St Saviour’s and St Olave’s School Accessibility Policy and Plan

3-year period covered by the plan: October 2018-2021

Plan agreed: Autumn Term 2018

Plan Review: Autumn Term 2019

Rationale

At St Saviour's & St Olave's we value all students in our school; this is underpinned by our belief that all are made in the image of God. We equally and firmly believe that everyone is entitled to experience success. We recognise the need to develop the whole student in both academic and personal terms; working to give them the confidence to achieve and fulfil their God given potential. The accessibility policy and accompanying three-year plan is intended to address the need to improve access to the curriculum, written information, and physical access at the school.

The plan underpins the local authority’s strategy for improving access in schools, and the policy operates alongside the school’s Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) policy.

Key Definitions

Schools are required under the Equality Act 2010 to have an accessibility plan. The Equality Act 2010 defines an individual as disabled 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 undertake normal day to day activities.

Under the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice, ‘long-term’ is defined as ‘a year or more’ and ‘substantial’ is defined as ‘more than minor or trivial’. The definition includes sensory impairments such as those affecting sight or hearing, and long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy and cancer.

Schools are required to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for students with disabilities under the Equality Act 2010, to alleviate any substantial disadvantage that a disabled student faces in comparison with non-disabled students. This can include, for example, the provision of an auxiliary aid or adjustments to premises.

Underlying Principles of the Policy

We seek to ensure that:

• The school provides access to opportunities for all students without discrimination of any kind
• Each student has the opportunity to grow in knowledge, fostered through Christian values
• Every student is valued and respected for their own worth irrespective of race, colour, creed or ability
• Students appreciate that they are members of the wider community in its richness and diversity
• The achievement and progress of students at all levels of ability is celebrated

  This policy informs the three-year Accessibility Plan, which is available on the school website (paper copies are available upon request).

  We are working within a national framework for educational inclusion provided by:
   

• Inclusive Schooling - DfES
• SEN & Disability and Discrimination Act 2001
• SEND Revised Code of Practice 2015
• Equality Act 2010
• Code of Practice for Schools (Disability Rights Commission)
• Ofsted

Links to Other Policies

The Accessibility policy should be read in conjunction with the following policies:

SEND
Behaviour

Attendance

Equality Policy

Admissions

Teaching and Learning

Complaints

Our school’s complaints procedure covers the accessibility plan. If you have any concerns relating to accessibility in school, the complaint will be dealt with following the guidelines laid down in the school’s Complaints Procedure.

Accessibility 3 Year Plan

The SEN and Disability Act 2001 extended the 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 students less favourably for a reason related to their disability; 
• to make reasonable adjustments for disabled students, so that they are not at a substantial disadvantage;
• to plan to increase access to education for disabled students.

 

Key Aims

Our action plan sets out the proposals approved by 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 Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA).

1. Increase the extent to which disabled students can participate in the curriculum

Ensure that the curriculum is differentiated to meet the learning needs of pupils with SEN and disabilities and that target setting is effective and appropriate.

2. Improve the physical environment of the school to enable disabled students to take better advantage of education, benefits, facilities and services provided

Manage and improve the physical environment of the school buildings and grounds in order to meet the needs of a range of current and prospective pupils with disabilities.

3. Improve the availability of accessible information to disabled students

Ensure that no student is unable to understand or access information within the school, classroom or that which is sent home.

 

It is a requirement that the school’s accessibility plan is resourced, implemented, reviewed and revised as necessary and reported on annually. Attached is the action plan showing how the school will address the three key aims.

 

The priorities for the Accessibility Plan for our school were identified by a planning group who consisted of:

 

• SEND Governor (Lead)
• Deputy Headteacher (Inclusion SLT Lead)
• SENDCO
• Facilities Manager
• Assistant Headteacher
• School Business Manager

 

Those listed under ‘Staff Involved’ in the table are additional to the Inclusion SLT Lead and SENDCO.

The Inclusion SLT Lead has responsibility for reporting to those who monitor the progress of the plan: Lead Governor, the Governing Body and the Headteacher.