Lord Blyton Primary School
Accessibility Policy
| Date policy last reviewed: | Autumn 24 | ||||
| Signed by: | |||||
| Jo Atherton | Headteacher | Date: | |||
| E Malcolm | Chair of governors | Date: | |||
Contents:
- Legal framework
- Definitions
- Roles and responsibilities
- Accessibility Plan
- Equal opportunities
- Admissions
- Curriculum
- Physical environment
- Monitoring and review
Lord Blyton Primary School is committed to taking all reasonable steps to avoid placing any individuals with disabilities at a disadvantage, and works closely with disabled pupils, their families and any relevant outside agencies in order to remove any potential barriers to their learning experience.
This policy outlines the principles that the school is committed to following throughout all accessibility planning activities to ensure that all disabled pupils are able to enjoy and access all aspects of educational life in the same way as other colleagues. The specific measures the school has taken to ensure the school is accessible are outlined within the Accessibility Plan.
The ways in which the school fosters inclusion and equality for pupils who share other protected characteristics are outlined in the Pupil Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy, and the ways in which the school ensures its practices and environments are accessible and inclusive for staff are outlined in the Staff Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy.
This policy must be adhered to by all staff members, pupils, parents and visitors.
This policy has due regard to all relevant legislation and statutory guidance including, but not limited to, the following:
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- Human Rights Act 1998
- The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014
- Education and Inspections Act 2006
- Equality Act 2010
- The Education Act 1996
- The Children and Families Act 2014
- The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017
- DfE (2014) ‘The Equality Act 2010 and schools’
- DfE (2015) ‘Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0 to 25 years’
This policy operates in conjunction with the following school policies:
- Equality Information and Objectives Policy
- Early Years Policy
- Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Policy
- Equality, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Policy
- Admissions Policy
- Behaviour Policy
- Supporting Pupils with Medical Conditions Policy
- Administering Medication Policy
- Anti-bullying Policy
- Curriculum Policy
- Health and Safety Policy
- School Development Plan
- Data Protection Policy
In line with the Equality Act 2010, “indirect discrimination” is defined as where a provision, criterion or practice is discriminatory in relation to a person’s protected characteristics, where:
- The provision, criterion or practice applies, or would apply, to people without those protected characteristics.
- It puts, or would put, people with those protected characteristics at a disadvantage compared to those without.
- The school cannot show that the provision, criterion or practice is a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
The “protected characteristics” are: age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, pregnancy or maternity, marriage or civil partnership.
A person is defined as having a “disability” if they have a physical or mental impairment that has an adverse, substantial and long-term effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
The governing board will be responsible for:
- Ensuring that all accessibility planning, including the school’s Accessibility Plan, adheres to and reflects the principles outlined in this policy.
- Approving this policy and the Accessibility Plan before they are implemented.
- Monitoring this policy and the Accessibility Plan.
The headteacher will be responsible for:
- Creating an Accessibility Plan with the intention of improving the school’s accessibility, in conjunction with the governing board and in line with the school’s legal obligations and the principles outlined in this policy.
- Ensuring that staff members are aware of pupils’ disabilities and medical conditions where necessary.
- Establishing whether a new pupil has any disabilities or medical conditions which the school should be aware of.
- Consulting with relevant and reputable experts if challenging situations regarding pupils’ disabilities arise.
- Working closely with the governing board, LA and external agencies to effectively create and implement the school’s Accessibility Plan.
The SENCO will be responsible for:
- Working closely with the headteacher and governing board to ensure that pupils with SEND are appropriately supported.
- Ensuring they have oversight of the needs of pupils with SEND attending the school, and advising the headteacher in relation to those needs as appropriate.
Staff members will be responsible for:
- Acting in accordance with this policy and the Accessibility Plan at all times.
- Supporting disabled pupils to access their environment and their education wherever necessary, e.g. by making reasonable adjustments to their practice.
- Ensuring that their actions do not discriminate against any pupil as a result of their disability.
All staff members and governors will partake in whole-school training on equality issues related to the Equality Act 2010. Designated staff members will be trained to effectively support pupils with medical conditions, e.g. understanding how to administer insulin, in line with the Administering Medication Policy.
The school’s Accessibility Plan demonstrates how access will be improved for pupils, staff, parents and visitors to the school within a given timeframe.
The Accessibility Plan will be structured to complement and support the school’s Equality Information and Objectives Policy, as well as the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Policy.
The plan has the following key aims:
- To increase the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the curriculum
- To improve and maintain the school’s physical environment to enable disabled pupils to take advantage of the facilities and education on offer
- To improve the availability and delivery of written information to disabled pupils, in particular that which has already been produced for pupils who are not disabled.
