ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL

EARLY HELP & SCHOOLS SERVICE

ACCESSIBILITY STRATEGY 2016-19

ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL

ACCESSIBILITY STRATEGY 2016-19

CONTENTS

Statement of Principle

Definitions of Accessibility
The Role of the Local Authority (LA)
The LA Commitment

Resources

The Legal Context, Policies and Plans

LA Strategy

The Physical Estate
Access to the Curriculum
Access to Information
Advice to Schools
Monitoring, Evaluation and Review

Appendices

Appendix 1: / Equality Act 2010 Schedule 10
Appendix 2: / SEND Code of Practice 2015, SEN Policy and Strategic Plan
Appendix 3: / Potential for Accessibility Support
Appendix 4: / Initial Checklist for Schools and other Providers
Appendix 5: / The School Accessibility Plan

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLE

Definitions of Accessibility

  1. The Local Authority (LA) has a duty to plan strategically so that the accessibility of its schools and other provision increases over time. Schools share this duty as ‘responsible bodies’ and have a duty to prepare an accessibility plan which will explain how they will increase accessibility.
  2. Accessibility strategies and plans must, in accordance with government guidance, show how the LA and schools will:

-increase the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the schools’ curriculums;

-improve the physical environment of the schools for the purpose of increasing the extent to which disabled pupils are able to take advantage of education and associated services provided or offered by schools; and

-improve the delivery to disabled pupils and parents of information which is already provided, in writing, to pupils and parents who are not disabled. This should be done within a reasonable period of time and in formats which take account of any views expressed by the pupils or their parents about their preferred means of communication.

  1. The duty to plan for improved accessibility is set out in the Schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010.
  2. Although the core of accessibility is about how pupils can access what is happening in schools, the teaching and learning that is available, it is also about access to the whole social and out of school curriculum. This means that all aspects of a school’s work need to be considered in terms of their accessibility for those with a disability and, given the close involvement of parents in their children’s education, parental accessibility too.

The Role of the Local Authority (LA)

  1. The LA’s duty to prepare and maintain an accessibility strategy is part of its wider role to support schools’ plans to improve accessibility. This is met through advice on the development of accessibility plans for schools and through its on-going monitoring role. The LA must also ensure that its planning role in general is used to support the improvement of accessibility in schools.
  2. Whilst the legal duty regarding physical access on the LA relates to school buildings, the LA is also involved with a range of other provision. Rochdale LA considers that it is good practice to support accessibility in other settings such as in early years’ provision, in its pupil referral service, its youth service and community provision.Provision that is part of the LA will be required to develop accessibility plans as part of their wider planning and other provision will be encouraged to include accessibility in their development planning. The LA will work closely with Sure Start (Early Years) to support this approach and with the Property and Facilities Management Service within the LA.
  3. The LA manages the capital estate of its maintained schools, working with the Dioceses in respect of Voluntary Aided (VA) schools. This includes maintaining an Asset Management Plan (AMP) which details the condition, suitability and sufficiency of school provision. The AMP is the basis on which funding for buildings is prioritised and consequently there is a critical link between the data held on the accessibility of school buildings and the detail of the AMP which is needed if funding decisions are properly informed by the duty to improve accessibility.
  4. The LA will ensure that all capital work for which it is responsible will include reference to accessibility issues. This extends from new builds which will be designed for full accessibility to refurbishment programmes which will seek to include adaptations to improve accessibility. Where schools are commissioning refurbishments from devolved capital funding or from their delegated budgets, LA advice is that accessibility should be an integral part of the planning process.
  5. For all schools, there is a need to work closely with the LA in terms of accessing specialist advice. It must be recognised that schools may well not have the expertise that is needed ‘in house’ and the LA’s role is therefore to promote access to and/or provide support and advice. This responsibility may mean that the LA has to challenge schools’ plans and decision-making processes where accessibility issues may have been overlooked.
  6. The LA’s role in increasing access to the curriculum is essentially onewhich supports the work that is done in school. This can be managed through the development of staff training and advice on good practice. Rochdale LA has in place a mechanism for this work in the REAL Trust and also supports half termly meetings for SENCOs which can provide ready means of support in curriculum development. If accessibility is critical across the whole curriculum, then work such as the dissemination of good practice should be part of the general way of working, not some separate process.
  7. The LA is responsible for a range of plans which affect the curriculum in schools and which structure other provision such as Early Help. The LA has a responsibility to ensure that access to the curriculum is integral to these plans. It is important to ensure that planning reflects accessibility issues. The LA is in contact with other agencies with specialist knowledge, such as Healthcare Trusts and therefore has a role in helping to apply such specialisms to curriculum provision in schools.
  8. The LA through its specialist support staff and its links with other agencies also has a role in supporting schools to make information available to pupils with disabilities in alternative formats. In many instances, this is taking place where pupils with low incidence special educational needs (SEN) receive support from specialist staff, often through a Statement of SEN or an Education, Health and Care Plan. The LA and schools need to look at how this individually-focused provision can more widely support accessibility in schools.

