1. Statement of intent
Peel Clothworkers’ 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 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 pupils with a disability can enjoy and access all aspects of educational life in the same way as their peers. The specific measures the school has taken to ensure the school is accessible are outlined within the Accessibility Plan.
This policy must be adhered to by all staff members, pupils, parents and visitors.
1. Definitions
In line with the (IOM) Equality Act 2017, “indirect discrimination” is defined as if a person (A) discriminates against another (B) if A applies to B a provision, criterion or practice which is discriminatory in relation to a relevant protected characteristic of B’s.
For the purposes of subsection (1), a provision, criterion or practice is discriminatory in relation to a relevant protected characteristic of B’s if —
(a) A applies, or would apply, it to persons with whom B does not share the characteristic, (b) it puts, or would put, persons with whom B shares the characteristic at a particular disadvantage when compared with persons with whom B does not share it,
(c) it puts, or would put, B at that disadvantage, and
(d) A cannot show it to be a proportionate means of achieving a legitimate aim.
The relevant protected characteristics are —
(a) age;
(b) disability;
(c) gender reassignment;
(d) marriage and civil partnership;
(e) race;
(f) religion or belief;
(g) sex;
(h) sexual orientation
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.
2. Roles and responsibilities
The headteacher will be responsible for:
• Creating an Accessibility Plan with the intention of improving the school’s accessibility, 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 DESC and external agencies to effectively create and implement the school’s Accessibility Plan.
The SENCO and SPC (Specialist Provision Centre) Manager will be responsible for:
• Working closely with the headteacher to ensure that pupils with Additional Needs are appropriately supported.
• Ensuring they have oversight of the needs of pupils with Additional Needs 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 because of their disability.
All staff members will partake in whole-school training on equality issues (where available). 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.
3. Accessibility Plan
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 plan has the following key aims:
• To increase the extent to which pupils with a disability 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, 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. 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 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 DESC 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.
4. Equal opportunities
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 Additional Needs. The aim of the plan is to take appropriate measures 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 Additional Needs 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 Additional Needs to participate in all school activities.
5. Admissions
The school will act in accordance with its Admissions Policy and the DESC’s Catchment Area Rules. The same entry criteria will be applied to all pupils and potential pupils.
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 Additional Needs, will have appropriate access to all opportunities available to any member of the school community.
Information will be obtained on future pupils to facilitate advanced planning. Prospective parents of Complex Needs pupils, and pupils with Additional Needs, are invited to a transition meeting prior to the pupil starting school to discuss the pupil’s specific needs.
6. Curriculum
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 subject lead and the SENCO will work together to ensure that the pupil’s IEP plan is implemented, and that the teaching of that subject is adjusted for the pupil wherever necessary in line with their 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 each area of learning, 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 Additional Needs in place at the school. Detailed pupil information on pupils with Additional Needs 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.
7. Physical environment
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 reviews are conducted for those within the school community to ensure that specific needs are considered; 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.
8. Monitoring and review
This policy will be reviewed on an annual basis or when new legislation or guidance concerning equality and disability is published. The headteacher will review the policy in collaboration with the SENCO and the SPC (SPECIALIST PROFISSION CENTRE) manager.
Pol2024 AJ to be reviewed Jan 2025