Accessibility Plan
2023-24
School Vision:
Our school vision is to create an environment that allows children to develop confidence, independence, self-esteem and respect for all people. This will allow us to grow together in a love for learning which will last a life-time and encourage one another to do better, be better and aim higher than we ever thought possible. We aim to enjoy every day learning as a part of our school family, in an environment where we all feel supported to step into new adventures together.
School Motto:
‘A Quality Education for All for Life’
1 Thessalonians 5 v 11 ‘Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.’
Statement of Intent
This accessibility plan outlines the proposals of the governing body of Cockshutt C of E Primary School & Nursery to increase access to education for pupils with disabilities in the three areas required by the planning duties in the Equality Act 2010.
A person is regarded as having a disability under the Act where the person has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities.
The plan aims to:
The above aims will be delivered within a reasonable time frame and in ways which are determined after taking into account the pupil’s disabilities and the views of the parents/carers and pupil. In preparation of an accessibility strategy, the governing body must have regard to the need to allocate adequate resources in the implementation of the strategy.
The governing body also recognises its responsibilities towards employees with disabilities and will:
The plan will be resourced, implemented reviewed and revised regularly in consultation with:
This plan is reviewed annually to take into account the changing needs of the schools and its pupils and where the school has undergone refurbishment.
Review November 2023
Action plan
Aim 1
To increase the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the school curriculum
Our key objective is to reduce and eliminate barriers to access to the curriculum and to ensure full participation in the school community for pupils and prospective pupils with a disability.
Governors and staff are aware of the issue of split-level flooring from the main school to the school hall. Currently we have no pupils who cannot climb the steps however we are aware that this will need to be addressed in the future. This issue will be considered each time an application is made to the school. This is an ongoing conversation with property services.
Short term targets | |||||||
Target | Strategies | Who | When | Outcome | Review | ||
Ensure that the school’s environment is accessible. | Review of physical environment.
Adaptations to the environment planned by Shropshire Council Spring 2024 | Health and Safety audit committee SENDCo and Headteacher | Spring 2023 | School is aware of accessibility barriers to its physical environment and will make a plan to address them
Access to the hall, disabled toilet facilities. | Annually or as required | ||
Ensure that all children regardless of disability access a broad and balanced curriculum. | Whole school discussion SENDCo to monitor children on SEN register and Plan, Do Reviews, Pupil progress meetings | SENDCo and class Teachers to draw up and circulate PDRs after consultation with parents. | Autumn Spring Summer | All children will have equal access to a broad and balanced curriculum and the outcomes for children with disabilities will be closely monitored by SENDco and SLT | Termly Accessibility log kept | ||
Continually review PE curriculum to make PE accessible to all. | Gather information about PE and Sports for children with disabilities
Attendance at inclusive sports events. | Head teacher, SLT H & S SP sports lead, governor | Autumn Spring Summer | All children are able to access PE
Pupils can access School games events | Annual Summer 2024 Survey to parents | ||
Ensure that all staff have relevant training to be able to adapt the curriculum to the needs of children with disabilities. | Staff audit to identify training needs. Audit of teaching resources available to teachers and TAs | Head and SENDCo |
Spring ongoing review | Raised awareness and expertise of staff. Wider range of appropriate IT resources used to support engage and enable children with disabilities | Staff SEND accessibility Meeting | ||
Ensure that all children have equal access to lunchtime and after school activities | Review participation and make sure TA support is available at lunchtime. | Headteacher SLT and SENDCo. All class teachers | Spring 2024 | Equal opportunity for all regardless of back ground. Priority for pupil premium funding. | Club registers review | ||
Ensure that all children have access to school visits. | Ensure that the planning process for school trips includes provision for children with disabilities Update EVC policy and procedure. | Headteacher, SLT, SENDco and all class teachers. | Autumn 2023
and as required | All school trips are accessible. Personal care plans for the visit are jointly drawn up with parent, child and school input. | During planning process | ||
Medium term targets | |||||||
Target | Strategies | Who | When | Outcome | Review | ||
Future policies updated to include access to pupils with disabilities. | Build accessibility considerations into all curriculum policies and review annually | All curriculum lead teachers | At next policy review date as per policy schedule | All updated policies include provision for accessibility Updated PEEPs | Annually in line with policy review schedule | ||
Provide advice to familiess of children with disabilities on how they may support their learning in the core curriculum | Regular meetings as part of PDR review to agree targets to overcome barriers to learning. Personal care plans in place to ensure that all members of staff have relevant information. | All staff | Termly PDR meetings with class teacher and more frequent meetings with SENDCo if needed. | Families are well informed and involved with their children’s learning. All staff have a very clear understanding of the specific needs of a child with a disability/additional need and factor this in to any medium and short term curriculum planning. | Termly by class teachers and monitored during Pupil progress meetings with SLT | ||
Long term target | |||||||
Target | Strategies | Who | When | Outcome | Review | ||
Staff to receive appropriate training as highlighted by audit
Relevant training to be added at induction | Staff meeting CPD timetabled over the course of 2023/24 to build staff knowledge. External agencies involved in delivery of training
Review training needs on induction. | All staff | 2023/24 | All staff will be familiar with accessibility needs of children with disabilities. | Annually through performance management |
Aim 2
To improve the physical environment of the school to increase the extent to which disabled pupils can take advantage of education and associated services.
