Accessibility strategy

Introduction

Education is not simply about making schools available for those who are already able to access them. It is about being proactive in identifying the barriers and obstacles learners encounter in attempting to access opportunities for quality education, as well
as in removing those barriers and obstacles that lead to exclusion.

Salamanca Statement

This document sets out how:

• To strengthen, encourage and foster inclusive learning environments within the administrative area of Surrey County Council to ensure that all learners are engaged, supported, and developed to reach their potential wherever they learn.

This document replaces:

• Surrey County Council's Social Inclusion Framework for Schools and Educational Settings

Why?

• Improving access to education and educational achievement has been the focus of changing legislation over the past few years with many references in both national, international, and local polices to the need to be inclusive. Achievement is dependent on
  access in its widest sense:

This is not necessarily "more literacy" or "more maths" but would be interventions which address the underlying learning needs of the pupil in order to improve his or her access to the curriculum.

Achievement for All (National Strategies: 2009)

Access is dependent on inclusion and equity and is a continuous process by which all early years settings, schools, further education (FE) colleges and Children, Schools and Families (CSF) Central services in conjunction with partner agencies and communities develop their culture, policies and practice to maximise the learning and participation of all.

Inclusion is not a place; instead, it is a lifestyle in which a person is an active participant in his or her life, rather than a passive observer and the recipient of decisions someone else has made.

Promoting a Lifetime of Inclusion, Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 2003,18,3.)

Surrey's Vision for Learning is one where every child and young person contributes and achieves more than they thought possible.

"The Vision for Learning in Surrey is one that values confidence, care, creativity and collaboration, enabling all children and young people to contribute and achieve more than they thought possible"

Surrey has a diverse and distinctive character and is a good place to learn and be educated. Many of Surrey's learning establishments are amongst the best in the country and consistently maintain high standards for their children and young people. Surrey has developed very effective practice in meeting the individual needs of children and young people over many years and is justly proud of the achievements of all pupils including those with special educational needs and disability (SEND).

In Surrey all educational settings are encouraged to be willing and able to include, value and respect all children and young people ensuring that there is a full range of support and opportunities available to all children and young people with SEND, enabling them to become confident individuals and successful learners achieving the life outcomes to which they and their families aspire.

Arguments for inclusive education are well documented and rest on notions of equality and human rights. Much more than a policy requirement, inclusion is founded upon a moral position which values and respects every individual, and which welcomes diversity as a rich learning resource. At a time when the educational landscape is rapidly changing, with educational settings having to provide for learners of increasingly diverse abilities and family, ethnic and cultural backgrounds, respect, and equal commitment to all learners seem more important than ever. Perceiving inclusion in education as a separate issue from inclusion in society is illogical.

From September 2014, there were legislative changes which are having and will continue to have a significant impact on the education of children and young people with SEND in Surrey and placed responsibilities on all educational settings, in both policy and practice, to reflect the changes and recommendations through inclusive opportunities for learning and living for all children and young people with SEND, to promote their achievements and outcomes and to use resources in the fairest and most effective way possible.

Access through Inclusive Learning Environments

The common perception of the definition of disability is of a narrow definition covering physical and sensory impairments. In consequence, there is a tendency to think of access requirements as being focused on, or even limited to the physical environment. Access through inclusion may then be further limited by an assumption that any changes will be costly whereas a proper understanding of the definition of disability is fundamental to thinking broadly about access and participation and to the development of a problem-solving approach including the identification of many reasonable adjustments that may be low cost or no cost to implement.

Access to quality education comes from inclusive positive learning environments that:

• encourage personalised, effective and flexible learning
• promote social cohesion, belonging, and active participation in learning
• promote respect and encourage high expectations and achievement for all

Inclusive practice offers opportunity. Through inclusive practice children and young people are ensured access to the experiences, the knowledge and the skills that will prepare them for the future and will provide each with the opportunity to reach his/her full potential and raises outcomes.

