Disability Equality Scheme / Accessibility Plan April 2011

Disability Equality Scheme / Accessibility Plan

The SEN and Disability Act (2001) extended the Disability Discrimination Act (1995) 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 duty requires schools to produce an Accessibility Plan that identifies the actions the schools intend to take over a three year period to increase access for those with a disability in three key areas, which is then published and evaluated annually.

The three areas are:

• Increasing the extent to which disabled pupils are able to participate in the school curriculum.
• Improving the environment of the school to increase the extent to which disabled pupils area able to 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.

In addition, the Disability Equality Duty (2006) required all schools to extend the planning for pupils to include the needs of staff and visitors to the school whose needs are covered by the remit of the Disability Discrimination Act and also to

• Eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under the DDA.
• Eliminate harassment of those with a disability.
• Promote positive attitudes towards disabled persons.
• Encourage participation by disabled individuals.
• Take steps to take account of disabilities even if this involves treating disabled persons more favourably.

In furtherance of this duty Holy Trinity School will

• Involve some of the  pupils, staff, parents and visitors to the school with a disability or personal experience of the impact of disability on everyday life in reviewing and contributing to a Disability Equality Scheme(DES) and Accessibility Action Plan.
• Publish the DES/Action Plan on the school website.
• Demonstrate how school will action the identified activities to achieve the desired outcomes in the school improvement plan.
• Arrange to report on progress, review and revise the DES/AP annually (In school newsletter and reports to governors)

1A: The purpose and direction of the school’s plan: vision and values

(Refer to the vision and values for all pupils referred to in The School Mission Statement and also the School Inclusion Policy)

The school’s ambitions for disabled members of the school community (pupils, staff, and visitors to school) are focused on ensuring maximum participation, contribution and achievement for all.

Holy Trinity School has high ambitions for all its pupils and expects them to participate in, contribute to and achieve in all aspects of school’s life.

Holy Trinity School is committed to equal opportunities as determined by the National Inclusion Statement and supports those aims by endeavouring to

• Set suitable learning opportunities
• Respond to pupils’ diverse needs
• Overcome potential barriers to learning and assessment for individuals and groups of pupils.

1B: Information from pupil data

Holy Trinity School is a small Primary and Nursery School with an Admission Number of 25 per year group, in a rural part of Oldham Metropolitan Borough.

The profile of pupils, staff and regular visitors to the school, who have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day will be detailed

School policies relating to Inclusion, Special Educational Needs, Toileting and the Administration of Medication, have been differentiated to take into account the necessary responses for children who are within the remit of the SEN and Disability Discrimination Act. Other policies will now be reviewed with these duties clearly in mind.

Over recent years there has been an increase in the number of pupils requiring support relating to general toileting difficulties and pupils with specific medical difficulties relating to bowel disorders. Relevant staff have been provided with medical training and advice to enable them to best support these children and a motorised changing bed has been fitted in the medical room.

Whole staff training has been provided relating to asthma and its management.

Within school we also have had children who are diabetic. Training has been provided to relevant staff from the diabetic nurse and annual meetings are held with parents to update any medical information and to review the provision being made within school.

About 10 per cent of pupils with identified special educational needs are having their needs met through school action and short term small group interventions.

About 4 per cent of the school population is in receipt of long term individual programmes through school action plus or statements of special educational need.

Overall about 14 per cent of pupils have additional needs met through the graduated response.

Within school we have had whole staff training on Quality First Teaching and Provision Mapping relating to different areas of need e.g. Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia.

Pupils with special educational needs and those with disabilities take a full and active part in all aspects of school life. All pupils make good progress and contribute to all whole school activities such as class and school assemblies and sports and activity days.

Members of staff and parents with disabilities are encouraged to discuss their needs in confidence with the head teacher who will endeavour to meet them as sensitively as possible. Attention is paid to possible needs through the recruitment, interviewing and induction processes of staff and at the induction and welcome evenings for pupils.

1C: Views of those consulted

Parents views will be sought by way of a questionnaire and a meeting to be held in school. Seven parents have been selected in order to obtain the views of parents whose children have a wide range of different needs.

Where appropriate children will be questioned about their own feelings relating to how included they feel within the life of the school and about ways in which accessibility can be improved. Groups of children who have similar needs e.g. dyslexia, diabetes, will be interviewed together in order to empower them as a group.

2A: Increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the school curriculum.

During the last five years school has implemented a range of training sessions in order to develop the knowledge and skills of teaching and support staff in being able to deliver a curriculum which addresses a wide range of needs.

Training has been given on Autistic Spectrum Disorders, Dylexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, speech and language and occupational therapy.

Advice and support has been given by Speech and Language Therapists and training has been given to C.S.A’s responsible for delivering individual programmes to children.

The National Strategy Three Wave Approach to planning and Provision Mapping has been adapted within school with the first emphasis being on whole class planning and Quality First Teaching.

Training has been given to teaching staff and support staff on different learning styles and how to take these into account when teaching.

Key members of the support staff now lead small group focused interventions matched to the needs of the children.

The views of pupils and parents are integral to termly review meetings for pupils receiving support at School Action, School Action Plus as well as Statemented Pupils.

PIVATS materials have been introduced to monitor and plan for pupils needing very small steps in their learning.

The introduction of the Interactive Whiteboards has helped all pupils to some extent in increasing their ability to access different parts of the curriculum. ICT software has also been purchased in order to support particular groups of children e.g. Boardmaker, Clicker 5.

Medical training has been given to TA’s to support particular medical needs of individual children, helping to reduce the negative impact a child’s medical difficulties may have upon their access to the curriculum.

The achievements of all pupils are celebrated. Within school great emphasis is spent on developing PHSE, through for example Circle Time and using the SEAL materials, helping to promote positive attitudes towards individuals with learning difficulties and disabilities.

School has increased its capacity to respond to the needs of pupils. Effective strategies are in place and good use is made of access to specialist advice and support from Local Authority Services.

2B: Improving the physical environment of the school.

A hand rail has been put in place in the Key Stage One toilets to help to develop independence for some children.        

Attention has been given to improving the acoustics within Class 2, the Library, Class4, KS2 Practical Area and the Hall. This involved major work being carried out to the ceilings/walls of these areas.

A Medical Room has been set up with a motorised changing bed.     

School has been monitored for disability access in preparation for its use as a Polling Station. Full disability access and toileting

facilities have been favourably reported upon.

2C: Improving the delivery to disabled stakeholders of information that is provided in writing for those who are not disabled.

Boardmaker has been purchased which can be used to provide Visual Timetables or a range of pictorially presented information.

Text can be enlarged, printed on different coloured paper or upon request school can arrange for information to be provided in a medium to suit the individual needs of the person.

3. Making it happen

Each year revisions and developments will be consulted on during the Autumn Term in time for the revised plan to be published during the Summer Term for the new prospectus.

 The views of pupils, staff and visitors will be taken into account.

Holy Trinity School’s Accessibility Plan and Disability Equality Scheme will be made available on the school website and on request from the Head Teacher.