider equality gains in the system. This includes work to:
1. Increase the training and support for our paid and lay officials to support them in tackling discrimination in their line of work
2. Improve our monitoring of cases to tackle discrimination in the workplace, and any equality gains achieved as a result
Continue to extend our insight into the challenges faced by school leaders or future school leaders with protected characteristics. This includes work to:
1. Increase the growth and profile of our equality networks, and explore the need for any further networks
2. Ensure all key NAHT research (focused on members as individuals) includes demographic questions, and that data analysis is considered from this perspective
Ensure our campaigning and policy influencing explicitly includes equality (in relation to our members) to achieve our aim of embedding EDI throughout the education system
1. Areas of policy focus may include gender pay gaps, representation within leadership (including renewal of government funding to support this), EDI training in NPQs, flexible working, reasonable adjustments in schools and during inspections, workload and well-being, and mandatory anti-racism training.
Increase our international presence in relation to EDI issues, recognising that much of the equality legislation and rights of members comes not just from domestic law and conventions, but are part of wider international agreements.

As a democratic organisation: NAHT recognises that we are most effective in representing the views and needs of school leaders when we engage with all of our membership. We are therefore committed to ensuring our own democratic structures are inclusive and reflect the diversity of the educational professionals and learners that we serve.

To achieve this, we have the following core objectives:

Increase the amount of demographic data we hold in relation to our members and improve our analysis of this data
Increase representation within NAHT’s democratic structures
Continue to empower and upskill our lay officials around EDI issues. This includes work to:
1. Launch a new regional equality rep pilot
Increase the inclusivity and accessibility of NAHT’s communications
Continue to increase representation in NAHT communications & events. This includes work to
1. Increase the diversity of members representing NAHT, providing training as appropriate
2. Development of an EDI comms plan for 2024 and 2025
Increase the inclusivity and accessibility of NAHT’s events. This includes work to:
1. Develop an online (and hybrid) accessibility policy to support member engagement at online events, guided by input from our Disabled Members' Network
2. Develop an accessibility policy to support member engagement at in-person events, guided by input from our Disabled Members' Network
Ensure that our policies, processes and/or practices enhance both democratic and general NAHT engagement for all NAHT members and reflect our wider EDI goals/values. This includes work to:
1. Keep our democratic processes and procedures under regular review, with consideration of EDI as part of any updates and amends

NAHT’s equality networks

NAHT has three informal equality networks for members. These are led by members, for members.

Find out more about our networks, including how to join and planned meetings, by clicking on the links below.

NAHT's EDI statements

Following a resolution at NAHT Annual Conference, we are developing a series of policy statements outlining NAHT’s views and commitments around equality, diversity and inclusion. These have been developed in conversations with NAHT’s equality networks, our diversity and inclusion group, and our national executive.

Click below to see our EDI statements:

Statements will continue to be reviewed and additional statements may be developed, as led by our membership.

Our statement of action and commitments on EDI in education for 2023/24

In September 2023, NAHT, alongside other key organisations working in the sector, outlined its new actions and commitments to help further equality, diversity and inclusion in education. Find out more and read our statement of action and commitments on EDI in education for 2023/24.

Resources

Advice and support

For more about the advice and guidance available from NAHT, along with resources to support members with EDI in their schools, see our EDI hub page.

TUC equality conferences

Every year, the TUC hosts a series of equality conferences that supplement the general work of TUC Congress. These conferences focus on supporting the advancement of issues that disproportionally impact minority groups. Find out more and how NAHT members can get involved.

Latest news and advice

Anti-equality protests must be stopped by the end of term

On Tuesday 11 June, NAHT held a parliamentary briefing in Westminster on Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) and Health Education. With just a few weeks remaining of the summer term, the event brought together some of the main figures involved in efforts to stop the anti-equality protests in Birmingham that have been making national headlines.

Speakers included Emma Hardy MP, Sara Khan, lead commissioner of the Commission for Countering Extremism and David Isaac, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission. Nazir Afzal, former Crown Chief Prosecutor for the North West also submitted a short video where he called on the government to mandate the correct approach and to take the heat off of schools. You can watch this video in full below.

Primary school leaders in Birmingham and some other areas of the country have been the targets of campaigning, protests and abuse relating to their commitment to equality and diversity, and the teaching of LGBT+ inclusive relationships. School leaders Sarah Hewitt-Clarkson, head teacher of Anderton Park Primary School and Andrew Moffat, deputy head teacher of Parkfield Primary School spoke about their experiences of dealing with the protests in their schools in Birmingham.

NAHT general secretary Paul Whiteman said: “Without meaning to, the government has put school leaders in an extremely difficult position. They and their staff have had to endure threats against their careers and their personal safety. The protests need to end, and the best way to achieve that is for the government to be absolutely clear about what they expect schools to do.”

NAHT is calling for clarity from the government on three key areas:

Relationships Education in primary schools must be inclusive of all protected characteristics and treat the different types of relationships in our society equally, reflecting their equal status under the law and so promoting tolerance and respect for diversity.
Relationships Education in all schools will include LGBT content as set out in the statutory guidance that has already been published. In addition to that guidance, the DfE has said: “Primary schools are enabled and encouraged to cover LGBT content if they consider it age-appropriate to do so” which is not helpful to school leaders. The correct wording should be: “Primary schools are enabled and encouraged to cover LGBT content when they consider it age-appropriate to do so”.

School leaders and their teams should receive the full support of the government and the full protection of the relevant authorities when delivering Relationships Education.

Over the past few months, NAHT has been supporting the schools under protest, as well as working with the DfE and others to try to bring a swift resolution. Mr Whiteman said: “Whilst schools are required to involve parents and the community in what they’re planning to teach, that engagement does not provide parents or others with a veto on curriculum content. Equality is not an ‘optional extra.’"

We will continue to press the government for clarity in these areas. Please find a pledge card below to send to your local MP to sign.