All children and young people have entitlement to personal, social, moral and intellectual development. Every child and young person is unique in terms of characteristics, interests, abilities, motivation and learning needs and early years settings, schools and colleges should take account of the diversities of each child or young person's particular learning challenges if that child or young person is to learn.

However, inclusion is also about attitudes and values, not just organisation and practice. Effective inclusion is based on the core values of entitlement, equality, partnership and diversity and underpins everything that is done within the Children Schools and Family Directorate, from school provision to the delivery of services and school improvement. The real changes made through the Children and Families Act⁴ relate to changes in culture; change in settings to becoming inclusive learning environments happens when it is based on inclusive values.

Inclusion is an issue of equality of opportunity for all; to ensure that all children and young people have the opportunity to develop to their full potential, to play a full part as active citizens and take their place in society. Effective provision for children and young people is a key challenge and is vital for the creation of a fully inclusive society, a society in which all see themselves as valued.

An inclusive learning environment puts the individual at its heart and nurtures and supports learning through pedagogic strategies, methods, adjustments and approaches that are effective and respectful and encourage high expectations and achievement. An inclusive learning environment is not designed to support the few at the expense of the many; it is designed to support everyone.

Putting inclusive development into practice - changing culture in settings - becomes inclusive development when it is based on inclusive values.

Developing Inclusive Learning Environments

"Defining achievement in terms of the number of targets on an individual education plan achieved across a given time rarely ensured rigorous evaluation of provision or pupils' progress. What made the difference to higher outcomes was effective target-setting within the curriculum or personalised programme as part of a whole-school policy on assessment." 'Inclusion: does it matter where pupils are taught?'

Ofsted, 2006a

Points for consideration

• Ensure that there is an agreed understanding of the meaning of inclusion and that it reflects the process of education and not simply where children and young people are placed.
• Recognise the links between inclusive education and catering for diversity. This means promoting an ethos that values all children and young people and their families.
• Foster a climate that supports flexible and creative responses to individual needs.
• Recognise inclusion as part of the setting's equal opportunities policy with clear arrangements for its implementation, funding and monitoring.
• Ensure that all school developments and policies take account of inclusive principles.
• Ensure that the admission of learners with special educational needs is handled positively and sensitively. While, in some cases, additional support and advice may be necessary to ensure that needs are adequately met, all parents and children and young people should be made to feel welcome.
• Ensure that appropriate assessment and support arrangements are in place, both within the setting and involving external agencies, so that children and young people's needs are properly addressed.
• Work collaboratively with all agencies to overcome barriers to inclusion.
• Recognise that changes in practice need the support of all staff and the setting community as a whole and involve them from the beginning.
• Provide staff with suitable professional development to support the development of inclusive practice.

The National Context: Requirements and Responsibilities for Inclusive Learning Environments

In March 2014, the Children and Families Bill successfully completed its passage through both Houses of Parliament and it received Royal Assent becoming the Children and Families Act 2014 (CFA 2014).

The Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice 0 to 25 received Parliamentary approval in July 2014 and came into force from 1 September 2014. The Code provides the statutory guidance relating to the Children and Families Act, which contains clauses on special education needs (SEN) that put into place wide-reaching reforms to the SEND system for children and young people aged 0 to 25 in England.

The vast majority of Part 3 of CFA 2014 commenced on 1 September 2014. The only exceptions were the sections which apply to children and young people with SEN in youth custody and the new duties on parent carer assessments. Both of these, were brought into the scope of the Act at a late stage in the Parliamentary process. In section one hundred of the Children and Families Act, there is a duty on schools to put in place arrangements to support the children with medical conditions7 and to have regard to new guidance which is now published.

In this context a child is a person under compulsory school age. A young person is a person over compulsory school age but under 25. This distinction is important because once a child becomes a young person, they are entitled to take decisions in relation to the Act on their own behalf, rather than having their parents take the decisions for them.

