Steps taken to prevent disabled pupil being treated unfavourably.
The Equality Act 2010 guidance for Schools states that a person has a disability if:
“They have a physical or mental impairment which has a long term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.”
A school therefore mustn’t discriminate against a disabled pupil in relation to:
- admissions
- how their education is provided
- exclusion
- any other disadvantage, denial of opportunity or choice
That provision of education includes all school activities, spanning:
- assessments and internal exams
- behaviour/discipline management
- use of school facilities
- extracurricular and leisure activities
- after-school and homework clubs
- sports activities
- school trips
Access to the school building
Our accessibility plan details how we can support children/families with physical disabilities to access our school. Our lift supports children/families with physical disabilities to access our pain entrance, and we have a second smaller lift to enable access to our ground floor. We have mobile ramps for smaller stairways and accommodate classrooms based on specific physical need.
Supporting pupils in exams
Schools have a responsibility for ensuring that disabled pupils can access internal examinations. As such, there are various ways we can support pupils in their exams, including, but not limited to:
- granting them additional time
- making a scribe available
- enabling them to use assistive technology
Day to day support in place
We recognise that all children are unique, and this applies to children with disabilities, too. We make use of all available reasonable adjustments for children with a disability. Below we have outlined a range of strategies which we implement in order to ensure that children with any form of disability is not treated unfavourably. The list below is by no means exhaustive, and we make reasonable adjustments for all of our pupils on a bespoke, child-by-child basis.
- ear defenders to support sensory need or sensitivities
- access alternative arrangements during assemblies, sports days and other whole school events
- the use of a ‘quiet’ area or separate work station throughout the day
- sensory circuits
- sensory breaks
- wellbeing clubs
- lunchtime support
- emotional support through ELSA support
- CBT therapy through Thumbs Up!
- amended curriculum adjustments
- adapted curriculum access
- pre/post teaching strategies
- reasonable accessibility adjustments for school trips and visits
- slightly different timings in order to avoid busy and crowded corridors
If your child has a disability or if you require any further information, please contact our SENDCO, Mrs Buckle. Our Mental Health and Wellbeing lead is Miss Collins.