Accessibility Policy and Plan

Policy details

Date created - November 2020

Date reviewed and updated - January 2024

Date approved by governors - 18/01/2024

Next review date - January 2025

Contents

Policy details        1

Contents        1

Vision and Values        2

Legislation and guidance        2

Involvement and Consultation        3

Accessibility by design        3

Accessibility Plan        4

Curriculum        4

Physical Environment        4

Access to information        5

Review of 2022-2023 Plan        5

Vision and Values

Co-op Academy Southfield is committed to ensuring equality of education and opportunity for all -

including students, staff and all those involved in the school community. We aim to develop a

culture of inclusion and diversity in which people feel free to disclose their disability, are proud

of their identity and are able to participate fully in school life.

We have high expectations of all our students and aim to offer teaching throughout the

school which enables our students to become as confident, resilient and independent as possible.

Co-op Academy Southfield, we believe that diversity is a strength, which should be respected and

celebrated by all those who learn, work and visit here.

Legislation and guidance

The Equality Act 2010 replaced all existing equality legislation, including the Disability

Discrimination Act. This document meets the requirements of schedule 10 of the Equality Act 2010 and the Department for Education (DfE) Guidance for schools on the Equality Act 2010.

The Equality Act 2010 defines an individual as disabled if he or she has a physical or mental

impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ adverse effect on his or her ability to

undertake normal day to day activities.

Under the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice, ‘long-term’ is

defined as ‘a year or more’ and ‘substantial’ is defined as ‘more than minor or trivial’. The

definition includes sensory impairments such as those affecting sight or hearing, and long-term

health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, epilepsy and cancer.

Schools are required to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ for students with disabilities under the

Equality Act 2010, to alleviate any substantial disadvantage that a disabled student faces in

comparison with non-disabled students. This can include, for example, the provision of an

auxiliary aid or adjustments to premises.

Schools are required under the Equality Act 2010 to have an accessibility plan. The purpose of

the plan is to:

• Increase the extent to which disabled students can participate in the curriculum
• Improve the physical environment of the school to enable disabled students to take better

advantage of education, benefits, facilities and services provided

• Improve the availability of accessible information to disabled students.

Involvement and Consultation

Co-op Academy Southfield works closely with the Local Authority and in partnership with external agencies and support services to ensure that all of our current and future students can access the full range of educational provision that we have to offer.

Where appropriate we will seek specialist advice to inform the planning of reasonable adjustments, but most reasonable adjustments can be resolved within the school setting. We have access to and support from various NHS professional services, with nurses from the Special Needs School Nursing Service on site daily, and other services visiting, including consultants holding clinics within school. This enables the students to attend with minimal disruption to their school day and in a familiar environment.

Feedback from parents/carers and student voice is taken seriously and is welcomed.

Accessibility by design

Co-op Academy Southfield is predominantly housed in a building shared with Co-op Academy Grange, and occupies space which was purpose-built as a special school, and as such was built under building regulations to meet the needs of its special population. It is a PFI school built through the Building Schools for the Future scheme. As a PFI school the maintenance of this building is the responsibility of Amey FM. Any building alterations have to be carried out in line with the mechanisms in the PFI

contract.

All alterations to the non-PFI building are planned with accessibility for all users in mind. The additional teaching space built on that site is also fully accessible and the decoration is appropriate for students with communication and interaction difficulties to enhance the learning experience for them. These are students who would struggle to access the main building space due to their sensory needs.

Accessibility Plan

This Accessibility Plan relates to the key aspects of curriculum, physical environment, and accessible

information.

Curriculum

At Co-op Academy Southfield we value our students and their uniqueness. We will never let anything get in the way of our high aspirations for them.  

To make sure that they achieve all that they are capable of, we will ensure that our curriculum is literacy rich and is broad and balanced so that the students have exposure to a curriculum that engages and challenges them regardless of their background.  

Our curriculum will be sequenced so that the students are taught firm foundations and that subsequent learning builds upon what the students already know and can do. We want the students to become responsible citizens who can make positive contributions in adulthood and so we ensure that they are fully equipped with the skills and knowledge to thrive in modern Britain.  

We will make  sure that they are supported in a range of situations external to the school environment too so that we are contributing to their personal development as well as their academic development.  

The Co-op Values will be the golden thread running through our endeavours and our approaches.

Physical Environment

At Co-op Academy Southfield we continue to improve and maintain access to the physical environment of the school, adding specialist facilities as necessary – this includes the provision of specialist equipment to enable access to education.

Any proposed change to the physical environment has regard for building accessibility, furniture, signage and resources, including ICT.

We also:

• Ensure that facilities are available for students with sensory impairments, e.g. certain internal signage uses Braille, symbols and objects of reference.
• Provide sufficient disabled parking near the main entrance.
• Provide hygiene rooms with facilities including hoist, changing table, shower and sluice.
• Equip our school minibuses to enable all students to participate in off-site activities, including wheelchair users.
• Strive to ensure that no student is excluded from school due to their disability or difficulties.
• Have effective emergency and evacuation procedures in place, including fire lifts and evacuation chairs.

Access to information

We also aim to improve the availability of accessible information to students, staff, parents and visitors with disabilities by;

• Having an admissions policy which gives equal rights to all potential applications regardless of
• ability or disability.
• Focusing on using appropriate communication that meets individual needs with students and parents.
• Celebrating and promoting key events such as the annual Barry Holden Memorial Games.
• Circulating Education, Health & Care Plans and other plans to all appropriate staff members.
• Maintaining close links between agencies in order to receive advice and support our students and their families.
• Having an accessible website.

This plan should be read in conjunction with our Equality Objectives Statement and Action Plan 2023-2024 and Co-op Academy Southfield Local Offer.