This is subject to a young person 'having capacity' to take a decision under the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

From 1 September 2014, local authorities have a number of new legal duties they are required to meet, including having regard to the principles in Section 19 of the CFA as follows:

• the views, wishes and feelings of children and their parents, and young people;
• the importance of them participating as fully as possible in decision-making and providing the information and support to enable them to do so; and
• supporting children and young people's development and helping them to achieve the best possible educational and other outcomes.

The Code of Practice applies to all organisations who work with and support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities. This includes local authorities, health agencies, early years providers and all schools. The Government have stated that the principles underlying the Code and wider Reforms are:

• a focus on inclusive practice and removing barriers to learning
• successful preparation for adulthood, including independent living and employment
• the early identification of children and young people's needs and early intervention to support them
• collaboration between education, health and social care services to provide support
• high quality provision to meet the needs of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND)
• the participation of children, their parents and young people in decision making
• greater choice and control for young people and parents over support

As part of the 'high quality provision to meet the needs the needs of children and young people with SEND', those who must have regard to the Code should use evidence-based interventions and approaches. Educational settings, joint-commissioning arrangements and local authorities are responsible for accessing the best possible evidence as these three quotes from the Code9 demonstrate:

• Early years providers, schools and colleges should know precisely where children and young people with SEN are in their learning and development. They should...ensure that the approaches used are based on the best possible evidence and are having the required impact on progress, (section 1.25 of the Code).
• Joint-commissioning arrangements should be based on evidence about which services, support and interventions are effective. Local areas should maintain up-to-date information on research and guidance about good practice, for example through referring to NICE guidance and Campbell collaboration/Cochrane collaboration, (section 3.30).
• Local authorities must set out in the Local Offer the support available to help children and young people with SEN or disabilities move into adulthood. Support should reflect evidence of what works in achieving good outcomes, (section 4.52).

In addition, the Code gives detail on how educational settings across the age range should use the evidence base in assessing, planning, delivering, and reviewing provision as these references show.

Early years settings:

For children aged two or more, special educational provision is educational or training provision that is additional to or different from that made generally for other children or young people of the same age by mainstream schools, maintained nursery schools, mainstream post-16 institutions or by relevant early years providers.

For a child under two years of age, special educational provision means educational provision of any kind. A child under compulsory school age has special educational needs if he or she is likely to fall within the definition above when they reach compulsory school age or would do so if special educational provision was not made for them (Section 20 Children and Families Act 2014).

• All early years providers have duties under the Equality Act 201010. In particular, they must not discriminate against, harass or victimise disabled children, and they must make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services for disabled children, to prevent them being put at substantial disadvantage. This duty is anticipatory – it requires thought to be given in advance to what disabled children and young people might require and what adjustments might need to be made to prevent that disadvantage. All publicly funded early years providers must promote equality of opportunity for disabled children. (section 5.10)
• The special educational provision made for a child should always be based on an understanding of their particular strengths and needs and should seek to address them all, using well-evidenced interventions targeted at areas of difficulty and, where necessary, specialist equipment or software, (section 5.33).
• The support and intervention provided should be selected to meet the outcomes12 identified for the child, based on reliable evidence of effectiveness and provided by practitioners with relevant skills and knowledge13. Any related staff development needs should be identified and addressed, (section 5.40).

School settings:

• All pupils should have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. The National Curriculum Inclusion Statement states that teachers should set high expectations for every pupil, whatever their prior attainment. Teachers should use appropriate assessment to set targets which are deliberately ambitious. Potential areas of difficulty should be identified and addressed at the outset. Lessons should be planned to address potential areas of difficulty and to remove barriers to pupil achievement. In many cases, such planning will mean that pupils with SEN and disabilities will be able to study the full national curriculum.(section 6.12)
• The support and intervention provided should be selected to meet the outcomes identified for the child, based on reliable evidence of effectiveness, and provided by practitioners with relevant skills and knowledge. Any related staff development needs should be identified and addressed, (sections 6.27 and 6.50).
• The SENCO and class teacher, together with the specialists, and involving the pupil's parents, should consider a range of evidence-based and effective teaching approaches, appropriate equipment, strategies and interventions in order to support the child's progress.(section 6.62).

