Dartree Walk, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S73 9NL
Telephone: 01226754336
Upperwood School Disability Equality Scheme
Upperwood Primary School welcomes its general responsibilities under Part 5 of the Disability Discrimination Act (Disability Equality Duty) to have due regard to the need to:
This scheme and the accompanying action plan will set out how School and the Governing Body will promote equality of opportunity for disabled people.
Duties in Part 4 of the DDA require the governing body to plan to increase access to education for disabled pupils in 3 ways:
• increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the school curriculum;
• improving the environment of the school to increase the extent to which disabled pupils can take advantage of education and associated services;
• improving the delivery to disabled pupils of information which is provided in writing for pupils who are not disabled.
School Ethos, Vision and Values
At Upperwood School we are committed to ensuring equality of education and opportunity for disabled pupils, staff and those receiving services from the school. We aim to maintain a culture of inclusion and diversity in which people are able to disclose their disability and to participate fully in school life. Our admissions policy does not discriminate against disabled pupils. The achievement of disabled pupils is monitored and we use this data to raise standards and ensure inclusive teaching. We will make reasonable adjustments to ensure that the school environment is as accessible as possible. We will not tolerate harassment of disabled people with any form of impairment. This school relates to the ‘social’ model of disability as the basis for its work to improve equality for and tackle discrimination against disabled people. This model says that it is the world and society that create barriers that limit or prevent disabled people from enjoying the same opportunities as people who are not disabled.
Definition of Disability
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 defines a disabled person who has a ‘physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’.
Someone with an impairment may be receiving medical or other treatment which alleviates or removes the effects of that impairment (but not the impairment itself). In such cases the treatment should be disregarded and the impairment is taken to have the effect it would have had without the treatment. Some people are automatically deemed to have a disability covered by the Act- those with HIV, cancer, MS and severe disfigurements.
Disability in Education recommends that all pupils with SEN and those with long term medical needs be treated as disabled for the purposes of the Act and for equality. This is in addition to all pupils with longterm impairments, which have a significant impact on their day-to-day activities.
How we will meet the General and Specific duty.
We will meet the General and Specific Duty by providing a Scheme and action plan which will aim to integrate disability equality into all aspects of school life. We will also review the Accessibility Plan on a 3 year cycle alongside the DES.
In developing and implementing an action plan we will aim to;
How disabled people have been involved in the Scheme
Upperwood School recognises the importance of involving disabled people fully in the development of our Disability Equality scheme. We have involved disabled people in the following ways:
How we intend to gather information on the effect of our
policies and practices on disabled people.
We sent out an initial consultation form with definition of disability and there was a poor response.
We have used reviews and TAC meetings to establish support and parent/ pupil views
We intend to consult widely through our website and to send a more ‘user friendly ‘consultation to parents and the community in 2009/10.
We will amend our annual questionnaires where appropriate to ascertain public views on accessibility and identify barriers to disabled pupils and stakeholders
Recruitment, development and retention of disabled employees
We identify our disabled staff through standard application forms (LA) and during recruitment
Our existing staff, who may become disabled are treated sensitively and their needs are addressed. E.G. additional time, adjustments to duties, or leave. School ethos welcomes staff to raise personal issues with senior staff, even though there is no legal obligation to disclose a disability.
Our Duty of care to our staff is to explain through this policy that disclosure can enable the school to make appropriate reasonable adjustments; we
reassure staff of the confidentiality of their disclosure;
School has reviewed its monitoring of sick leave and identifies the requirements of disabled staff members in light of reasonable adjustments to working hours, duties etc.
Educational opportunities available to and achievements of disabled pupils
2007/8. There are currently 10 children with identified disabilities. These children also have SEN and are on SA, SA+ or Statement.
2009- There are 10 children with identified disabilities. These children also have SEN and are on SA, SA+ or Statement
Our disabled children are identified with medical needs, eczema, asthma, diabetes, , Erhlos Danos syndrome, hypermobility, Asperger’s, dyspraxia, Speech, Language and Communication needs, behavioural needs and ADHD. We have some children who may not be identified as disabled, who may have additional needs. Our policy applies to all our students with additional needs.
We collect information on the disability of new pupils as part of school admission enquiries / other communication. This may consist of simply asking parents “Does your child have any learning difficulty, medical condition or disability? ”
We have meetings and reviews with parents, TAC through Common Assessment, multi - agencies reviews and strategies/ reports and informal /pastoral meetings, where families and children can discuss or voice their views and raise issues.