The LA Commitment

  1. The LA is committed to being an inclusive education authority and this is reflected in the LA’s Children and Young People’s Planand the SEN Policy and Strategic Plan. The LA considers that inclusion is a process and an integral part of all aspects of the LA.
  2. As part of its planning for better accessibility, improvements will be made to physical access to buildings on a geographic basis so as to minimise the distance of Borough residents to their nearest fully accessible school building and all new school buildings and extensions to existing buildings will be monitored through the planning process to ensure that they are barrier free and meet the current building regulations. At the same time, the LA will respond to specific individual access needs of pupils where this is consistent with the broad policy to support access.
  3. The short term objectives within the policy framework are:
    -an accessible secondary school in each township plus an accessible RC-aided secondary school;
    -a network of accessible primary schools across the Borough, reflecting Aided and Community/Foundation provision;
    -immediate response to specific individual need as identified by the SEN Team.
  4. The LA manages this process by maintaining a register of all school buildings detailing accessibility and will grade them according to the degree of access i.e.
    A*full disabled access and facilities
    Aminimal work needed to provide full disabled access and facilities
    Bwork needed in several areas to provide full disabled access and facilities
    Csignificant work needed to provide full disabled access and facilities
    Dmajor structural work needed to provide full disabled access and facilities
  5. The gradings are used to identify priorities for work each year, in discussion with the SEN Team. Priority work is focused on buildings identified as A or B, as this means that more buildings can be improved within the year and thus the geographic spread increased as far as possible. The position is reviewed on an annual basis and if there are large areas of the Borough without appropriate facilities then improvements to a relatively high cost building are considered. The timing of the review with new September placements of individual children with access needs to be taken into account in the allocation of funding.

Resources

  1. Until 31 March 2017 the LA has capital funding with a specific allocation to support improved accessibility. The majority of this funding is spent on improvements to the physical estate.
  2. As schools are required to have an accessibility plan, it is reasonable to expect that accessibility will improve over time. However for any school there may be a sudden, unpredicted requirement to improve accessibility due to the needs of a particular pupil. In broad terms, the LA expects low cost support for accessibility of the school; all schools have devolved funding for SEN to use for such purposes. Where only a high cost solution is possible, then the LA may provide support, in accordance with its SEN Policy.
  3. For individual pupil-linked needs in mainstream schools, the LA may fund specialist seating, equipment and adaptations to support curriculum access for hearing and visual impairment and building adaptations, including hoists and associated equipment for physical disabilities. Special school budgets are deemed to cover the provision of pupil-led equipment. Decisions on such funding will be made by the LA in the context of its agreed policies.
  4. The LA’s resources include specialist expertise, in particular those working as part of Rochdale Additional Needs Service (RANS). The RANS staff have a responsibility to support and advise schools and contribute regularly to the half-termly SENCo meetings. RANS also monitors use of specialist equipment and its impact on pupils’ progress.
  5. Staff in schools, including special schools may also have expertise which can support accessibility on a whole-LA basis. This may be specific to a particular special need, for example pupils on the autistic spectrum or about a particular form of support. The REAL Trust is a means of identifying and spreading good practice and as part of its work will promote accessibility issues throughout its work.

