St Michaels CE (A) First School, Nursery and Out of School Club. Accessibility Policy

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1 St Michaels CE (A) First School, Nursery and Out of School Club Accessibility Policy Vision Statement: St. Michaels C.E. (A) First School, Nursery and Out of School Club will be a safe, happy and inclusive place that encourages the enthusiasm and joy of learning which will be underpinned by Christian Values. This will prepare our children for the 21st century. Introduction The Equality Act 2010 aims to protect disabled people and prevent disability discrimination. It provides legal rights for disabled people in all areas of life including education. It is unlawful for a school to treat disabled people unfavourably. Under this Act a person has a disability if they have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long term adverse effect on their ability to perform normal day-to-day activities. Unfavourable treatment could include direct discrimination, indirect discrimination, discrimination arising from a disability and harassment. The Act contains further guidance on the meanings of these definitions. In addition the Special Educational Needs (SEN) Code of Practice gives practical guidance on how to identify and assess children with Special Educational Needs. Since 1 January 2002 Local Educational Authorities and schools have been obliged to take account of this Code. School Site: St Michael s is an old school that has been built on a split site on two different levels. The school underwent major remodelling in The new main entrance links both parts of the school to make one safe secure building that can only be accessed by visitors from the main entrance. There is a purpose built ramp leading to the main entrance which has automatic doors to allow easy access for wheelchairs. During remodelling work a disabled lift was installed to allow easy access from the original main building to the lower building as well as a disabled toilet. The governors will review mobility and access issues relating to the building each year at the Governors Finance and Premises committee. Access to learning St Michael s is committed to providing all children every opportunity to achieve their potential in every aspect of school life. When a request is received from parents or the Local Authority for a pupil to attend the school, Nursery or Out of School Club professional advice from Support Services and other relevant professionals will be sought when necessary, to enable an assessment of the individual s needs to be made. This will include access to the various parts of the school and the requirements of the National or Early Years Curriculum. Parents and carers of pupils with disabilities will be consulted to identify and where possible, remove any obstacles to learning. Such obstacles could include physical, sensory, learning difficulties or emotional or social development as well as the learning environment experienced within the school.

2 The Staff at St Michael s School, Nursery and Out of School Club value pupils of different abilities. The Early years and National Curriculum will be implemented to meet the specific needs of individuals and groups of children by :- setting suitable learning challenges, including individual education plans (IEP) responding to children s diverse learning needs, overcoming potential barriers to learning for individuals and groups of pupils, by accessing adult support, intervention programmes, tailored speech and language therapy programmes, use of Information and Computer Technology (ICT) and visual aids, ensuring individuals are able to access other curricular opportunities outside the National Curriculum such as school trips, after school clubs and special events; sports days, visits to story tellers etc. When planning their work, the staff will take in to account the abilities and needs of all the children and provide differentiated work accordingly. This may involve modifying learning objectives, teaching styles and access strategies. Monitoring of progress will be carried out by class teachers, the Head teacher, SEN Coordinators and Literacy/Numeracy Advisers as appropriate and used to inform future planning of provisions to meet each individual s needs. This could include applying for examination concessions when appropriate. Most written information is presented in different formats to make it accessible. This includes: differentiation of class work and homework tasks visual presentation of information and timetables use of appropriate fonts and font sizes. The school will access translation services and Braille copies if required. Monitoring We recognise that monitoring is essential to ensure that students with disabilities are not being disadvantaged and that monitoring leads to action planning. We will monitor: Admissions Attainment Attendance Behaviour Exclusions Effects of literacy and numeracy interventions Extra-curricular activities Homework Selection and recruitment of staff Governing body representation Parents/carers attending consultation meetings Parents/carers involvement in the life of the school This Accessibility Policy will be:

3 reviewed annually by the Finance and Premises committee which will make appropriate recommendations to the Governing Body and the Head Teacher incorporated into the School Development Plan shared with all members of staff available from the School Office. Other related policies and documents: Single Equality Policy SEND Information Report Behaviour Policy Teaching and Learning Policy Admissions Policy School Development plan Curriculum policy Accessibility Plan