Further education:

• The Act brings post-16 institutions into the new SEND legal framework. The definition of SEN is extended to include young people up to the age of 25; the definition includes 'learning difficulties' and 'disabilities'. FE colleges and independent specialist providers will be required to 'have regard to' a new 0-25 SEND Code of Practice and general FE colleges will be required to use their 'best endeavours' for students with SEND.
• Support should be evidence-based. This means that colleges should be aware of effective practice in the sector and elsewhere, and personalise it for the individual, (section 7.14).
• Where the college decides a student needs SEN support, the college should discuss with the student their ambitions, the nature of the support to be put in place, the expected impact on progress and a date for reviewing the support. Plans should be developed with the student. The support and intervention provided should be selected to meet the student's aspirations, and should be based on reliable evidence of effectiveness and provided by practitioners with the relevant skills and knowledge.14 (section 7.16).

Surrey County Council Services providing support for young people post-16:

• Youth Support Service http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/people-and-community/young-surrey/help-and-advice-foryoung-people/youth-support-service
• Physical and Sensory Support Post 16 http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/teachers-and-educationstaff/educational-advice-and-support-for-teachers/special-educational-needs-anddisabilities/physical-and-sensory-pss-support-service

Transitional Arrangements

The Government has published statutory guidance15 on the arrangements for transferring children and young people from the old legal framework to the new one. The guidance sets out that:

• Local authorities must transfer all children and young people with statements of SEN to the new system by April 2018.
• Between 1 September 2014 and 1 September 2015 local authorities must transfer all children and young people with statements if they are transferring from school (including school sixth forms) to a post-16 institution or an apprenticeship.
• Children and young people with statements of SEN must receive a transfer review in order to transfer to the new system. A transfer review requires a local authority to undertake an EHC needs assessment under section 36 of the Children and Families Act 2014. The EHC needs assessments must be person centred and focused on outcomes.

Equality Act 2010 and Auxiliary Aids Update 2012 and 2014

As part of its commitments under articles 7 and 24 of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the UK Government is committed to inclusive education of disabled children and young people and the progressive removal of barriers to learning and participation in mainstream education. The Children and Families Act 2014 secures the general presumption in law of mainstream education in relation to decisions about where children and young people with SEN should be educated and the Equality Act 2010 provides protection from discrimination for disabled people.

SEND Code of Practice 2014 1.26

Many children and young people who have SEN may have a disability under the Equality Act 2010–that is'…a physical or mental impairment which has a long-term and substantial adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities'. This definition provides a relatively low threshold and includes more children than many realise: 'long-term' is defined as 'a year or more' and 'substantial' is defined as 'more than minor or trivial'. This definition includes sensory impairments and long-term health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, and cancer.

Children and young people with such conditions do not necessarily have SEN, but there is a significant overlap between disabled children and young people and those with SEN. Where a disabled child or young person requires special educational provision they will also be covered by the SEN definition.

The Equality Act 2010 sets out the legal obligations that schools, early years providers, post-16 institutions, local authorities and others have towards disabled children and young people:

• They must not directly or indirectly discriminate against, harass or victimise disabled children and young people
• They must make reasonable adjustments17, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services, to ensure that disabled children and young people are not at a substantial disadvantage compared with their peers. This duty is anticipatory – it requires thought to be given in advance to what disabled children and young people might require and what adjustments might need to be made to prevent that disadvantage
• Public bodies, including further education institutions, local authorities, maintained schools, maintained nursery schools, academies and free schools are covered by the public sector equality duty and when carrying out their functions must have regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, promote equality of opportunity and foster good relations between disabled and nondisabled children and young people. They must publish information to demonstrate their compliance with this general duty and must prepare and publish objectives to achieve the core aims of the general duty. Objectives must be specific and measurable.

