Accessibility Policy

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 students can participate in the curriculum

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

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

The plan will be made available online on the St Rose’s website, and paper copies are available upon request.

St Rose’s is committed to ensuring staff are trained in equality issues with reference to the Equality Act 2010, including understanding disability issues.

St Rose’s is also committed to providing an environment that enables full curriculum access that values and includes all students, staff, parents and visitors, regardless of their educational, physical, sensory, social, spiritual, emotional and cultural needs. We are committed to developing a culture of inclusion, support and awareness within the organization.

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

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

Current good practice

Our school offers a differentiated curriculum for all students.
We use high tech Communication Aids for all students who can access them, and eye gaze cameras for students who cannot access a touchscreen.
Teachers and therapists work together to deliver a Total Communication approach throughout school.
Makaton Signing training courses are run by the Speech and Language department.
Teachers have access to Widgit to support students who use pictures for communication.
Low tech communication aids include eye pointing charts and Partner Assisted Scanning charts.
We use resources tailored to the needs of students who require support to access the curriculum.
Curriculum resources include examples of people with disabilities.
Curriculum progress is tracked for all students
Targets are set effectively and are appropriate for all our students irrespective of their additional needs.
The curriculum is reviewed to ensure it meets the needs of all students.
Classrooms are designed with input from O.T. SLT and teachers, to be low stimulation to support focused learning.
Wellbeing activities are embedded across the curriculum to ensure students are supported mentally and emotionally to access learning.
The environment is adapted to the needs of students as required and is fully wheelchair accessible.

This includes:

Ramps
Elevators
Corridor width
Disabled parking bays
Disabled toilets and changing facilities
Library shelves at wheelchair-accessible height
Adjustable height work stations
Hoisting facilities in all areas including bathrooms, classrooms, pool and trampoline
Suitable bathroom facilities
Suitable dining room facilities
Wheelchair accessible speed ramps in the exterior grounds
Accessible living skills room
Visual information, including timetables for all students
Wheelchair accessible work stations where required

St Rose’s uses a range of communication methods to ensure information is accessible. This includes:

Internal signage
Large print resources
Pictorial or symbolic representation
Widgit
High tech communication aids and eye gaze
Low tech communication such as eye pointing charts and Partner Assisted Scanning

St Rose’s adapts the environment to meet the sensory needs of individual students.
There is a high staffing ratio ensuring that students receive the support they need to access the curriculum
Wheelchair accessible Sensory Room and dark room for Visual Impairment activities
Wheelchair accessible Immersion Room
Wheelchair accessible Magic Carpet
Small spaces designed to meet the needs of individual students who have specific sensory needs
Safe fenced area in garden for ambulant students
Extended outside Nursery play area for Reception Students

Appendix 1

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