The Legal Context: Policies and Plans

  1. The basis for the accessibility strategy is, as noted above, Schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010. The SEND Code of Practice 2015 outlines the process through which accessibility needs can be assessed and met.
  2. The work of the LA is structured through a series of plans, with its 5-Year Strategic Plan as the baseline. This has two key aims, Improvement and Inclusion and two means of achieving them, Investment and Innovation. Inclusion is, in its broadest sense, about accessibility and the clear links between this and improvement, investment and innovation support the LA’s commitment to being an inclusive authority.
  3. As the need to plan for accessibility has become more widely appreciated, it has begun to inform planning processes across the LA and is now much more explicit in written plans. The LA’s SEN Policy & Strategic Plan sets out a clear commitment to inclusion and identifies how this will happen. The introduction to this Policy & Strategic Plan makes it clear that the LA and schools have both a shared responsibility and different tasks to do. Similarly, the Education Development Plan (EDP) reflects the accessibility agenda with a clear commitment to meet the needs of all pupils.
  4. Provision in schools is supported by a range of initiatives such as Achievement for All and Early Talk Boost. What they have in common is a focus on identifying and supporting the needs of all pupils and that means looking at barriers to accessibility and overcoming them. The role of the Accessibility Strategy is essentially complementary; it requires schools and other providers to look at the ‘how’ of access, including the physical estate, the curriculum and the means of communication. It brings together specialist advice and support that can underpin the various initiatives and also seeks to provide coherence and consistency across the many settings that are involved.
  5. Opportunities for pupils to take part in activities outside school such as work experience or college placements are increasing and it is important that accessibility is a part of the planning for such activities. As noted above, accessibility has to cover the whole of the pupil’s school experience, not just what happens in the classroom. The LA, through its links with local providers can support this work but on an individual level schools need to include in their plans how they monitor accessibility across their whole range of provision.
  6. This strategy is the legal responsibility of the LA. All services for children are within the remit of the Director of Children’s Services i.e. Early Help & Schools and Children’s Social Care. This demonstrates the commitment to children and young people and enables closer working between agencies which can, in turn, support accessibility.
  7. The LA also has a duty to provide sufficient school places and manages this through a formal review process. As plans are developed to increase school places, including those in special schools, accessibility will be an integral part of the planning process.
  8. Any challenge to provision is likely to be heard by the SEN & Disability Tribunal (SENDIST). Ideally, co-operation between the LA, schools and parents will resolve any difficulties. However before parents can appeal to SENDIST, they must first contact the Mediation Service provided by Rochdale Borough Council. Following contact, should the situation still be unresolved, the Mediation Service will issue a certificate which will enable parents to submit their appeal. It is important to note that SENDIST has the power to order:
    -disability training for staff;
    -the preparation of guidance for staff on combating disability discrimination;
    -meetings between an LA Equal Opportunities Officer, parents, the pupil and school to review what reasonable adjustments (short of adjustments to the physical premises or provision of auxiliary aids) might be required;
    -the review or alteration of school or LA policies, for example, those that prevent visually impaired pupils going into the science laboratory, those that prevent disabled pupils going on certain school trips and anti-bullying policies so that they deal with bullying on the grounds of disability;
    -additional tuition to compensate for missed lessons (such as science lessons in the example above);
    -the relocation of facilities (short of requiring an adjustment to the physical premises);
    -additional tuition for a temporarily excluded pupil to enable the pupil to catch up on education missed due to discrimination;
    -a formal apology to a child.
    LA Strategy
  9. The LA’s strategy is based on a series of key commitments, namely:
    the maintenance of its physical estate
    -the audit of accessibility will be updated at least every two years;
    -the LA will refer to building regulations to inform planning of new build and refurbishment;
    -all new building will be barrier-free and will take into account, where appropriate, the needs of hearing and visual impairment;
    -there will be a clear policy of improving physical accessibility in buildings maintained by the LA;

access to the curriculum
-the Early Help and Schools Service Development Plan will include access to the curriculum

as an integral part of its action planning;
-the LA will offer specialist advice to schools and other providers in response both to individual pupil needs and as part of its support for school-level access planning;
access to information

-the LA will provide specialist advice to schools on communication issues in response to individual needs and as part of its support for school-level access planning;

-the LA will review its communications policies through an analysis of need and in consultation with other agencies and organisations;

-the LA will take part in the LA’s Communications Working Group to support improved access to information;

advice to schools

-the LA will provide guidance to schools on accessibility issues;

-the expertise of RANS staff will be available to support schools;

-meetings of SENCos will include issues related to accessibility;

-formal meetings such as Headteachers’ Conferences and Governors’ Forums will be used to raise awareness of accessibility issues;

monitoring, evaluation and review

-monitoring and evaluation requirements in LA plans will include accessibility issues;

-headteachers’ consultative groups will form the first line reporting forum;

-the formal reporting process will be to the Council’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee for Education & Lifelong Learning;

-where there is partnership working there will be an expectation that partnerships will monitor and evaluate accessibility in the areas where they have an involvement;

-the accessibility strategy will be kept under review and action plans updated as necessary.

Appendix 1: Rochdale Schools Accessibility Action Plan 2016-19

Improving physical access in schools
Priority / Outcome / Objectives / Responsible owner
Improved physical access to facilities / Children and young people have the best start in life /
  • To improve the level of accessibility of more schools (primary & secondary) in Rochdale by end 2015
  • To ensure accessibility needs of disabled pupils are part of any capital school building programme requirements
/ Asset Management, Schools Organisation
Training & support for headteachers & SENCos
Priority / Outcome / Objectives / Responsible owner
Develop skills of SENCOs / Children and young people have the best start in life /
  • To ensure all new SENCOs in Rochdale have achieved or are working towards national accreditation as outlined in CAFA 2014 Regulation.
/ School improvement