The duties cover discrimination in the provision of services and the provision of education, including admissions and exclusions. All providers must make reasonable adjustments to procedures, criteria and practices and by the provision of auxiliary aids and services. Most providers must also make reasonable adjustments by making physical alterations. Schools and local authority education functions are not covered by this last duty, but they must publish accessibility plans (and local authorities, accessibility strategies) setting out how they plan to increase access for disabled pupils to the curriculum, the physical environment and to information.

School governing bodies and proprietors must also publish information about the arrangements for the admission of disabled children, the steps taken to prevent disabled children being treated less favourably than others, the facilities provided to assist access of disabled children, and their accessibility plans.

Where a child or young person is covered by SEN and disability legislation, reasonable adjustments and access arrangements should be considered as part of SEN planning and review. Where school governors are publishing information about their arrangements for disabled children and young people, this should be brought together with the information required under the Children and Families Act 2014.

The Department for Education has published updated advice18 for schools – May 2014.

Specific duties under the Equality Act 2010

The specific duties require schools:

1. to publish information to demonstrate how they are complying with the Public Sector Equality Duty, and
2. to prepare and publish equality objectives.

By 6 April 2012 schools were obliged to publish their initial information and their first set of objectives demonstrating how it complies with the general duty. Schools have to update their published information at least annually and to publish objectives at least once every four years.

Accessibility Plans

Schools are still required to have Accessibility Plans showing how they are planning strategically to increase access over time; the same duties as previously existed under the DDA and have been replicated in the Equality Act 2010. The plan must show how the school is:

• increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the curriculum;
• improving the physical environment of schools to enable those with disabilities to take better advantage of education, benefits, facilities and services provided; and
• improving the availability of accessible information to those with disabilities.

Schools will need to provide adequate resources for implementing plans and must review them regularly. An accessibility plan may be a freestanding document but may also be published as part of another document such as the School Development Plan. OFSTED19 inspections may include a school's accessibility plan as part of their review.

Considerations:

• How the curriculum is differentiated and, at Key Stage 4, what alternative accreditation is offered.
• How information for pupils, parents and the community is available in different formats, using symbols, Braille, larger font or reduced / simplified language.
• Plans to improve the signage in the buildings and grounds.
• Arrangements that could be put in place if a disabled parent needed support to attend a school event, e.g. the availability of a BSL interpreter for a parents' evening.
• The Equality Act requires "reasonable adjustments"20 and many adjustments are low cost or no cost;

See Appendix i for Developing an Accessibility Plan.

Requirement to provide Auxiliary Aids

From September 2012 schools are required to provide auxiliary aids (and services) for disabled pupils to overcome any disadvantage experienced in schools.

There is a legal duty on all schools (including academies) to plan to increase over time the accessibility of schools for disabled pupils and to implement their plans.

Under the Equality Act 2010 schools have a duty to make 'reasonable adjustments' for disabled pupils. This requires schools 'to take positive steps to ensure that disabled pupils can fully participate in education and that they can enjoy other benefits, facilities and services which the school provides for pupils'.

It is a duty 'so far as is reasonably practicable, to approximate the access enjoyed by disabled pupils to that enjoyed by the rest of the pupils'. The duty also covers the provision of auxiliary aids and assistance. The reasonable adjustments duty is triggered only where there is a need to make adjustments to avoid 'substantial disadvantage'. In considering what constitutes a substantial disadvantage schools need to take account of factors such as time and effort required, inconvenience, indignity or discomfort for the pupil and loss of opportunity for the pupil in comparison with peers.

Factors which schools need to take into account when determining what reasonable adjustments they should seek to make include:

• Effectiveness in overcoming the substantial disadvantage suffered by the pupil
• Practicability of the adjustment
• Effect of the disability on the individual
• Financial and other costs of making the adjustment
• Resources of the school and the availability of financial and other assistance
• Health and safety requirements
• The need to maintain academic, musical, sporting and other standards
• The interests of other pupils who may be admitted to the school
• The duty is an anticipatory duty owed to disabled pupils generally, covering pupils at the school as well as those applying for admission.
• The LA is under a duty to fund any items specified in a Statement of SEN or a new education health and care plan e.g. specialist equipment; however, this is not the best and most timely way of considering such requirements.
• Visions and Values Including children with medical needs

In September 2014, a new duty came into force for governing bodies to ensure arrangements are in place in school to support pupils with medical conditions.

