Kent Music is a Disability Confident Employer
We’re proud to share that we’ve been awarded Disability Confident Employer (Level 2) status. It’s the next step on our journey to becoming a more inclusive and accessible organisation.
This means that we’ve taken a proactive approach to ensuring that disabled people can access opportunities, thrive in their roles, and feel confident that they will be supported with us. It’s a significant milestone that builds on the foundations of our Level 1 commitment and reflects the work of many colleagues across Kent Music.
What does being a Disability Confident Employer mean?
The Disability Confident scheme is a government-backed initiative that supports employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain, and develop disabled people.
Becoming a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer involves a rigorous self-assessment process – and we’re proud to have exceeded many of the requirements, with evidence in place across both key themes: ‘Getting the right people’ and ‘Keeping and developing your people’.
What have we done?
Some of the actions we’ve taken this year to achieve our new status include:
- Training and awareness: All core staff, board members, and lead teachers have completed EDI awareness training with The Clear Company. We also held in-person training with Attitude is Everything on disability equality in customer service.
- Inclusive recruitment: We’ve reviewed and improved our recruitment processes, including providing clearer job descriptions and accessible formats.
- Workplace adjustments: We’ve supported colleagues with reasonable adjustments, such as electric standing desks, ergonomic equipment and referrals to occupational health.
- Policy and practice: Inclusion is now a core value at Kent Music, and we’ve built this into our policies, onboarding, and everyday culture. We’ve embedded EDI into our induction process, added inclusive practices to our partnership agreements, and kept staff up to date with learning opportunities.
- Listening and learning: Through our Wellbeing and Staff Committees, coaching programmes, 1:1s and PDRs, we create space for feedback, development, and support.
What’s next?
Our Level 2 badge is valid until 2028, but our work doesn’t stop here. We’ll continue to review and improve our practices, with an ambition to work towards Level 3: Disability Confident Leader, in the future.
We’re always learning, and we’re grateful to our staff, board, and wider community for supporting this work. If you’re interested in what this journey means for Kent Music or would like to know more about how we’re embedding inclusive practice, get in touch.