Uses 
 | Community Cohesion - National Initiatives Minority Communities Achievement Service |
A definition of Community Cohesion
The Department for Education (DfE) Guidance on the duty to promote community cohesion, published in July 2007, states that:
"By community cohesion we mean working towards a society in which:
- there is a common vision and sense of belonging by all communities
- the diversity of people's backgrounds and circumstances is appreciated and valued
- similar life opportunities are available to all, and
- strong and positive relationships exist and continue to be developed in the workplace, in schools and in the wider community."
Guidance for schools
Guidance for schools has now been published along with a selection of case studies. The guidance:
- Explains what is meant by community cohesion
- Describes how a school can contribute to community cohesion, outlining the work that many schools already do to promote community cohesion as a basis for all schools to consider what they already do and what more might be needed
Ofsted – Community Cohesion: Guidance on Inspecting
Schools are inspected on how they meet the community cohesion standards.
“If a school is to successfully fulfil its duty to promote community cohesion, it should focus on the three key strands (faith, ethnicity and culture, and socio-economic factors) and demonstrate:
- that it understands the context of its own community;
- that it has planned and taken an appropriate set of actions;
- and that these actions have had an evident impact.
An effective approach to community cohesion will consider these strands at the different levels of community where action can take place – within the school itself, the geographical community or the wider national and global communities – to determine the school’s contribution to community cohesion accordingly”.
(Inspecting maintained schools’ duty to promote community cohesion: guidance for inspectors – February 2009)