The guidance includes statutory and non-statutory advice under the Children and Families Act 2014. The statutory guidance applies to all maintained schools, academies and free schools. For children and young people with SEND, this guidance should be read in conjunction with the new SEND Code of Practice.

The new guidance 21 document reiterates existing good practice and clarifies accountability.

Children and young people with medical conditions are entitled to a full education and have the same rights of admission to school as other children. This means that no child with a medical condition should be denied admission or prevented from taking up a place in school because arrangements for their medical condition have not been made. The governing body must ensure that arrangements are in place to ensure that such children can access and enjoy the same opportunities at school as any other child.

Governing bodies should ensure schools develop a policy for supporting pupils with medical conditions that is reviewed regularly and is readily accessible to parents and school staff. This policy may be a separate policy or may be a sub-section included in the school's existing SEND policy.

Although there is no requirement on teaching staff to administer medicines or undertake personal and health care procedures, governing bodies are required to ensure there are arrangements in place, including ensuring sufficient members of support staff are appropriately trained to undertake these roles as part of their core job description. Guidance is issued under section 100 of the Children and Families Act 2014 22

"Ensuring that schools are clear about their provision that is normally available for all children, including targeted help routinely provided for those falling behind and the additional provision they make for those with SEN, should simplify the process of planning the right help at school level" (p68)

SEND Code of Practice 2014

Access for Achievement – Appendix i

Developing an Accessibility Plan:

The Equality Act 2010 and related Equality Duty 2011 reiterate the requirements upon schools as laid out in the previous Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which makes it clear that schools continue to have a duty to produce an accessibility plan.

Schools must implement accessibility plans, which are aimed at:

• A. increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the curriculum;
• B. improving the physical environment of schools to enable disabled pupils to take better advantage of education, benefits, facilities and services provided; and
• C. improving the availability of accessible information to disabled pupils.

Schools will need to have regard to the need to provide adequate resources for implementing plans and must regularly review them. Specific processes undertaken to develop and monitor the accessibility plan could consist of:

• Selecting and completing an access audit to review present level of accessibility of the setting using an audit such as Index for Inclusion (CSIE)
• Identifying actions to reduce obstacles to access for the school community.
• Consulting all stakeholders upon the suggested plan and modify it according to their views.
• Financing the plan by identifying costs and incorporating them into current and future budget commitments. Setting measurable goals and time scales.
• Publicising the plan.
• Implementing and evaluating the plan.

Publicising, in the context of the Equality Duty, can be interpreted as making the school's accessibility plan widely and easily available, perhaps on the school's website. Hard copies should be available in school and also on request; the school should be prepared to make available versions of the plan which would be accessible to parents with different communication needs (including English as a Foreign Language). Written information for disabled pupils needs to be given in formats that take account of their specific disabilities and the views expressed by the pupils and their parents about their preferred means of communication.

Accessibility plans are often an added section to the School Development Plan and are intended to identify the action to be undertaken in the next three years. Modifications/revisions to the plan, information on action completed so far, action still to be undertaken and that planned for the future, should be detailed and the time frame clarified each year.

A: Increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the school curriculum:

This covers teaching and learning and the wider curriculum of the school such as participation in after school clubs, leisure and cultural activities or school visits. It also covers the provision of specialist or auxiliary aids and equipment which may assist these pupils in accessing the curriculum.