The intention is to provide a projected plan for a three-year period ahead of the next review date, which will be April 28. If it is not feasible to undertake all the plans during the lifespan of the Accessibility Plan, some items will roll forward into subsequent plans. The school will provide adequate resources for implementing plans, ensuring pupils are sufficiently supported.
The Accessibility Plan will be used to measure where reasonable adjustments need to be made in order to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities. It will be used to advise other school planning documents and will be reported upon annually in respect of progress and outcomes.
The school will collaborate with the LA in order to effectively develop and implement the plan. The LA will prepare accessibility strategies based on the same principles as the school’s Accessibility Plan. The LA will also provide auxiliary aids and services where necessary to help the school provide suitable support to pupils with disabilities.
An access audit will be undertaken by the governing board and SENCO annually.
During Ofsted inspections, the inspectorate may include the school’s Accessibility Plan as part of their review. Both this policy and the Accessibility Plan will be published on the school website.
The school strives to ensure that all existing and potential pupils are given the same opportunities, and is committed to developing a culture of inclusion, support and awareness. The Accessibility Plan will detail any barriers which are hindering the opportunities for pupils with SEND. The aim of the plan is to take appropriate measures in order to overcome these barriers, allowing all pupils equal opportunities.
Staff members will be aware of any pupils who are at a substantial disadvantage due to their SEND and will take the appropriate steps to ensure the pupil is effectively supported. Wherever possible, teaching staff will adapt their lesson plans and the curriculum to allow all pupils to reach their full potential and receive the support they need. The school will ensure that all extracurricular activities are accessible to all pupils and make reasonable adjustments to allow pupils with SEND to participate in all school activities.
The school will act in accordance with its Admissions Policy. The same entry criteria will be applied to all pupils and potential pupils.
The school will support pupils with SEND by making any reasonable adjustments necessary during entry exams, e.g. publishing exam papers in a larger font.
The school will strive to not put any pupil at a substantial disadvantage by making reasonable adjustments prior to the pupil starting at the school. All pupils, including those with SEND, will have appropriate access to all opportunities available to any member of the school community.
Information will be obtained on future pupils in order to facilitate advanced planning. Prospective parents of statemented pupils, and pupils with SEND, are invited to a transition meeting prior to the pupil starting school in order to discuss the pupil’s specific needs.
The school is committed to providing a healthy environment that enables full curriculum access and values and includes all pupils regardless of their education, physical, sensory, social, spiritual and emotional needs. No pupil will be excluded from any aspect of the school curriculum due to their disability. The school aims to provide a differentiated curriculum to enable all pupils to feel secure and make progress.
The head of department for each subject and the SENCO will work together to ensure that the pupil’s EHC plan is implemented, and that the teaching of that subject is adjusted for the pupil wherever necessary in line with their EHC plan. Where any amendments to the provisions of the plan need to be amended or adapted to allow the pupil to reach their full potential in a given subject, advice will be sought from outside agencies where necessary.
Where areas of the curriculum present challenges for a pupil, these will be dealt with on an individual basis. The class teacher, in discussion with the pupil and their parents, will ensure that all adjustments possible, in line with common sense and practical application, will be made for any disability.
Curricular activities involving physical activity or exercise, e.g. PE lessons, will be adapted, wherever necessary and possible, to ensure disabled pupils can participate in a valuable way in lessons.
There are established procedures for the identification and support of pupils with SEND in place at the school. Detailed pupil information on pupils with SEND are given to relevant staff in order to aid teaching, e.g. ‘pupil passports’.
The school ensures that specialist resources – including physical resources, e.g. large-print books, and human resources, e.g. learning support assistants – are available and appropriately deployed for pupils who require or would benefit from them to fully participate in the curriculum.
The school is committed to ensuring that all pupils, staff members, parents and visitors have equal access to areas and facilities within the school premises. There are no parts of the school to which pupils or staff with disabilities have limited or no access to.
The school will ensure that accessibility audits are conducted for those within the school community to ensure that specific needs are taken into account; however, in general, the school will make its best endeavours to anticipate potential access needs that may be encountered in the future and to ensure that the physical environment is as accessible as possible for all current and prospective pupils.
The specific ways in which the school will ensure its physical environment is accessible in full to all members of the school community, irrespective of any protected characteristics, are detailed within the school’s Accessibility Plan.
This policy will be reviewed on an annual basis or when new legislation or guidance concerning equality and disability is published. The governing board and headteacher will review the policy in collaboration with the SENCO.
Equality impact assessments will be undertaken as and when school policies are reviewed.