3-year period covered by the plan : Jan 2008 – Dec 2010
Introduction
The SEN and Disability Act 2001 extended the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) to cover education. Since September 2002, the Governing Body has had three key duties towards disabled pupils, under Part 4 of the DDA:
not to treat disabled pupils less favourably for a reason related to their disability;
to make reasonable adjustments for disabled pupils, so that they are not at a substantial disadvantage;
to plan to increase access to education for disabled pupils.
This plan sets out the proposals of the Governing Body of the school to increase access to education for disabled pupils in the three areas required by the planning duties in the DDA:
increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the school curriculum;
improving the environment of the school to increase the extent to which disabled pupils can take advantage of education and associated services;
improving the delivery to disabled pupils of information which is provided in writing for pupils who are not disabled.
It is a requirement that the school’s accessibility plan is resourced, implemented and reviewed and revised as necessary. Attached is a set of action plans showing how the school will address the priorities identified in the plan.
Compliance with the DDA is consistent with the school’s aims and equal opportunities policy, and the operation of the school’s SEN policy.
The school recognises its duty under the DDA (as amended by the SENDA):
Not to discriminate against disabled pupils in their admissions and exclusions, and provision of education and associated services
Not to treat disabled pupils less favourably
To take reasonable steps to avoid putting disabled pupils at a substantial disadvantage
To publish and Accessibility Plan
This plan has been generated through consultation with staff , governors parents and pupils. It covers a period of three years and will be reviewed at regular periods each year. It is the responsibility of the school’s Governing Body to ensure the Plan successfully realises its Aims.
Definition of disability
Disability is defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA)
“a person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day to day activities.”
The purpose and direction of the school’s plan: vision and values
At Gearies Infant School there is a commitment to equal opportunities driven by the National Curriculum Inclusion statement. We aim to provide all pupils with a broad and balanced curriculum, differentiated and adjusted to meet the needs of individual pupils and their preferred learning styles; and we endorse the key principles in the National Curriculum 2000 framework, which underpin the development of a more inclusive curriculum:
Setting suitable learning challenges
Responding to pupils’ diverse learning needs
Overcoming potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils
We have high ambitions for our disabled pupils and expect them to participate in every aspect of school life and to achieve their potential in learning
We welcome all children irrespective of race, colour, creed or impairment
We aim to identify and remove barriers to disabled pupils in every area of school life
Compliance with the DDA is consistent with the school’s aims and equal opportunities policy, the operation of the school’s SEN policy and the Inclusion statement.
Nature of the school.
Gearies Infant School is a large urban school with a mixed multi-cultural community. It has a nursery of 60 children and 3 form entry in the Infant School. 70 % of the children speak English as an additional language. The school has a relatively low percentage of children identified as having Special Educational Needs. It is lower than the national average. All children’s needs are met through personalised learning and provision management. On average there are 2 pupils with statements each year. A high percentage of children who have Special Educational Needs have also had a speech and language communication disability.
Children with Special Educational Needs (school action plus or statements and/or Disabilities)
The Educational Psychology Service, the Early Years Advisory and Support Service, the Pre- School Liaison services notify the school of any future pupils for whom we need to plan. The projections are based on trends over the preceeding 3 years and knowledge of our future intake.
Consultation
The accessibility plan has been discussed with
· All School staff (teachers, support staff, office staff, midday assistants and caretaker) have been involved in drawing up the accessibility plan (Spring term 2007)
· Pupils have expressed their views through individual questionnaires, the school council and class discussions (Summer term 2006 and Spring term 2007)
· Parents views have been gathered through the parental representations on the Healthy School Task and Governing Body (Spring term 2007), discussions with parents of children with SEN (termly SEN reviews) and an open meeting for parents (Autumn 2007)
· Governors have been consulted through the SEN Link Governor and the curriculum and finance committee (Spring term 2007)
· The school will follow guidelines from the LA Schools Access Initiative when it is
available
The main priorities in the school’s plan
Increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the school
curriculum
Short term
To display images of disabled people in all aspects of life
To track attendance of disabled children
To track attainment of disabled children
To ensure that all staff are aware of what the DDA requires of them
To increase participation of children with disabilities in after school clubs
To train staff in Makaton
Medium term
· To have an ongoing review of curriculum and policies to ensure that they are in line with the requirements of the DDA
· To provide information to Governors on the DDA and their responsibilities
To increase whole school presentation access for children with speech and language communication difficulties, visual or hearing impairment
· To develop a range of resources which meets the needs of very young children with significant needs
· To have ongoing training in the use of Makaton
Long term
· To have reviewed all curriculum and policies to ensure that they are in line with the requirements of the DDA
· To develop a range of resources which meets the needs of very young children with significant needs
Improving the physical environment of the school to increase the extent to
which disabled pupils can take advantage of education and associated
services:
Short term
To increase the number of staff who can administer medicines or medical procedures
To increase different forms of communication around school e.g symbols
To install Soundfield system into at least 2 classes, ICT suite and hall
To train staff in Makaton
Medium term
To increase whole school presentation access for children with speech and language communication difficulties, visual or hearing impairment
To train staff in the use of Soundfeld system
To have ongoing training in the use of Makaton
Long term
To a sensory garden which can be accessed by children with mobility difficulties, visual impairment
Improving the delivery to disabled pupils of information that is provided in writing for pupils who are not disabled:
Short term
To buy a symbols programme which an be accessed by staff within the ICT suite
Medium term
To increase whole school presentation access for children with speech and language communication difficulties, visual or hearing impairment
To increase different forms of communication around schools
Long term
To seek advice on how to adapt written resources for children with visual impairment
Management
The day to day management of the Accessibility Plan is the responsibility of the Head teacher and staff. The plan has its own action plan which will be reviewed annually through the school improvement planning (which involves all sections of the school community) and the updating of SEF.
The SEN link governor will be responsible for evaluating the plan annually.
The Accessibility Plan will be reviewed annually by the Governors through the Curriculum and Finance committees. The Governing Body will report annually to parents on the progress of the Accessibility Plan.
Each year the Governing Body will allocate funding for the Accessibility Plan.
The Accessibility Plan will be revised annually.
Coordination
Under other legislation:
· SEN legislation (most disabled pupils will also have SEN and the effectiveness of the school’s provision to meet SEN will therefore have an impact on the progress of disabled pupils);
· other parts of the DDA (duties towards the general public, in Part 3, to staff in Part 2, the wider duties to disabled people under the DDA 2005).
Other policies and plans which will reflect priorities of the accessibility plan are
· school improvement plan;
· sef;
· SEN policy;
· health and safety policies.
· Fire evacuation plan
The School will coordinated with other services and agencies, for example:
· with the local authority’s accessibility strategy;
· social services;
· health agencies, particularly in respect of meeting the health needs of disabled pupils in school.
Implementation
The plan will be reviewed annually by the Senco and Link Governor
It will be reviewed in the Summer term
The plan is available as a hard copy and through the school’s blog.
