Accessibility Plan

Introduction:

The Equality Act 2010 replaced previous discrimination law and provides a single piece of legislation covering all the types of discrimination that are unlawful. Schools and Local Authorities have to carry out accessibility planning for disabled pupils. Our school’s accessibility plan enables us to :

• Maximise the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the curriculum
• Improve the physical environment of 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

Disability is defined by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA): “A person has a disability 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 carry out normal day to day activities.” The definition includes people with a Hearing or Visual Impairment, Cerebral Palsy, Muscular Dystrophy, mental health issues and incontinence. People with ADHD, Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Downs Syndrome and Hydrocephalus are included. Medical conditions such as Cystic Fibrosis, severe Asthma, Diabetes, 
Cancer, Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy, Sickle Cell Anaemia and HIV are deemed disabilities. Facial disfigurement, severe Dyslexia, gross obesity and diagnosed eating disorders are all included.

Vision and values:

At Pentland we believe that all children and young people have the right to be healthy, happy and safe; to 
be loved, valued and respected; and to have high aspirations for their future. We believe that inclusion is 
the process of taking necessary steps to make sure that every child is given equality of opportunity to 
develop socially, to learn and enjoy community life. We recognise the need to provide adequate resources 
for implementing plans and will regularly review them.
 
 
Principles:
Pentland School recognises its duty under the DDA (as amended by the SENDA):

•  not to discriminate against disabled pupils in their admissions and exclusions, and provision of 
  education and associated services
• not to treat disabled pupils less favourably
• to take reasonable steps to reduce any disadvantages for our disabled children.
• to publish an Accessibility Plan.

Pentland school recognises and values parents’ knowledge of their child’s disability and its effect on his/her ability to carry out normal activities, and respects the parents’ and child’s right to confidentiality; As a school we provide all our children with a broad and balanced curriculum, differentiated and adjusted to  meet the needs of individual pupils and their preferred learning styles.

The achievement of disabled children will be monitored and we will use this data to raise standards and ensure inclusive teaching.
This Accessibility Plan should be read in conjunction with the following school policies, strategies and documents:

• Behaviour Management Policy
• Curriculum Policies
• Emergency Plan
• Health & Safety Policy
• School Improvement Plan
• Additional Needs Policy
• Teaching and Learning Policy 
   

Physical Environment:

Pentland Infant & Nursery school is a single storey building with relatively wide corridors and several access points from outside. The land upon which the school and nursery are built is flat. All access points are flat and level or ramped thereby ensuring easy access for wheelchair users. Main doors into the school and nursery building are wide and accessible for wheelchair users. Doors within the main school corridor are also wide to enable access to wheelchair users.

The school has internal emergency signage and emergency lighting. All escape routes are clearly marked. We have two disabled toilet within the main school building with handrails and emergency pull cords. We have onsite disabled parking places available close to the main entrance of school.

Curriculum:

Improving teaching and learning is at the heart of the school’s work. The school follows the National Curriculum and the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. Through self-evaluation and continuous professional development (CPD), we aim to enhance staff knowledge, skills and understanding to promote outstanding teaching and learning for all children. We aim to meet every child’s needs within mixed ability inclusive classes. Additional adult support and/or specific resources are used to enable pupils with additional needs to fully access the curriculum.

It is a core value of the school that all pupils are enabled to participate fully in the broader life of the school, including participation in clubs and educational trips/visits.Where appropriate, external advice and guidance is sought, eg. the educational psychologist, speech and language therapists, occupational therapist, etc.

 

Information:

Information about the school is generally in a written format. This can be provided in larger print if requested or a member of staff will go through the information with a parent/carer on a one-to-one basis. Heritage language translations are provided when needed. Information can also be accessed on the school website.

Management, co-ordination and implementation:

The governors and the senior leadership team (including the SENCO) will consult with outside agencies and the Local Authority if and when new situations regarding children with disabilities arise.
 
 
 Below is a copy of the schools Accessibility Plan. Please download and read. (This inlcudes the action plan in the appendix)

Files to Download