Disability Equality Policy
This policy was adopted by:
Date of review:
Signed:
Academy on:
Principal
Chair of Local Governing Body
This policy links to:
 Equal Opportunities Policy
Academy Transformation Trust
Disability Equality Scheme
1.
Academy Ethos, Vision & Values
1.1
Mission statement or statement of intent
1.2
Background
1.3
Academy Strategic Priorities
1.4
Strengths & Weaknesses
2.
The General Duty
3.
Specific Duty- How we will meet the General Duty
3.1
Involvement of Disabled People in Developing the Scheme
3.2
Developing a voice for disabled pupils, staff and parents/carer
3.3
The Local Governing Body
3.4
Removing barriers
3.5
Disability in the Curriculum, including teaching and learning
3.6
Eliminating harassment and bullying
3. 7
Reasonable Adjustments
3.8
Academy Facility Lettings
3.9
Contractors & Procurement
3.10
Information, Performance and Evidence
a. Pupil Achievement
b. Learning Opportunities
c. Admissions, Transitions, Exclusions (including SEBD)
d. Social Relationships
e. Employing, promoting and training disabled staff
3.11
Impact Assessment
3.12
Reviewing/Monitoring
Review Date
Senior Member of Staff Responsible
Governor Responsible
Appendix 1 DCSF Action Plan
Appendix 2 Check-list for SLT and Governors
Academy Ethos, Vision and Values
1.1 Mission Statement
At our academy, we are committed to ensuring equality of opportunity for:
-pupils with disabilities in relation to education and associated services;
-staff with disabilities in relation to employment rights, conditions and opportunities;
- all parents and members of the local community with disabilities in relation to additional
services offered by or at our academy.
We aim to develop a culture of inclusion and diversity in which people feel confident about
disclosing their disabilities in the certain knowledge that they will receive a positive and
supportive response which facilitates their full participation in the full range of activities
offered by our academy.
In particular, the achievement and participation of pupils and students with disabilities will
be monitored and we will use this data to raise standards and ensure inclusive teaching.
We will make reasonable adjustments in relation to teaching and learning and wider aspects
of academy life to make sure that the educational environment is as accessible as possible.
We will use our accessibility planning duty to ensure that there is a rolling programme of
improvements over the next three years in relation to access to the curriculum, access to
information for both pupils and their parents and access to the academy buildings, its
facilities and amenities for all.
We will seek to foster a positive response to disability among all members of our academy
community and to eliminate bullying, harassment or the less favourable treatment of
people with disabilities wherever and whenever it is likely to occur.
At our academy, we believe that diversity is a strength, which should be respected and
celebrated by all those who learn in, work in, and visit our community. In making this
assertion, we subscribe to the social model of disability.
The Disability Equality Duty (DED)
1.2 Background Information
Definition of disability
The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 (DDA) defines a disabled person as someone who
has ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial or long-term adverse effect on
his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’.
The Disability Discrimination Act of 2005 has extended the definition of disability as follows:


People with HIV, multiple sclerosis and cancer (although not all cancers) are deemed
disabled before they experience the long-term and substantial adverse effect on
their activities.
Section 18 has been amended so that individuals with a mental illness no longer
have to demonstrate that it is “clinically well-recognised”, although the person must
still demonstrate a long-term and substantial adverse effect on his/her ability to
carry out normal day-to-day activities.
2. The Duty
The Disability Discrimination Act of 2005 places a general duty on academies, requiring
them to have due regard to the following when carrying out their functions as employers, as
providers of education and associated services and as providers of services to the wider
community:
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Promoting equality of opportunity between disabled people and other people;
Eliminating discrimination that is unlawful under the DDA;
Eliminating harassment of disabled people that is related to their disability;
Promoting positive attitudes towards disabled people;
Encouraging participation in public life by disabled people;
Taking steps to meet disabled people’s needs, even if this requires more favourable
treatment.
This general duty is also known as the Disability Equality Duty (DED).
A specific duty under the 2005 legislation requires all academies to produce a Disability
Equality Scheme and an associated action plan covering a three year cycle. This is the
substance of the rest of this document.
The Disability Equality Duty (DED)
1.3 The Academy’s Strategic Priorities
How does the Duty meet the strategic priorities of the academy? E.g. improving
performance, social inclusion.
1.4 Strengths & Weaknesses
Identify strengths and weaknesses of the academy in promoting disability equality.
3.How we will meet the General Duty & Specific Duty
The production of this disability equality scheme provides us with a framework for
integrating disability equality into all aspects of academy life and demonstrates how we are
seeking to meet the specific duty i.e. to produce a Disability Equality Scheme for our
academy.
These actions will include some priorities to increase access to the curriculum, the
physical environment and the provision of information. They will include measures to
increase participation such as: directly asking pupils with a disability to be on the pupil
council; setting up a disabled pupils' council group; or advocacy support to help pupils with
e.g. ASD participate in debates.
Specific actions will depend on what the feedback from our consultation says, and may
include strategies to promote accessibility and make the environment more disabled
friendly, such as creating a quiet place, improving signage, etc.
We will also take steps to ensure that children and young people with disabilities can
participate in lunchtime activities, academy plays or academy trips. We will also assess
factors such as whether children are able to participate in all aspects of academy life and
how well children are achieving socially and academically. (See: “Implementing the Disability
Discrimination Act in Academies and Early Years Settings”)
Many of the above will be included within our Disability Access plan
We will include statements under each of the following headings, which demonstrate how
we are ensuring that disability equality is embedded in our academy.
3.1 Involvement of Disabled People in Developing the Scheme
Disabled pupils, staff, parents and disabled members of the community who may use
academy facilities will be involved in developing the scheme, with full account taken of their
views and appropriate adjustments made.
We will involve disabled people in developing the action plan, monitoring how the academy
carries out its duties and monitoring the progress of the action plan.
Academy records will show all pupils with SEN and/or a disability and any actions taken to
involve pupils and the outcomes that have been achieved.
e.g. results of questionnaires, feedback from individual pupils.
Action plans will have definitive timescales as pupils and parents will need to know what will
happen, how and when.
The academy will recognise the range of barriers and discrimination faced by pupils with a
disability that bit extra needed to tackle these. We will also keep including pupils, by asking
them what they want on an on-going basis.
The duty requires public authorities to have due regard to the need to take steps to take
account of disabled persons' disabilities, even when that involves treating disabled people
more favourably than other people.
3.2 Developing a voice for disabled pupils, staff and parents/carers
We will ensure that there is good practice for including pupils and parents/carers in review
meetings, transition planning, etc. There will also be a statement which clearly
demonstrates how we are encouraging disabled pupils, staff and parents/carers to
participate in public life. Involvement in the development and monitoring of both the
scheme and the action plan is a good example of this.
3.3 The Governing Body - we will encourage disabled parents/carers/community members
to become governors.
3.4 Removing barriers - physical, curriculum and information (communications) - making
the academy more accessible as per the Academy Disability Access Plan.
3.5 Disability in the Curriculum, including teaching and learning - developing positive
attitudes etc.
3.6 Eliminating harassment and bullying - the academy will ensure that the academy
harassment and bullying policy makes it clear in how discrimination, bullying, harassment of
disabled children and adults will be dealt with.
3.7 Reasonable Adjustments - the effectiveness of reasonable adjustments will be assessed
e.g. teaching and learning breaks, lunchtime, after academy clubs and trips (out of academy
activities).
3.8 Academy Facility Lettings –The academy will encourage community use of the site and
facilities by the disabled.
3.9 Contractors & Procurement –We will encourage contractors to employ disabled people,
with training available to contracted staff on disability awareness and awareness of
disability issues, including harassment and bullying particularly if in contact with pupils/staff.
3.10 Information, Performance and Evidence
This falls into four broad areas and we have to consider;

