Ysgol Gynradd
Penygroes
Accessibility Plan
2016-2020
We have the right to an education’
Article 28
April 2013
CONTENTS
 INTRODUCTION
 THE PRIORITIES OF OUR VISION
 OUR FOCUS – UPON ALL PUPILS WITH A DISABILITY AND THE
ACCESSIBILITY OF OUR SCHOOL
 OUR CURRENT STRENGTHS AND NEEDS AS A SCHOOL IN WORKING
WITH DISABLED PUPILS
 HOW OUR SCHOOL’S ORGANISATION IMPACTS UPON DISABLED
PUPILS
 THE OUTCOMES FOR DISABLED PUPILS IN OUR SCHOOL
 OUR PRIORITIES FOR IMPROVING THE INFORMATION AND DATA TO
SUPPORT THE ACCESSIBILITY PLAN
 THE VIEWS OF THOSE CONSULTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR PLAN
 OUR MAIN PRIORITIES IN OUR ACCESSIBILITY PLAN:

Increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in our school
curriculum
 Priorities for curriculum access
 Improving the physical environment of the school to increase disabled pupils
opportunities to take advantage of education and associated services
 The delivery to disabled pupils of information that is provided in writing for pupils who
are not disabled.
 TURNING OUR PLAN INTO PRACTICE
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Introduction
This plan sets out the proposals of the Governing Body of Penygroes Primary School to increase
access to education for disabled pupils in the three areas required by the planning duties in the
Disability Discrimination Act. This plan takes account of the local authority’s Single Education
Plan, Accessibility Strategy, Inclusion Strategy, Equality Statement and Children and Young
People’s Plan.
Penygroes Primary School values the individuality of all our children. We are committed to giving
all of our children every opportunity to achieve the highest of standards. We do this by taking
account of pupils’ varied life experiences and needs. We offer a broad and balanced curriculum,
and have high expectations for all children. The achievements, attitudes and well- being of all our
children are of the utmost importance. This policy helps to ensure that this school promotes the
individuality of all our children, irrespective of ethnicity, religion, attainment, age, disability,
gender or background.
The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) of 1995 aims to end discrimination against people with
disabilities and to improve access in all areas of life. Since 2002 it has been unlawful for school and
Local Education Authorities to discriminate against pupils with disabilities in admissions and
exclusions, and in associated services.
Our Accessibility Plan details the changes required to our buildings and to other aspects of our
school, so that we fulfill our legal requirements, and remove barriers to inclusion for all pupils and
staff with disabilities.
 We recognise that the duties within the plan need to be known and understood by all staff.
 We have involved all staff in contributing to and or commenting on the plan.
 We aim to ensure all adults within the school own the plan.
 We have set out to be explicit about what the duties under the DDA mean in this school.
 We recognise that every member of staff has a duty to remove barriers to learning for
disabled pupils.
 We wish to involve disabled pupils and their parents and carers in our development and
implementation and review of this plan.
The priorities of our vision
 Our school aims to be an inclusive school in respect of pupils, staff and parents. We
actively seek to remove the barriers to learning and participation that can hinder or
exclude individual pupils, or groups of pupils. This means that equality of opportunity
must be a reality for all our children, and this of course includes pupils with disabilities.
 We will ensure that pupils with disabilities have the same opportunities as non-disabled
pupils to benefit from the education our school provides.
 We will not treat a pupil with a disability less favourably than others because of the nature
of their disability.
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Our focus – upon all pupils with a disability and the accessibility of our school
Our understanding of the:  profile of pupils in our school who meet the disability criteria:
At present we only have one statemented child within our school who meets the criteria
and we have all relevant documentation in place to support this pupil.
 profile of the school’s future intake: We are unaware at present that we would have any pupils meeting this criteria in the next
three years. It is reasonable to assume that it is a possibility and as such we would be
addressing any requirements on entry.
How our school’s organisation would impact upon disabled pupils
 We would endeavour to improve provision for disabled pupils and staff by developing
the physical environment of the school, within the limits of the resources available.
 We would use teaching strategies to enhance learning and participation in a broad and
balanced curriculum. We find ways in which all pupils can take part in sport, music and
drama. We plan our out-of-school activities and school visits in such a way that pupils with
disabilities can participate.
 We would use language that does not offend, and we would make staff and pupils aware
of the importance of language.
 Our School would regularly review the way resources are matched to the needs of the
children. If necessary, to improve our provision, adjustments would be made to classroom
organisation, the deployment of support staff, timetabling and staff training.
 Many of the adjustments we would make are dependent upon individual needs, and more
individualised approaches. Individual Education Plans are effective and manageable.
 We would seek and respond to guidance from staff, parents and the
children.
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 Our school has an effective anti-bullying policy in place.
 Risk assessments are in place for any children with a disability along with a personal
emergency evacuation plan.
 Health care plans would be completed where appropriate which will include the
administration of any medicines.
 Information normally provided in writing would be made available in alternative formats
that are clear and user friendly when necessary.
 We would always take account of disabilities, be they the pupils’ or parents’.
The outcomes for any potential disabled pupils in our school
 Our detailed analysis of outcome data
 All pupils would be assessed and tracked on an individual basis.
 All pupils attending the school regardless of disability would access the whole curriculum.
Our priorities for improving the information and data to support the accessibility plan
 Annual Review of policies and procedures
 Consult with interested parties
 Organise training sessions for staff and governors
The views of those consulted in the development of our plan
Our plan is informed by the views and aspirations of:  Our disabled children and young people, through questionnaires which can
be found in the appendix
 The parents and of carers of our disabled pupils
 Other disabled people and voluntary organizations such as Plant Dewi,
CYCA & the visual impairment team
 The priorities of the local authority
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Our main priorities in our accessibility plan

Increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in our school curriculum
We recognise that curriculum development work is very time intensive. We are therefore planning
the developments outlined below over the lifetime of the plan. We aim to focus on key areas of
the curriculum, namely: 



Extra curricular activities
School visits
Sporting and cultural visits
ICT development
These developments reflect our wider school improvement priorities and will be lead by those
with the relevant specialist curricular expertise in:
 Literacy
 Numeracy plc
We are drawing upon a range of external partners to assist us in our approach namely:  Members of area teams
o Advisers
o Educational psychologists
o Education Welfare Officers
o School social worker
 Specialist advisory teachers in:
o Autism
o Dyslexia
o Speech, language and communication
o Hearing impairment ICT
o Visual impairment ICT
o Attachment
 Colleagues from health including:
o Speech and language therapists
o Occupational therapists
o Physiotherapists
o Community Paediatricians, Health visitors,
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We recognise that disabled pupils have the right to access activities outside the formal taught
curriculum including: 




Recreation times
Movement around the school
Special events
Extra curricular activity
School trips
Our priorities for physical improvements to the school to increase access are:
 To inform Local Authority when pupils with disabilities transfer to/from the school so that
adaptations can be carried out.
 All future developments to the school environment will comply with disability
requirements.

The delivery to disabled pupils of information that is provided in writing for pupils
who are not disabled.
We recognise that a standard print format will not be accessible to all of our pupils.
We appreciate the need to use the best medium possible to ensure our pupils can gain equal access to key
information such as:-





Handouts, success criteria grids,
Timetables
Worksheets
Notices
Information about events
We aim to provide information in accessible formats e.g:



Providing simplified language versions for pupils with learning difficulties.
Offering picture/symbol systems for pupils with language and communication difficulties.
Using large print formats for pupils who experience difficulties with standard prints.
Providing audio taped instructions for some pupils.
We appreciate that some pupils require specialised formats. Where this is the case we will link
closely with the Carmarthenshire’s Sensory Impaired Service to secure this format.
Turning our plan into practice
Our management, co-ordination and implementation process
The governing body takes responsibility for the school accessibility plan and sets a clear direction
for it.
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We will monitor the progress of our plan annually and review and revise it every three years.
We will ensure that disabled pupils, their parents and carers, the staff, visiting professionals, and
those from the voluntary sector can contribute to our review.
In terms of the evaluation of our plan and its impact we will invite colleagues from the local
authority’s Area Team to support us in the evaluation of our plan and play the role of the critical
friend offering objective feedback.
We will expressly draw upon the views of the key stakeholders in our plan and we will link this
with our school performance data.
Clearly the Accessibility Plan does not stand alone, it is inextricably linked with our wider planning
processes, namely our:




School improvement plan
Equality plan
Inclusion policy
Health and Safety policy
Self Evaluation plan
We recognise the need to ensure our plan takes account of the work of other services particularly
Health.
In terms of the detailed implementation of our plan we have set out this in a planning format on
the next pages.
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ACCESSIBILITY ACTION PLAN
Short Term: 2012-2013
Objective
Barriers
Raise awareness of legislation
and obligations regarding
pupils with disabilities
Interested
parties Organise training sessions as Annual review
not included in the and when required
consultation process
Review
Inclusion
Document
Policy Updated policies
and procedures not
adopted or
implemented by
relevant parties
Updated policies
Policies and Procedures
and procedures not
adopted or
implemented by
relevant parties
Ensure the safety of pupils Potential barriers to
and staff during school individual pupils
trips/extra
curricular accessing activities
activities/leisure, sporting and
cultural visits including pupils
with disabilities
April 2013
Action
Timescale
Annual review of policy and
procedures.
Audit existing policies
procedures
Annual review
and Annual review
To follow L.A and All Wales
guidance for Learning outside
the
classroom/Educational
Visits.
Ensure staff carry out the
necessary risk assessments.
Outcome
Increased staff and governor
knowledge with regards to
disability
Inclusive school ethos
All school documentation
reflects equal opportunities
for all
Reviewed annually
Pupils with disabilities to take
and as new guidance part in all school activities.
issued from relevant
corporate bodies
Ensure that the
learning Pupils failing to
needs of disabled pupils are succeed due to
met within the classroom
accessibility issues
Classroom
observations, On going
tracking
pupil
progress,
consulting with pupils and
parents/carers
Progress and achievements of
disabled pupils monitored to
ensure quality of opportunity
To identify training needs of
staff regarding differentiation
Pupils failing to
succeed due to
accessibility issues
Audit current training needs On going
of staff and include findings in
SDP as required.
Teachers and Teaching
Assistants are able to fully
meet the requirements of
disabled children with regards
to accessing the curriculum.
Ensure that the procedures
for the administration of
medicines to pupils are in line
with local and national
guidelines
The procedures do
not comply with
local and national
guidelines.
Audit current needs in line Health care plans
with WG documentation. reviewed as and
‘Access to Education and when required.
support for children and
young people with Medical
needs’
Health care plans in place for
all pupils who require
medication. Appropriate staff
training for specific medical
needs. Pupils, staff and
parents/carers confident that
correct procedures are
followed.
Parents/Carers with
disabilities able to visit the
school.
To
ensure
disabled
parents/carers have suitable
access to premises e.g.
concerts,
consultation
evenings
Correspondence
inviting Annual premises
parents/carers to attend review
school functions to take
account of any
special
requests.
Adjustments made to enable
disabled parents/carers to
visit school
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To inform LA when pupils Key information not
with disabilities
transfer access by interested
to/from the school.
parties preventing
pupils becoming
pupils fully involved
in the school
community
Ensure that changes to the Key information not
school environment comply access by interested
with disability requirements
parties preventing
pupils
becoming
pupils fully involved
in
the
school
community
To ensure information is Key information not
provided
in
alternative access by interested
formats.
parties preventing
pupils
becoming
pupils fully involved
in
the
school
community
Consult with LA premises On going
management officer and LA
surveyor.
LA capacity to prioritise
physical adaptations to
school. Accessibility
improved.
Consult with LA premises On going
management officer and LA
surveyor and LA health and
safety officers
Improved disabled access and
improved environment for
disabled pupils.
All correspondence sent to On going
parents/carers to include a
sentence enquiring whether
written materials in different
formats are required. Liaise
with staff from LA to ensure
that parent/carer needs can
be met.
Written information in
alternative formats provided.
Improved home/school links
for disabled parents/carers
and pupils. Parental
satisfaction.
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Medium Term: 2016-2018
Objective
Barriers
Action
Timescale
Outcome
Develop
policies
and
procedures
to
ensure
consultation
with
stakeholders and sharing of
relevant information to
promote accessibility
Develop the use of ICT to
enable
pupils
with
disabilities to access the
curriculum
Policies and procedures fail
to be regarded as ideas
acted upon by the school
Integrate accessibility plan September 2016 – Accessibility planning
into SDP and self evaluation onwards
embedded in the annual
procedures
review of school progress.
Pupils with ALN may
require support to access
ICT curriculum.
Audit training needs of January
staff. Explore suitable ICT ongoing
software.
2017
- Pupils with disabilities will
be able to access the
curriculum. Broad balanced
curriculum for all pupils.
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Long
Term:
2018 Onward
s
Objective
Action
Timescale
Outcome
To provide a designated Budget constraints
parking space for visitors
with disabilities
Consult with L.A. Premises
management officer and
L.A. Surveyor
2018 onwards
Designated parking area
provided so increased
physical access for disabled
visitors
To
provide
consistent Possible disjointed strategic
policies and procedures plan for accessibility
within partnership/cluster
schools
Work with
partnership/cluster schools
to develop consistent
working practices and
procedures relating to
accessibility that are
coherent and benefit all
parties.
Maintain good working
practices and procedures
and apply to the new SDP
2019 onwards
Coherent working
To address the needs of
continued
professional
development
Barriers
2016 onwards
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