A disabled person (child or adult) is someone who has a physical or mental impairment, which has substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

 

• A physical or mental impairment includes sensory impairments: impairments relating to mental functioning including learning disabilities such as dyslexia and dyspraxia; and long-term health conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy, HIV infection, cancer or multiple sclerosis.
• Substantial means more than minor or trivial.
• Long-term means an impairment that has lasted for at least 12 months, or is likely to last 12 months or for the rest of the person’s life.
• Normal day-to-day activities cover the following categories: mobility; manual dexterity; physical co-ordination; continence; speech, hearing or eyesight; memory or ability to concentrate, learn or understand; perception of the risk of physical danger.

 

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 without the treatment. Some people are automatically deemed to have a disability covered by the Act – those with HIV, cancer, MS, and severe disfigurements. There are special provisions for people with progressive or recurring conditions.

 

Actions Taken:

 

• The school, including the new buildings have been designed with inclusivity in mind, eg. acoustic ceiling tiles, no steps.
• We work with governors and parents to review policies and practices across the curriculum.
• We have identified children with physical or mental impairments relating to learning difficulties or sensory needs and those with long-term health conditions and identified how we can best meet their needs in relation to teaching and learning, care and personal development through working closely with parents to set up individual support plans or with the Health Care services.
• The school Disability Equality Scheme and Accessibility action plans have been fully reviewed by Governors to ensure we are working towards our overall goals for improvement.
• We ensure safer recruitment practices that are based upon equal opportunities. Governor training is on-going through an on-line service.
• Teaching practices have been improved through professional development courses and in-school training.
• We have adopted the principles of being a dyslexia friendly school.
• All staff are First Aid trained.
• Staff have had training on diabetes, asthma, and epi-pen from specialist nurses, as well as supporting individual circumstances.
• Support staff are specifically employed to support and aid individuals in need and we liaise very closely with outside agencies and parents to ensure an Education Health Care Plan is in place with training for staff as required.
• Inclusive practices are a strength of the school and finding ways to further personalise learning is a key priority for us.
• All new parents to school are given a disability access survey to ensure we are notified of any needs with respect to children or their families. We find that people are sometimes reluctant to come forward and need to look at other ways to raise awareness and improve communication in this area.
• Documents, including the weekly newsletter, are available in large print upon request.
• We use Target Tracker as a management tool to track pupil progress overall in order to ensure pupils with needs are making progress.
• We have raised the quality of listening and responding to pupil voice through various questionnaires, involvement in topic planning, council meetings and pupils assemblies. We have a School Council box for written suggestions and a ‘drop-in’ session to talk face to face with Council members.
• We have raised the quality of listening and responding to parent voice through questionnaires, workshops and meetings. There is a suggestion box located in the school hall.
• Improved support at playtimes and lunchtimes through ‘buddy’ and ‘family’ systems, as well as rotas set up by the pupils.

 

A full copy of the disability equality scheme or disability equality and accessibility plan is available on our school website. A full copy of our Equal Opportunities policy is available on the website or upon request. Do please come along and talk to us – we are here to support you and your family.