Accessibility Plan Policy

You are disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.

Tanfield School has high ambitions for its pupils with disabilities and will aim to provide the correct environment for them to participate and achieve in every aspect of school life. The school also intends to increase accessibility for staff and members of the public with disabilities.

As part of our anticipatory duty we will examine the data we hold on our pupils to identify pupils with disabilities who attend the school. We will also take into consideration any advanced information that is made available. For example, from an earlier key stage or from a prospective pupil with a disability that is likely to attend the school.

In order to ensure that we take into consideration a wide range of views regarding accessibility issues in the school we have a planning group consisting of:

• Director of Business & Finance
• Business Services Manager
• Health and Safety Team
• Chair of Governors
• SENDCo liaising with disabled members of the community

If our circumstances change we will appoint other members to the group relevant to the changes.

We are aware of the three duties that cover the provision of education:

• The disability discrimination duties in Part 4 of the DDA
• The planning duties in Part 4 of the DDA
• The Special Educational Needs (SEN) duties

And we understand that these three sets of duties are combined to provide the statutory framework that underpins equality of opportunity for pupils with disabilities in accessing school education. We are also aware that the duty not to treat a pupil with disabilities less favourably and the duty to make reasonable adjustments are the two core duties that lie at the heart of the disability discrimination provisions in education. In compiling its Accessibility Plan the school will utilise the support package provided via the schools extranet. These resources will be used in conjunction with the database software that highlights issues relating to all three areas from the planning duties:

• Increasing access to the curriculum
• Improving the physical environment
• improving the information to disabled pupils and making it more accessible.

1. Following the schools physical audit we will take the issues of non-compliance detailed in our database and address each item individually and put forward our action plan, timescale and funding methods.

2. Using the curriculum section and the database we will answer all questions and again propose our action plan, timeframe and funding to address any areas of shortfall.

3. Again using the information section and the database we will answer all questions and again propose our action plan, timeframe and funding to address any areas of shortfall.

The way we are addressing the three planning priorities are:

1. Increasing access to the curriculum

   All areas relating to the curriculum have been identified and appropriate action taken.

2. Improving the physical environment

   We have prioritised these areas into the most urgent which are being dealt with on a rolling programme of work. As circumstances change the priorities may have to be rearranged to meet the present needs.

3. Improving awareness of Equality and Inclusion and providing information in different formats

   All areas relating to the provision of information in different formats have been identified and appropriate action taken.

A member of the planning group will attend training for Accessibility Planning and will coordinate the gathering and input of information into the database. This will be an on-going process. The planning group will meet prior to the Governing Body termly meeting in order to provide updates on the progress and implementation of the plan.

The school’s Accessibility Plan is available in school. A copy is kept in the main office. Any interested parties should contact the SENDCo in the first instance to discuss the plan.