Points for consideration:

• How threats to participation have been analysed using risk assessment proforma and action taken to reduce those identified risks.
• Identifying how classroom support arrangements, such as deployment of teaching assistants, provision of ICT, contribute to, and enhance learning opportunities.
• Deciding how the implementation of specific strategies such as flexible or shared time- tabling, nurture groups, counselling provision, access to therapy, first day absence response, have enhanced attendance and participation.
• Consideration of how classroom/group organisation has been targeted to ensure that all pupils achieved increased levels of school success.
• Description of action to increase curriculum choice and/or flexibility has enhanced the access to appropriate qualifications/attainments.
• Consideration of the school response to pupils through the application of the SEND Code of Practice has improved pupil attainment and how effective communication regarding specific pupil needs has been achieved and is monitored.
• Consideration of how liaison, increased communication and relationships with external agencies has supported and enhanced pupils' access to the curriculum and how this is monitored and improvements targeted.
• Identifying how staff training needs in order to effectively meet the diverse abilities and disabilities of all pupils, including prospective pupils who may require manual handling, signing, personal hygiene support etc, has been identified and supported.
• Identifying pupil peer support mechanisms and the ways that the school has ensured pupils have a voice in decisions that affect them.
• Taking action to ensure that disabled members of the school community are seen in a positive light through publications promoting disability and providing positive role models of adults with disabilities to encourage success and achievement.
• Ensuring that action has been undertaken to ensure that parents and carers see themselves as partners in their children's education and are increasingly willing to actively support their children's education.
• Enhancing the positive culture and ethos of the school by undertaking quality marks or other additional intervention to improve the schools ability to include those with disabilities.

B: Improving the physical environment of the school to increase accessibility for members of the school community with disabilities.

This covers improvements to the physical environment of the school and physical aids to access education e.g. enhanced fire alarm systems for pupils with sensory impairment, disabled or allocated parking spaces etc.

Points for Consideration:

• Changes to improve access to doors, stairs, toilet, changing facilities, and consideration of the impact of signs, colour schemes, lighting, heating etc.
• Changes outside of the school building e.g. provision of disabled parking etc.
• Management and organisation issues such as maintenance of lights, fire alarms appropriate to those with hearing impairments etc.  Increased access to and maintenance of, auxiliary aids, ICT apparatus such as computer hardware/software.  Improvement to the acoustic environment that might include installation of soundfields/ hearing loop systems.  Improvements of storage implications for wheelchairs and other mobility devises.
• Application and progress on capital funding for major access works funded through the County Council, and details on schools funds delegation to support targets such as provision of suitable floor coverings, furniture and layout of the playgrounds.

C: Improving the availability of accessible information to disabled pupils

This could include: handouts, timetables, textbooks, information about the school and school events. The information should be available in various preferred formats within a reasonable timeframe.

Points for Consideration:

• Informing readers that school published material is available in a selection of formats e.g. Braille, Makaton, audio tapes and identifying how they can access this provision if requested.
• Considering how to increase information accessibility for those who have English as an additional language or other communication needs such a British Sign Language, at school meetings etc.
• Identifying how they have considered the readability of information including that provided by the school website, and how it is monitored to ensure accessibility to a wide range of diverse needs and abilities.
• Identifying how textbooks and other pupil information are selected and provided to meet a diversity of pupil need.
• Ensuring the monitoring of effectiveness of adult support to enhance the opportunities for pupils/parents who have difficulties in accessing information.

D) Monitoring and Review

The Accessibility Plan should be monitored through the governing body committee responsible and may be monitored by Ofsted during inspection processes. The terms of reference for all governors' committees will include the need to consider Equality and Diversity issues as required by the Equality Act 2010.

The Accessibility Plan should be reported on annually in respect of progress and outcomes and provide a projected plan for the three-year period ahead of the next review date.

Points for consideration:

• Changes in physical accessibility of school buildings.
• Questionnaires, responses from stakeholders e.g. parents, pupils and staff, indicate increased confidence in the schools' ability to promote access to educational opportunities for pupils with disabilities.
• Improved levels of confidence in staff in reducing the obstacles to success for pupils with additional needs.
• Recorded evidence that increased numbers of pupils with disabilities are actively participating in all areas of the school.
• Recorded evidence that fewer pupils are being excluded from school opportunities as their needs are being more effectively addressed through the application of strategies and procedures.
• Increased levels of achievement for pupils with disabilities.
• Pupil responses; verbally, pictorially and written that indicate that they feel themselves to be included.
• Ofsted inspections identify higher levels of educational inclusion.