What information are we going to collect?
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How are we going to collect it?
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How are we going to analyse it?
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What are we going to do once we have analysed it?
The arrangements the academy has in place for gathering information about performance
of the academy on disability equality will be grouped under the following headings with
consideration of how we will monitor and act on these:
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Pupil Achievement
Learning Opportunities - including links with colleges for placements; target setting
for pupils with learning difficulties e.g. every pupil should have 2 college offers;
Connexions Data; I measures of educational opportunities available to disabled
students
Admissions, Transitions, Exclusions (including SEBD)
Social Relationships - how we try to improve social relationships between disabled
pupils and also non-disabled pupils and how this is monitored
Employing, promoting and training disabled staff -e.g. how representative are our
staff of the academy community and what does the monitoring of the promotion
and training of disabled staff in comparison to non-disabled staff tell us
3.11 Impact Assessment
We will outline arrangements for assessing the impact of policies, procedures, functions and
practices of the academy on disability equality and improving these when necessary and the
impact of our new and existing policies on disabled people. This will include feedback,
surveys and specific monitoring checks.
The academy scheme will detail how we have assessed and prioritised the impact, or likely
impact, of all existing and new policies and practices on disabled people The Disability
Equality Duty Code of Practice provides information on how to make decisions about impact
assessment.
Questions the academy needs to think about are:

What are the training needs of the academy regarding the DES?

Who will be involved in assessing impact and how will the academy involve
disabled people?
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How will the academy determine priorities?
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Will the academy need external expertise?
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Who will the academy report the results to?

Has contact been made with trade unions at the academy?
3.12 Reviewing/Monitoring
We will develop detail on how the academy is going to use the information gathered, in
particular reviewing the effectiveness of our 3-year action plan, including how disabled
people are being consulted in the production, setting targets and monitoring of the scheme;
what action is being taken and by when, how will the academy know when it has achieved
its objectives.
The scheme will be reviewed and publicly commented upon each year and revised at least
every three years.
Review Date _____________________
Senior Member of Staff Responsible _______________________
Designated Member of Staff________________________
Governor Responsible_______________________
Appendix 1
Name of academy:____________________________________________________________
Aspect of the
General Duty
Key
Objective
Resources
Key
Actions &
Start Date
Named
responsible
person
Success
Criteria
Evaluation Process
& Timeline
Appendix 2
Check list for academy SLT and governors
 Is information collected on disability with regards to both pupils and staff? Is this
information used to improve the provision of services?
 Is pupil achievement monitored by disability? Are there are trends or patterns in the data
that may require additional action?
 Are disabled pupils encouraged to participate in academy life? How is this shown through
representation in academy events such as class assemblies and the academy council?
 Is bullying and harassment of disabled pupils and staff monitored and is this information
used to make a difference?
 Is disability portrayed positively in academy books, displays and discussions such as circle
time and class assemblies?
 Does the academy take part in annual events such as Deaf Awareness week to raise
awareness of disability?
 Is the academy environment as accessible as possible to pupils, staff and visitors to the
academy? Are open evenings and other events which parents or carers attend held in an
accessible part of the academy?
 Is information available to parents, visitors, pupils and staff in formats which are
accessible if required? Is everyone aware of this?
 Are procedures for the election of parent governors open to candidates and voters who
are disabled?