Tewkesbury Academy is committed to ensuring equal treatment for all its employees, students and any others involved in the school community who have any form of disability and will ensure that people with disabilities are not treated any less favourably in any procedures or practices. The School will actively promote positive attitudes towards people with disabilities. The school will not tolerate harassment of people with any form of impairment.
The production of the Disability Equality Policy and Accessibility Plan provides the school with a framework for integrating disability equality into all aspects of school life and demonstrates how we are seeking to meet our specific obligations.
To this end we will:
Promote equality of opportunity between disabled persons and others;
Eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under the Disability Equality Act;
Eliminate harassment of disabled persons in any form;
Promote positive attitudes towards disabled persons, exclude any demeaning representations and provide for their full recognition within the school community;
Encourage participation of disabled persons in public life whilst respecting their wishes not to participate in activities against their will;
take account of disabled persons’ disabilities, even where that involves treating disabled persons more favourably than others;
Ensure that students, staff, parents, carers and disabled members of the community who may use school facilities are involved in developing the scheme and encouraged to identify possible actions.
Involving Disabled People
Our policy and plan will be informed by
The views and aspirations of disabled pupils themselves
The views and aspirations of the families of disabled pupils
The views and aspirations of other disabled people
The view and aspirations of voluntary organisations
We will endeavour to show how these views have influenced our policy and plans with annual updates over the next three years.
In the context of Disability Equality and Accessibility all new students and staff on starting Tewkesbury Academy will be expected to provide relevant information, through the form of a questionnaire.
We will continue to collect data about disability as part of an ongoing process, analyse the information and update our policies and procedures in the light of any findings.
Our Plan
Our plan over time will be to create the accessibility provision for all students, staff and visitors to the school. Our accessibility plan will contain relevant actions to:
Improve access to the physical Environment of the school through the use of EFSA funding when available, adding specialist facilities as and when necessary. This will need to form part of the schools capital development plan.
Improve access to the curriculum for students with a disability, expanding the curriculum as necessary to ensure that students with a disability are equally prepared for life as are able bodied students. 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 when needed of specialist aids and equipment, which will assist these students in accessing the curriculum.
Improve the delivery of written information to students, staff, parents and visitors with disabilities. Examples might include hand-outs, timetables, textbooks and information about the school and school events. The information will as necessary be provided in various preferred formats within a reasonable timeframe.
We have attached action plans relating to these key aspects of accessibility. These plans will be reviewed and adjusted on an annual basis. New plans will be drawn up every three years.
We acknowledge that there is an ongoing need for awareness and training for staff and governors in the matter of disability discrimination and the need to continually inform attitudes on this matter.
Appendix A – Definition of Disability Definition of Disability
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) sets out the circumstances in which a person is “disabled”. It says a person has a disability if they have a mental or physical impairment, which has an adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. The adverse effect must be substantial and long-term (meaning it has lasted for 12 months, or is likely to last for more than 12 months).
There are some special provisions:
If the impairment has substantially affected a person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, but doesn’t any more, it will still be counted if it is likely to do so again.
If a person has a progressive condition that will substantially affect them in the future, they will be regarded as having an impairment from the moment the condition has some effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to day-activities.
If a person has been diagnosed as having cancer, HIV infection or multiple sclerosis they will automatically be considered as having a disability.
If a person is registered as blind or partially sighted they will automatically be considered as having a disability. At least one of these areas must be substantially affected:
mobility
manual dexterity
physical coordination
continence
ability to lift, carry or move everyday objects
speech, hearing or eyesight
memory or ability to concentrate, learn or understand e.g. ADHD
understanding of the risk of physical danger.
It is important to note that the effect of the impairment without treatment should be taken into account e.g. if a prosthetic limb gives a person good mobility, that person should still be classified as having a disability. The only things that can be taken into account are glasses or contact lenses.
What does not count as a disability?
Certain conditions are not considered impairments under the DDA:
tendency to steal, set fires, and physical or sexual abuse of others
exhibitionism and voyeurism
hay-fever (if it doesn’t aggravate the effects of an existing condition)
addiction to, or a dependency on, alcohol, nicotine or any other substance, other than a substance being medically prescribed.
Additionally, disfigurements such as tattoos or non-medical body piercing are not included.
This definition is different from the eligibility criteria for special educational needs provision. This means that students with disabilities may or may not also have a special educational need.
What is covered by the Act?
The school must have due regard for the Act when deciding policy and practice in the following areas:
Admissions
Exclusions
Preparation for entry to the school
The curriculum
Teaching and learning
Classroom organisation
Timetabling
Grouping of pupils
Homework
Access to school facilities
Activities to supplement the curriculum, for example, a drama group visiting the school
School sports
School policies
Breaks and lunchtimes
The serving of school meals
Interaction with peers
Assessment and exam arrangements
School discipline and sanctions
Exclusion procedures
School clubs and activities
School trips
The school’s arrangements for working with other agencies
Preparation of pupils for the next phase of education
Organisation of Parents’ Evenings & Academic Mentoring Days
