Corseford School
Mainstreaming and Equality Progress Report
April 2015
Contents
Foreword Page 3
Context Page 4
What Corseford Does
Capability Scotland Strategic Vision and Mission
Corseford School Vision and mission Statement
Aims and Objectives
What we want to achieve in Equality Page 5
Corseford School’s Equality Outcomes 2013 – 2017 Page 5
How we will Achieve our outcomes Page 7
Progress Report Page 12
Foreword
The equality act 2010 gives employers and businesses greater clarity about their responsibilities. It set out a clear expectation that public services must treat everyone with dignity and respect.
Capability Scotland and it’s schools share a long history of commitment to dignity and respect, including learners and of careful consideration as to how best to ensure our visions and aims become reality. Capability Scotland’s Coresford School is committed to a culture that respects difference. We believe as a third sector organisation, we can play our part in promoting equality and diversity. We recognised that equality of access to education is crucial in unlocking many significant opportunities in life, and we are very much aware of our responsibility to uphold both equality in learning and the credibility of the Grant Aided Special Schools Additional Support Needs Division of the Scottish Government’s Schools Directorate.
The public sector equality duty, created by the equality Act 2010, replaces the race, disability and gender equality duties. It is supported by the specific duties contained in the Equality Act 2010 Specific Duties) Regulations 2012
Corseford School’s Equality Strategy 2013 – 2017 explains our commitment and actions to meet, and go beyond, our statutory obligations. It articulates the equality outcomes that all Scottish public bodies were challenged to develop by the specific duties published in May 2012. It explains how we develop these, and how we will monitor our progress towards them. We aim to ensure that out equality strategy is driven by consideration of the diverse needs of individuals served by Capability Scotland’s Coresford School.
Fiona Catterson
Head of School
Corseford School
Context
Corseford School is 1 of 7 of Scotland’s Grant Aided Special Schools (GASS) receiving a substantial proportion of funding from the Additional Support Needs Division of the Scottish Government’s Schools Directorate. Corseford School is operated by Capability Scotland, Scotland’s largest charity working with people with disabilities.
Coresford School was established to provide services for children and young people age between 0-18 years, affected by disorders of movement or coordination, including reductions in communication, caused by cerebral palsy or other conditions, the term ‘motor impairments’ being the collective term to describe the problems affecting such children. As a national and government funded organisation the schools are required to meet the needs of children and young people with motor impairments throughout Scotland.
The independent nature of the school means that it operates out with local authority educational and NHS structures and is solely responsible for the delivery of all its educational, therapeutic and other responsibilities using progressive educational methods. However, the school addresses the educational needs of children and young people in the same framework as all other Scottish children eligible for school provision and through the multi-disciplinary team mention above.
Further information can be found on Capability Scotland’s website www.capability-scotland .org.uk/services-schools/schools.
Capability Scotland’s Vision and Mission is:
“We will be a major ally in supporting disabled people to achieve full equality and to have choice and control of their lives by 2020. Our Mission is to transform people's expectations of what is possible and ensure that disabled people achieve equality”.
Corseford School’s Vision and Mission Statement
“To aim to provide a safe, secure and stimulating environment in which pupils needs are met in a holistic manner by access to integrated programmes of individualised education, therapy and health and personal support”.
· promote in the community a sense of awareness and understanding of the needs of the children and the work of Capability Scotland
· extend, in co-operation with other agencies, the outreach, training and research services presently offered to individual children, families, students and to professional visitors, both specialist and mainstream, who support children with a disability
· support inclusion, by designing holistic programmes which meet pupils’ needs in the school and in the community.
The curriculum reflects current thinking and practice in:
· the education of pupils who have Cerebral Palsy or other significant physical impairments
· educational standards in mainstream schools
· the provision, for some children of an alternative, highly differentiated structured curriculum.
The school moto is: “Seek the Challenge”.
What we want to achieve in equality
Coresford School is committed to equality and to making it an integral part of the life of the school and the service it delivers to the children and young people who attend it. It’s Equality Strategy 2013 – 2017 explained our commitment and actions to meet, and go beyond, our statutory obligations. It presented Corseford School’s equality outcomes and explains how we developed these, and how we would monitor our progress towards them.
This mainstreaming report is a description of the implementation of the Public Sector Equality Duty which is a legal requirement under the Equality Act 2010 which covers the period from May 2013 – April 2015. The report focuses on the actions Corseford School has taken to embed equality in its work within the provision of the General Duties. It focuses on the progress towards the equality specific duties of the Equality Outcomes for particular protected characteristics.
