S6A ACCESSIBILITY PLAN 2021-2023
Date Approved: | July 22 |
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Revision Date: | July 23 | Reviewed Annually |
Author/Owner | Sendco/Headteacher |
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Ratified by Governors: | Full Governing Body |
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Vision Statement
Under the Equality Act 2010 schools should have an Accessibility Plan. The Equality Act 2010 replaced all existing equality legislation, including the Disability Discrimination Act. The effect of the law is the same as in the past, meaning that “schools cannot unlawfully discriminate against pupils because of sex, race, disability, religion or belief and sexual orientation”. According to the Equality Act 2010 a person has a disability if:
(a) He or she has a physical or mental impairment, and
(b) The impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
The Accessibility Plan is listed as a statutory document of the Department for Education’s guidance on statutory policies for schools. The Plan will be reviewed every 3 years or where operational needs dictate and approved by the Governing Body.
At Maytree we are committed to working together to provide an inspirational and exciting learning environment where all children can develop an enthusiasm for lifelong learning. We believe that children should feel happy, safe and valued so that they gain a respectful, caring attitude towards each other and the environment both locally and globally.
Aims:
Our Aims are:
1) The Accessibility Plan has been developed and drawn up based upon information supplied by the Local Authority, and consultations with pupils, parents, staff and governors of the school. The document will be used to advise other school planning documents and policies and will be reported upon annually in respect of progress and outcomes.
The Accessibility Plan is structured to complement and support the school’s Equality Objectives, and will similarly be published on the school website. The Local Authority will monitor the school’s activity under the Equality Act 2010 (and in particular Schedule 10 regarding Accessibility) and will advise upon compliance with that duty. The school will work in partnership with the Local Authority in developing and implementing this Accessibility Plan. It is a requirement that our accessibility plan is resourced, implemented, reviewed and revised as necessary and reported on annually. The Accessibility Plan may be monitored by Ofsted during Inspection processes in relation to Schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.
2) Maytree is committed to providing an environment that enables full curriculum access that values and includes all pupils, staff, parents and visitors regardless of their education, physical, sensory, social, spiritual, emotional and cultural needs. We are committed to adhering to the principles of the Equality Act 2010 with regard to disability and to developing a culture of inclusion, support and awareness within the school.
3) Maytree Accessibility Plan shows how access is to be improved for s pupils with a disability, staff and visitors to the school within a given timeframe and anticipates the need to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate their needs where practicable.
The Maytree Accessibility Plan relates to the key aspects of the physical environment, curriculum and written information:
4) Whole school training will recognise the need to continue raising awareness for staff and governors on equality issues with reference to the Equality Act 2010.
5) This Accessibility Plan should be read in conjunction with the following school policies, strategies and documents:
• Curriculum Policy
• Equality Policy
• Health & Safety Policy (including off-site safety)
• Special Educational Needs Policy Local Offer
• Behaviour Management Policy
• School Improvement Plan
• School Brochure / Prospectus and Vision Statement
6) The Accessibility Plan for physical accessibility relates to the Access Audit of the School, which remains the responsibility of the governing body. It may not be feasible to undertake all of the works during the life of this accessibility plan and therefore some items will roll forward into subsequent plans. An accessibility audit will be completed by the school prior to the end of each period covering this plan in order to inform the development of a new Accessibility Plan for the ongoing period.
7) Equality Impact Assessments will be undertaken as and when school policies are reviewed. The terms of reference for all governors’ committees will include the need to consider Equality and Diversity issues as required by the Equality Act 2010.
Current good practice
We gather information about any disability or health condition in early communications with parents and carers of children who are new to the school. For parents and carers of children already at the school, we ask parents to keep the school informed of any changes to the information they have provided.
Physical Environment
There are no areas of the school to which pupils with a disability have limited or no access at the moment. Pupils with a disability participate in extra-curricular activities. Some aspects of extracurricular activities present particular challenges, for example lunch and break times for pupils with social/interaction impairments, after-school clubs for pupils with physical impairments and school trips for pupils with medical needs, however, all reasonable adjustments are made to support as full an involvement as possible.
Curriculum
Through planning for individual needs, we aim to provide as inclusive an approach as practically possible. Some areas of the curriculum present particular challenges, for example, PE for pupils with a physical impairment, however, all reasonable adjustments are made to support as full an involvement as possible. We seek advice and support from the relevant professionals in order to ensure that we have made adequate and reasonable adjustments.
Information
Different forms of communication are made available as needs are identified to enable all pupils with a disability to express their views and to hear the views of others. Access to information is provided in a range of different formats available for pupils with a disability, parents and staff as needed.
Access Audit
The school is housed in a one-storey building with two modular buildings. All entrances to the school are either flat or ramped and all have wide doors fitted. The main entrance features a secure lobby and has been fitted with a low reception hatch, this being fully accessible to wheelchair users. Whilst we acknowledge that the size of the school site could potentially present challenges when moving between buildings, we make reasonable adjustments as the need arises. The school doesn’t have any dedicated visitor parking. Parents visiting the School use on-street parking, however, suitable arrangements for disabled visitors are made when appropriate. There are disabled toilet facilities available in School and the Nursery. These are fitted with a handrail and a pull emergency cord. The school has internal emergency signage and escape routes are clearly marked. Personalised evacuation plans are put in place as required.