E: Evaluation

Points for Consideration:

Evidence of achieved outcomes could be illustrated as follows:

• Success in meeting identified targets.
• Provision of training and awareness opportunities on issues regarding inclusion to staff, governors and parents and how this has been used to promote inclusion.
• Promoted collaboration through the provision of information aimed at sharing good practice.
• Liaison between special and mainstream schools to share expertise and pupil placement.
• Awareness of and support from LA support services that provide advice to schools and staff.
• Provision of specialist help to identify ways forward in increasing the inclusion of all pupils.
• Linking building adaptations to refurbishment and capital building works.
• How information is provided in a number of different formats.

F: Other areas for consideration

The Accessibility Plan should dovetail with other schools policies, strategies and documents, such as:

• School vision statement
• Equality Duty evidence including Equality Objectives
• Special educational needs policy
• Curriculum policy
• School evaluation and development plans
• Behaviour Management policy
• Asset Management plan
• Health and safety policy
• Administration of Medicines

Access for Achievement – Appendix ii

Resources:

• Children and Families Act: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6/contents – SEN reform is covered in part 3
• Special educational needs and disability code of practice: 0-25 years (July 2014) www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-of-practice-0-to-25
• SEND: guide for parent / carers www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-guide-for-parents-and-carers
• The Special Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014 www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1530/contents/made
• The Special Educational Needs (Personal Budgets) Regulations 2014 http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1652/contents/made
• Guidance on transition to the new 0-25 SEND system https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-managing-changes-to-legislationfrom-september-2014--3
• Guidance on implementation: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/32822 1/SEND_implementation_update__June_update_version_15.1.pdf (useful table on page 6/7 saying what LAs need to do and when)
• The 'old' SEN Code of Practice: www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational-needs-sen-code-ofpractice (still in force for those with statements up until April 2018)
• Education Act 1996 (part 4) http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/56/part/IV (still in force for those with statements up until April 2018)
• June 2014 letter with details of SEND implementation grant over 2014/15: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/31858 8/S31_SEND_Implementation_Grant_Determination_Letter__2014- 15__FINAL_SIGNE....pdf
• Guidance for schools: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-guide-forschools-and-alternative-provision-settings
• Guidance for FE colleges: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-guide-for-further-educationproviders
• Guidance on social care: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-guide-for-social-careprofessionals
• Letters to parents, teachers, local authorities and colleges: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/special-educational-needs-anddisabilities-send-reform-letters
• Guidance on medical conditions: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-pupils-at-school-withmedical-conditions--3
• Guidance for health professionals: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-guide-for-health-professionals
• Guidance on transport: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-to-school-travel-and-transportguidance
• Guidance for Early Years: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-guide-for-early-years-settings
• Guidance on Equality (June 2014 update): https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/equality-act-2010-advice-for-schools
• Reasonable adjustments: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/publication/reasonable-adjustments-disabledpupils

Surrey County Council Resources:

• Early Years and Childcare Service: http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/learning/early-years-and-childcare-service/early-yearspractitioners-and-providers/special-educational-needs-and-disabilities-in-early-years
• Physical & Sensory Support Service: http://new.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/teachers-and-educationstaff/educational-advice-and-support-for-teachers/special-educational-needs-anddisabilities/physical-and-sensory-pss-support-service/physical-and-sensory-supportreferring-children-and-young-people http://new.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/teachers-and-educationstaff/educational-advice-and-support-for-teachers/special-educational-needs-anddisabilities/physical-and-sensory-pss-support-service/physical-and-sensory-supportkey-contacts
• Portage early education support service: http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/schools-and-learning/special-educational-needs-anddisability-send/support-for-pre-school-children-with-send/pre-school-and-early-yearssupport-for-children-with-severe-or-complex-needs/portage-early-education-supportservice
• Surrey youth support service http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/people-and-community/young-surrey/help-and-advice-foryoung-people/youth-support-service