Short term targets | |||||
Target | Strategies | Who | When | Outcomes | Review |
Audit of site to highlight needs.
Adaptation planned to the site by Shropshire Council | Site visit to identify areas of need in terms of access for children with disabilities. | Headteacher H& S, governor SENDCo, building services | Spring 2024
Spring 2024 | Accessibility issues identified and prioritised | Annually or on pending entry of a pupil with additional needs. |
Ensure that all disabled pupils can be safely evacuated. | Put in place Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan(PEEP)as part of termly drill review | Headteacher, Building services H& S governor SENDCo | Autumn 2023 | All children with disabilities can be safely evacuated | Annually or on pending entry of a pupil with additional needs |
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Medium term targets | |||||
Target | Strategies | Who | When | Outcome | Review |
Improve ease of accessibility for physically disabled including wheelchair users and those with impaired movement. | Adult support for pupils who find stairs challenging. Provision when a wheel chair needs access. RAMP available if required (shared with church) | Headteacher, Building services, H&S governor SENDCo | Autumn 2023 | All areas of the school will be accessible and welcoming. | Ongoing review annually. |
To ensure school grounds are accessible and available and steps can be successfully negotiated. | All raised areas have ramps excluding the Victorian Hall (original part of the building). Review annually the need for a lift into the hall. | Headteacher, Building services, H&S governor, SENDCo | Autumn 2023 | All areas of the school will be accessible and welcoming | Long term target evaluate need annually |
Ensure that the site is accessible to those with disabilities. | Site survey to incorporate accessibility into health and safety audit and update accessibility policy as a result of this annual audit. | Headteacher, H&S governor, SENDCo | Spring 2024 | All areas of the school will be accessible and welcoming | Annually |
Long term targets | |||||
To regularly review the physical environment | Site survey to incorporate accessibility into health and safety audit and update accessibility policy as a result of this annual audit. | Headteacher SENDCo H & S governor Building services. | Spring 2024 | School is accessible to all | Annually and weekly through health and safety monitoring form. |
Aim 3
To improve the delivery of written information to disabled pupils and parents
Short term targets | |||||||
Target | Strategies | Who | When | Outcome | Review | ||
Availability of written materials in different formats | Parents asked if written material is accessible. Pupil registration forms to include needs families. Staff to identify specific needs of individual pupils. Statutory test format adjusted appropriately for children with specific needs. Adaptation of in lesson material. | Admin staff- admission forms.EYFS staff EYFS induction forms. Class teachers to audit needs of pupils with disabilities and share with SENDCo for inclusion on PDR. | Autumn 2023 | All children and parents able to access written information | July 2024 or as required | ||
Medium term targets | |||||||
Target | Strategies | Who | When | Outcome | Review | ||
Continually review website to ensure that all information on the website is accessible and signposting to Local Offer is effective. | Review of information delivery procedures and signposting to Shropshire Local Offer
Review how information is presented to make it accessible for all. | SENDCO and Headteacher SEN governor | Autumn 2023 | School is aware of accessibility gaps in information delivery on the website and website is fully accessible | July 2024
Website annual audit by governor. | ||
Long term targets | |||||||
Review inclusion leaflet, giving advice to parents when necessary | Use Shropshire Local Offer website to source information and internet-based research to underpin pedagogy | SENDCo | Spring 2024 | Increased information available at local level to parents and carers of children with disabilities | Annual | ||
Review provision annually to ensure that it reflects the needs of children within the school | Use admission information to screen for disability needs. Set up early meetings with EYFS admissions to explore specific needs. Seek advice from inclusion services | SENDCO EYFS teacher Headteacher | Autumn 2023
or as required | Accurate and up to date information about the needs of the children in school, drives regular audit and improvement cycle | July 2024 |