We keep records and monitor progress, attainment and achievement of all our pupils. We have further records, reports and information from outside agencies on our disabled children. We monitor progress though Individual Education and care plans.
We maintain an updated provision map which identifies our pupil needs. Our disabled children are identified on this map where they require additional support in school and for the purpose of maintaining data and information.
We monitor participation in curriculum activities, e.g. sport PE and clubs. We may invite disabled pupils to take part if they have not applied, so that they feel welcome and have opportunities to achieve in a range of activities.
We work with our Secondary schools and staff to ensure strong support systems for transition of our disabled pupils. E.g. extra visits, meetings with parents, mentoring in school. Information is shared during transition meetings.
Information on other disabled people using our services
We fully understand that some parents/cares may not wish to disclose that they have a disability, but we would welcome their response to improving our services for all disabled stakeholders. Our annual consultation and website gives people an opportunity to make comments on their views and where they feel there are barriers. It is our aim to extend the range of consultation by creating a focus group, where parents/carers and staff may work together positively to ensure school supports disabled pupils and stakeholders more effectively.
How we will use the information gathered
School has an action plan which will be reviewed annually. This action plan will be based on analysis of pupil , progress, and audit of how school works to meet its statutory duty and inclusion/ equal opps policy. It also intends to use actions identified by disabled pupils, parents and people in the community, over the first three year cycle. The information gathered will be used to review policies and practice across all school areas, with priority given to those policies which most impact the lives of our disabled community.
Recruitment, development and retention of disabled employees
We follow LA protocols and guidelines in recruitment of employees in terms of application forms. We fully consider choices of accessibility in terms of venues for interviews. Applications from disabled staff are welcome.
Over recent years existing staff with disabilities have been retained through reasonable adjustments being made to duties and hours of duty, including longterm leave. This has enabled them to make a full return to service.
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Action plan
It is the intention of the school action plan to build upon and improve better information gathering systems over time.
In all these involvements we will endeavour to involve increasing numbers of disabled people as the scheme itself evolves over time. We understand that review of some of these policies cannot take place without the identified views of disabled people in our school and community.
All information shared, and identified views will be taken into account through regular review against the action plan.
We recognise that our policies and practices impact on disabled people, and in particular on:
We will prioritise review of those policies which have the biggest impact on disability equality. This will be identified in the Action Plan. School needs to raise awareness of the definition of disability to collect more accurate information. We need to consider how we collect information on disability when recruiting and selecting new staff. We need to gather information on disability within existing staff and consider ways that this may be done so that reasons for disclosure are explained in light of the duty. We need to consider the collection of data on staff to analyse how disabled people are represented among different groups of employees.
School needs to raise disability awareness across school with regard to pupils. We want disabled pupils to have a voice, to feel comfortable in raising issues or concerns, and to feel fully included in all aspects of school life. As part of our action plan, we will monitor information about the participation of pupils with disabilities both in terms of their accessibility to curriculum, their physical, social and emotional needs, their enjoyment and achievement in school and their aspirations for the future.
School needs to consider the needs of disabled parents and carers so that there is the best possible interaction between home and school. Where possible, school will use information sensitively and with full confidentiality in order to meet individual needs and requirements.
SMT and Inclusion Staff have done a checklist identifying where it currently stands in policy and practice on disability equality. This will be reviewed through the action plan.
School needs a timetable of review and assessment of impact of policies with most relevance to disability equality. This will be identified in the action plan.
Our Accessibility Action Plan
We have produced a new access action plan to ensure that we fulfil our general and specific duties under the disability equality duty.
Our existing accessibility plan outlines the steps we are taking to improve:
The accessibility plan will fit in with the actions and arrangements in the disability equality scheme.
We will report annually about the progress we are making on promoting equality of opportunity for disabled people and the impact of our actions. Our annual report will include details of information gathered, and actions completed and ongoing. We will ensure that disabled people are involved in the process.
Reviewing and revision of scheme
Our scheme will be reviewed and revised after a period of 3 years and disabled people will be involved in the process. A new action plan will be produced, responding to issues identified through our impact assessment and included in our annual report.
Review Date December 2010
Senior Member of Staff Responsible- Headteacher Mr Budd,
Designated Governor for Equal Opportunities and Disability Equality- to be arranged
Designated Member of Staff- Mrs Hirst Inclusion Officer