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5 St Michael s CE (A) First School, Nursery and Out of School Club, Nursery and Out of School Club Impact of the disability Equality and Accessibility The purpose and direction of the schools plan: vision and values. Information from pupil data and school audit. St Michael s School aims to be a fully inclusive school which offers a safe and purposeful environment for everyone to learn in. To achieve this each class has an assigned TA part of their role is Pastoral with children. As a church school we work very closely with parents. Staff ( Teaching and TA) are updated regularly about learning disabilities during staff meetings. Audit of staff awareness/confidence levels undertaken for Full status Dyslexia Award received in April Data is collected on School Information Management System (SIMS) and staff are able to view progress of all children. Views of those involved with the development of the plan. All staff are aware of their responsibilities in school. School Policies are reviewed with everyone in mind. The school building is on two levels and a lift is available for disabled pupils and parents so that it is suitable for anyone to access and those parents with disabilities or learning difficulties who let us know are offered support that suits their needs. Increasing the participation of disabled pupils in the curriculum. Increased flexibility in policies ensure reasonable adjustments are made for those with disabilities. Increased access to pastoral support for pupils with social and emotional problems. Increase in liaison with parents re pupils with barriers to progress. Increase evaluation of adult support in class for its effectiveness. Senior Leadership Team delegate a budget to SEN in order to constantly improve SEN participation through provision

6 Improving the physical environment of the school Disabled parking marked and in close proximity to school entrance. Ramps, lift and rails in place to support disabled visitors and pupils. Disabled toilets in place. Medical room established. Edges to steps painted yellow. Staff are trained in manual handling. Improving the access to printed information to those with a disability Our weekly Newsletter goes home on paper and is also available via e mail. The Newsletter is also read printed on buff coloured paper to help dyslexia parents Teachers ensure interactive whiteboards have pastel coloured backgrounds. Differentiated learning objectives with an appropriate readability are used and staff are constantly trying to ensure access to the curriculum is there for every pupil. Other initiatives such as aide memoir, talking tins, alph smart keyboards and coloured texts are also used to ehance classroom practice Some parents/carers have informed us of their difficulties and we are able to support their individual needs when we send information home or send reports home. Our open evenings provide prospective parents with the opportunity to see school in action and to ask questions The school website gives parents access to lots of information about our school and their children s learning. Signed by Headteacher Chair of Governors.

7 Accessibility Plan Sept Aims a) To increasing increase the involvement of those with disabilities in deciding action that impacts upon them. b) To increase access for those with a disability to the physical environment of the school, the curriculum and ensure equality in regards to access to information c) To evaluate and report to parents on the success of the action plan in meeting its targets Action Success criteria Lead person Timescale Monitoring Further develop systematic procedures that collect views of reasonable adjustments by pupils with a disability, their parent and advocates To have given all stakeholders the opportunity to express their views which will help the school to engage with all families in a fair and equitable manner. SMT/SENCo Sept 2013 ongoing SMT Measured by lower number of parental/carers concerns which would have been avoided, had all reasonable adjustments been considered. Further develop systematic procedures for monitoring the implementation of reasonable adjustments throughout the curriculum and extended school services. To have analysed pupil tracking data to identify pupils with SEND or from vulnerable groups to ensure that they are making at least good progress SLT Termly SMT

8 Further develop systematic processes for evaluating the impact of reasonable adjustments on cohorts with a disability and report annually to governors To have reported to Governors termly the progress of SEND and vulnerable groups of children. No significant difference in the attendance record of children on SEND register compared to the rest of the school JG JG Termly Termly T&L Governors SMT Publish annual reports to parents on the success of the action plan in reducing discrimination and identifying further targets. Parents and staff are informed of changes and improvements in our school as they happen. Children benefitting immediately from improved services, resources or support. SMT As it happens JG

9 increase access to the curriculum by: Success criteria Lead person Timescale Review Action Agree targets in three key areas and ensure that these are included within the School Development Plan and that resources are identified to ensure their implementation. SLT Sept 2013/14, 14/15 and 15/16 SMT Provision of Alpha Smart word processors SEND Pupils independently writing and accessing information through progarmmes that read aloud. JG Ongoing during JG (SENCo) Provision of i-pads/tablets

10 Increase access to written materials by: Increase access to the physical environment by: Investigate the use of a portable hearing loop that can be used in several areas in school Governor and other stakeholders have increased access to the spoken word in class or at meetings. JG Ongoing during SMT To investigate the use of a free program which convert text to speech Web site has a read aloud facility. Parents able to access school bulletin through a read aloud facility. KC/ Concero Ongoing during JG