Mainstreaming equality is a systematic integration of equality perspective into our everyday work and aims to ensure that regard is paid to the needs and experiences of people with protected characteristics, make sharing and use of information more transparent, address under-representation of specific groups and address any structures that contribute to inequality or discrimination.
Corseford School’s Equality Outcomes 2013 - 2017
Coresford School’s equality outcomes are statements of the results we aim to achieve in promoting equality, tackling discrimination and fostering good relations across each of the protected characteristics for:
· Age
· Disability
· Gender
· Gender reassignment
· Pregnancy and maternity
· Race
· Religion or belief
· Sexual orientation
· Marriage and civil partnership
· Outcome 1: Protected Characteristics:- Age and Disability
Advance equality of opportunity by Improving the transitional experiences of disabled pupils by working with external agencies including social work departments and further and higher education establishments to tackle existing barriers to successful transition.
· Equality Outcome 2: Protected Characteristics :- Disability, Religion and Belief
To eliminate unlawful treatment, and advance equality of opportunity for disabled pupils through an increase awareness and understanding of Assistive and Augmentative Communication in the wider community. By working with pupils, families, members of the Capability Scotland allied health team and external agencies including NHS Education for Scotland, CALL (Communication, Access, Literacy and Learning) Scotland and SCTCI (the Scottish Centre of Technology for Communication Impairment) to ensure that people who use AAC have their voice listened to and understood.
· Equality Outcome 3: Protected Characteristics:- Gender
Coresford School takes appropriate action to address any discrimination, potential to promote equality in practices of appointment in relation to protected characteristics. To address the gender imbalance of staff working at Coresford School.
Our actions and progress towards these outcomes are detailed in the tables below.
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How we will achieve our Outcomes
Equality Outcomes Action Plan
Outcome 1 / TransitionsContext / Scottish Government Legislation / GIRFEC / Accessibility Strategies / Capability Scotland mission / Schools visions, values and aims / Schools Improvement Plans
Linked to context / P / P / P / P / P / P
Protected Characteristics / Age
P / Disability
P / Gender / Gender Reassignment / Pregnancy and maternity / Race / Religion or Belief / Sexual Orientation / Marriage and Civil Partnership
Identified Barriers / Tasks / Lead / Timescale / Resources / Success Criteria / Monitoring Evaluation
Transference from children to adult social work and allied health services
Identification of suitable adult placements including further education
SDS/ direct payments not reflective of adult requirements
Guardianship
Young person’s capacity/ incapacity and understanding of the transition process
External cancelation of meetings causing slippage affecting transition timescales rights
Educational rights timescale variable across Local Authorities / Highlight the need for early identification of adult social worker and relevant allied health professionals at first transition meeting
To be placed as a fixed agenda item for all transition meetings
Awareness training for staff, Leavers and parents/ carers surrounding SDS and direct Payments
To be placed as a fixed agenda item for all transition meetings
To provide an accessible transition programme for all leavers that is individualised to each leavers needs and aspirations
To ensure that annual planners for review/ transition meeting are communicated to all attendees at the beginning of the school year.
Any cancellations are re scheduled as close to the original meeting.
To ensure that annual planners for review/ transition meeting are flexible to accommodate leaver dates as set by the local authorities. / Head of School or Chair of Transition meetings
Head of School or Chair of Transition meetings
Allocated Social worker, School leaver and parent/ carer
Head of School or Chair of Transition meetings
Head of School
School Staff
Social Work
/ advocacy
Leader
Head of School or Chair of Transition meetings
School admin
Head of School or Chair of Transition meetings
School admin
Head of School or Chair of Transition meetings
School admin / First transition meeting as identified on review planner
3-6mths before leaving date
Final year of young person’s transition
First transition meeting as identified on review planner
Senior phase
Curriculum
16yrs plus
To meet the timescale of 12 months transition entitlement form the date of starting.
To meet the timescale of 12 months transition entitlement form the date of starting.