Management, coordination and implementation and review
• We consult with other professionals and services when new situations regarding pupils with disabilities are experienced
• The Governors and Senior Leadership Team work closely with the Local Authority
• We work closely with parents to consider their children’s needs
• The policy is reviewed annually and/or as children’s needs change
• The annual review is then shared with staff
• We make links with other schools to share best practices through regular SENDCO network meetings and other communications as needed
Complaints
The school works, wherever possible, in partnership with parents to ensure a collaborative approach to meeting pupils’ needs. If there are any complaints relating to the provision for pupils with access needs these will be dealt with in the first instance by the SENDCO and/or Deputy Headteacher and/or Headteacher. The governor for SEND or chair of governors may be involved if the complaint is not resolved satisfactorily.
Action Plan
Aim 1: To increase the extent to which pupils with a disability can participate in the school curriculum.
Our key objective is to reduce and eliminate barriers to access to the curriculum and to ensure full participation in the school community for pupils, and prospective pupils, with a disability, medical condition or other access needs. Provisions may include: Liaison with specialists, CPD for staff, a differentiated curriculum, specialist resources to support learning and access to the curriculum, a range of support staff including trained teaching assistants and access arrangements in place for statutory testing.
TARGET | STRATEGY | OUTCOME | TIMEFRAME | ACHIEVEMENT |
To liaise with pre-school providers * Health into /Nursery &Foundation each year | To identify pupils who may need adapted or additional provision | April to July annually | HT Nursery & YR R Leader and teachers | The provision set in place is ready for when the child/ren starts school |
To liaise with educational establishments to prepare for the intake of new children who transfer within year | To identify pupils who may need adapted or additional provision | Ongoing as need arises |
HT & AHTs/SENDCO | The provision set in place ready for when the child/ren starts school |
To review policies to ensure that they reflect inclusive practice and procedure | To comply with the Equality Act 2010 | Ongoing | SLT and all staff | Clear collaborative working approaches through regular meetings, risk assessment reviews, provision reviews and action planning |
To establish and maintain close liaison with parents | To ensure collaboration and information sharing between school and families. | Ongoing | SLT, SENDCo and teaching staff | Clear collaborative working approaches through regular meetings, risk assessment reviews, provision reviews and action planning |
To establish and maintain close liaison with outside agencies for pupils with additional needs | To ensure collaboration between all key personnel | Ongoing | SLT/SENDCo, all teaching staff and outside professionals | Clear collaborative working approaches through regular meetings, risk assessment reviews, provision reviews and action planning |
To include pupils with a disability, medical condition or other access needs as fully as possible in the wider curriculum including trips and residential visits as well as extracurricular provision | Create personalised risk assessments and access plans for individual children. Liaise with external agencies, identifying training needs and implementing training where needed. Ensure that actions, including emergency evacuation procedures, are clear and that staff are capable of carrying them out | Ongoing | SLT, SENDCo and all teaching and support staff, extracurricular service providers and educational visits settings | Evidence that appropriate considerations and reasonable adjustments have been made |
Aim 2: To improve the physical environment of the school to increase the extent to which pupils with a disability, medical condition or other access needs can access education and associated services.
TARGET | STRATEGY | OUTCOME | TIMEFRAME | ACHIEVEMENT |
Improve the physical school environment | The school will take account the needs of pupils with physical difficulties and sensory impairments when planning and undertaking future improvements and refurbishments of the site and premises, such as improved access, lighting and colour schemes, clear signage and more accessible facilities and fittings. | Ongoing | SLT, site manager and governors | Evidence that appropriate considerations have been made wherever physical school improvements are carried out |
Ensure that reasonable adjustments are made for pupils with a disability, medical condition or other access needs | Create personalised risk assessments and access plans for individual pupils. Liaise with external agencies, identifying training needs and implementing training where needed. Ensure that actions, including emergency evacuation procedures, are clear and that staff are capable of carrying them out. | Ongoing | SLT, SENDCo, all teaching & support staff and site manager | As full as possible inclusion for all pupils
Safe evacuation in an emergency |
Aim 3: Improve the delivery of information to pupils, staff, parents/carers and other members of the school community
TARGET | STRATEGY | OUTCOME | TIMEFRAME | ACHIEVEMENT |
To enable improved access to written information for pupils, parents and visitors. | Create and offer information in alternative formats Access arrangements are considered and put into the place for statutory testing | ongoing | SLT, teachers, admin team and SENDCo | Evidence that appropriate considerations and reasonable adjustments have been made |
Ensure that reasonable adjustments are made for parents with a disability, medical condition or other access needs so that they can fully support their child’s education | Adopt a proactive approach to identifying the access requirements of parents and make reasonable adjustments where possible | Ongoing | Whole School Team | Evidence that appropriate considerations and reasonable adjustments have been made, so that parents can fully support their children in their education |