Accessibility Plan

Policy details

Datecreated-09/11/2020

Dateofgovernorapproval -

Next review date-09/11/2024 

Contents

Policydetails2 1. Aims3 2. Legislationandguidance5 3. Actionplan6 4. Monitoringarrangements9 5. Linkswithotherpolicies10 Appendix1:Accessibilityaudit11

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1. Aims

Schools are required under the Equality Act 2010 to have an accessibility plan. The purpose of the plan is to: ● Increase the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the curriculum

● Improve the physical environment of the school to enable disabled pupils to take better advantage of education, benefits, facilities and services provided

● Improve the availability of accessible information to disabled pupils 

Our school aims to treat all its pupils fairly and with respect. This involves providing access and opportunities for all pupils without discrimination of any kind.

Co-op Academy Beckfield has high ambitions for its disabled pupils and expects them to participate and achieve in every aspect of school life. We have a caring, supportive ethos that seeks to value all individuals and treat them fairly and with respect.. Our school promotes equality of opportunity for disabled people: pupils, staff, parents, carers and others who use the school.

By promoting a positive attitude towards disabled people we aim to eliminate discrimination and harrassment related to disability and thereby fulfil an essential component of our ethos.

We are 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.

The plan will be made available online on the school website, and paper copies are available upon request.

Our school is also committed to ensuring staff are trained in equality issues with reference to the Equality Act 2010, including understanding disability issues. For this reason, we keep our equality objectives up-to-date and show these on our website.

The school supports any available partnerships to develop and implement the plan.

Our school’s values are underpinned by the 4 Co-op Ways of Being; Do what matters most, Be yourself, always, Show you care and Succeed Together. All these principles promote equality and inclusion and actively seek to encourage colleagues to promote diversity and always consider views from all perspectives. Our school aims to see the value that diversity and inclusion brings to colleagues, pupils and the wider community.

Our school’s complaints procedure covers the accessibility plan. If you have any concerns relating to accessibility in school, this procedure sets out the process for raising these concerns.

We have included a range of stakeholders in the development of this accessibility plan, including pupils, parents, colleagues and governors of the school.

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2. Legislation and guidance

This document meets the requirements of schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010 and the Department for Education (DfE) guidance for schools on the Equality Act 2010. 

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 pupils with disabilities under the Equality Act 2010, to alleviate any substantial disadvantage that a disabled pupil faces in comparison with non-disabled pupils. This can include, for example, the provision of an auxiliary aid or adjustments to premises. 

This policy complies with our funding agreement and articles of association. 

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3. Action plan

This action plan sets out the aims of our accessibility plan in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.

Aim Current good practice

Include established practice

and practice under

development

Objectives

State short, medium and long-term

objectives

Actions to be taken Person responsible

Date to complete actions by

Success criteria

Increase access to the

curriculum for pupils with a disability

Our school offers a

differentiated curriculum for all pupils.

We use resources tailored to the needs of pupils who require support to access the curriculum.

Curriculum resources include examples of people with disabilities.

Curriculum progress is tracked for all pupils,

including those with a disability.

Ensure all pupils, irrespective of their disabilities, can access the whole curriculum.

Make adjustments to the curriculum if necessary although

all resources should be chosen with access by all pupils in mind.

Class teachers are aware of pupil’s disabilities and

Ensure class

teachers are aware of the Equality Act 2010 and what a reasonable

adjustment is.

Review curriculum resources to ensure there are examples of people with

disabilities.

SENDco to hold regular SEND

meetings with class teachers to ensure

Head

teacher and SENDco

Ongoing

Half termly monitoring

All children have fair and equitable access to the

school’s

curriculum.

Improve and maintain access to the physical environment

Targets are set effectively and are appropriate for pupils with additional

needs.

The curriculum is reviewed to ensure it meets the needs of all pupils.

The environment is adapted to the needs of pupils as required.

This includes:

● Toilet access in main school

● Corridor width

● Disabled parking bay

● Disabled toilets

including children’s

facilities in KS1 and

KS2.

make appropriate adjustments.

HT and SENDco to monitor the

curriculum to ensure pupil’s needs are being met.

Where an

adjustment is

required, the

SENCo and teacher add this into the pupil support plan

Review the

environment at

regular intervals to ensure access to the physical

environment.

If a pupil, colleague or visitor has

specific

requirements,

ensure reasonable adjustments are put in place.

progress and

targets are

appropriate.

All pupil support

plans to match any

adjustments

required

SENCo learning

walks to monitor

application of PSP

None at present Head Teacher and

Business

Manager

Sept

Reviewed half termly

The physical environment at Beckfield is

accessible to all

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Improve the delivery of

information to pupils and

adults with a disability

● Library shelves at

wheelchair-accessible height

● Reception area hatch is at

wheelchair-accessible height

Our school uses a range of communication methods to ensure information is

accessible. This includes: ● Internal signage

● Large print resources ● Braille

● Induction loops

● Pictorial or symbolic representations

Ensure the

appropriate

communication

method is used for all disabilities.

Use Co-op’s Tone of Voice approach for all written

communication. This is a down to earth

communication style that aims to clearly state what we are intending to

communicate with no jargon.

Regular reviews of communications used.

Ensure class

teachers inform the SENDco of any different

communication methods required.

Put reasonable adjustments in place

All staff in school

Ongoing All reasonable adjustments are

made in a timely

manner to

support pupils

and adults with a

disability

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4. Monitoring arrangements

This document will be reviewed every 3 years, but may be reviewed and updated more frequently if necessary. It will be approved by the governing body.

Our SENCo will support other leaders to ensure accessibility is considered in all forms of monitoring, ensuring staff are considering the needs of all learners.

Health and Safety walks are undertaken at least twice every half term and the outcomes of these are fed back to the wider staff team. This focuses on the aims and actions from this plan.

5. Links with other policies

This accessibility plan is linked to the following policies and documents:

● Health and safety policy

● Equality information and objectives (public sector equality duty) statement for publication 

● Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) information report 

● Supporting pupils with medical conditions policy 

● Safeguarding and child protection policy 

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Appendix 1: Accessibility audit

Feature Description Actions to be taken Person responsible

Date to complete actions by

Number of storeys School is on one floor N/A N/A N/A

Corridor access All corridors are suitable for wheelchair access. There

are double doors at the end

of each corridor enabling

wheelchair access.

None Business Manager

N/A

Parking bays We have space for one car to be parked near to the

school entrance.

If necessary, we can cordon off an additional parking space if a visitor requires a parking bay near to the building. We would need to know in advance of the visit.

Business Manager

N/A

Entrances All entrances have doors wide enough to

accommodate a wheelchair.

None Business Manager

N/A

Toilets There is a disabled toilet situated near to the main

entrance. Toilets in KS2

have a disability accessible

toilet.

None Business Manager

N/A

Reception area The reception area is big enough to accommodate a

wheelchair.

Internal signage Fire escape signage needs to be updated

Emergency escape routes All emergency escape routes have doors wide

enough to accommodate a

wheelchair. A PEEP would

be undertaken with any

person in the building to

ensure a safe escape in the

event of an emergency.

If any visitors require any assistance, the receptionist will ensure they receive this.

Ensure that internal signage is written in clear English and is of a reasonable size to help with any visual impairments

Person would need to be identified so a PEEP can be put in place.

Business

Manager

Superintende nt and

Business

Manager

Business

Manager

N/A

By 31.12.20 N/A

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