To meet the timescale of 12 months transition entitlement form the date of starting. / Personnel attending review
Young person, Parents, Professionals
Relevant personnel eg social work, advocacy etc
Young person, Parents, Relevant Professionals
Multi-disciplinary team time
AAC training for the Multi-disciplinary team
Head of School or Chair of Transition meetings
School admin
Head of School or Chair of Transition meetings
School admin
Head of School or Chair of Transition meetings
School admin / Adult social worker and relevant AH professionals identified early in the transition process for all leavers 2013 – 2017
Identification of suitable placement
Appropriate funding in place by the end of the young persona transition.
Guardianship timeously in place if required.
All leavers can fully engage in their transition programme
All transition work is carried out within the 12 months’ time allocated.
All transition work is carried out within the 12 months’ time allocated.
All transition work is carried out within the 12 months’ time allocated. / Transition meetings and minutes
Transition meetings and minutes
Transition meetings and minutes
Transition meetings and minutes
Transition meetings and minutes
Curriculum IEP/ IPP
Transition meetings and minutes
Transition meetings and minutes
Transition meetings and minutes
Outcome 2 / AAC and communication in the wider community
Context / Scottish Government Legislation / GIRFEC / Accessibility Strategies / Capability Scotland mission / Schools visions, values and aims / Schools Improvement Plans
Linked to context / P / P / P / P / P / P
Protected Characteristics / Age / Disability
P / Gender / Gender Reassignment / Pregnancy and maternity / Race / Religion or Belief
P / Sexual Orientation / Marriage and Civil Partnership
Identified Barriers / Tasks / Lead / Timescale / Resources / Success Criteria / Monitoring Evaluation
Parents/ carers, Staffs and wider communities understanding of the diversity of AAC and how it can support learning. / Using IPAACS for staff self-evaluation and development needs
Using IPAACS for parent self-evaluation and development needs
To deliver and support ongoing training for parents and staff in a variety of AAC
To explore the feasibility of rolling out IPAACS across Capability Scotland
Explore outreach opportunities to share and develop good practice in AAC.
Participate in the Scottish Government’s Right to Speak campaign
Participate in any Capability Scotland research projects which promote this outcome
Participate any other external research or project which promote this outcome / Speech and Language Lead Clinical Manager
Speech and Language Lead Clinical Manager
Speech and Language Lead Clinical Manager
Child and young people’s allied health and nursing Professional lead
Speech and Language Lead Clinical Manager
Child and young people’s allied health and nursing Professional lead
Speech and Language Lead Clinical Manager
Speech and Language Lead Clinical Manager
Speech and Language Lead Clinical Manager
Child and young people’s allied health and nursing Professional lead
Speech and Language Lead Clinical Manager / June 2015
June 2016
April 2017
April 2017
April 2017
Ongoing until 2017
Ongoing until 2017
Ongoing until 2017 / Professional time and additional resources as dictated by the project
ICT technician support
C.O.D.E.S
TOMS
IPAACS
Talking Mats
Board Maker/
Symbol sets
Objects of reference / All school staff have achieved foundation level of IPAACS
Parents/ carers staff have achieved foundation level of IPAACS
Appropriate training has been provided
Report on IPAACS feasibility study will be completed and reported to the Learning Provision Leadership team.
Report on outreach opportunities will be completed and reported to the Learning Provision Leadership team.
Evidence of engagement in the Right to Speak campaign
Evidence of engagement in research projects
Evidence of engagement in external projects/ research / Training records
APR/ PRD records
CPD records
Parent attendance sheets
Minutes of meetings
Feasibility study and reports
Other ad hoc documentation
Outcome 3 / Address staffing gender imbalance
Context / Scottish Government Legislation / GIRFEC / Accessibility Strategies / Capability Scotland mission / Schools visions, values and aims / Schools Improvement Plans
Linked to context / P
Protected Characteristics / Age / Disability / Gender
P / Gender Reassignment / Pregnancy and maternity / Race / Religion or Belief / Sexual Orientation / Marriage and Civil Partnership
Identified Barriers / Tasks / Lead / Timescale / Resources / Success Criteria / Monitoring Evaluation
Predominance of female staff employed within Coresford School
Currently no data available on applicant gender balance
No system in place to store and monitor this data / To a system for collecting, collating and producing data in relation to this outcome
To work Capability Scotland’s HR Department to review recruitment process e.g. placement of advertisement and applicant’s pack / Business Manager / Ongoing until 2017 / Application Pack
Professional time for meetings / A system is embedded which provides the relevant data on gender
An increase in the number of male applicants for posts / Recruitment paperwork
Minutes of meetings
Progress as of 2015.