ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
EARLY HELP & SCHOOLS SERVICE
ACCESSIBILITY STRATEGY 2016-19
ROCHDALE BOROUGH COUNCIL
ACCESSIBILITY STRATEGY 2016-19
CONTENTS
Statement of Principle
Definitions of Accessibility
The Role of the Local Authority (LA)
The LA Commitment
Resources
The Legal Context, Policies and Plans
LA Strategy
The Physical Estate
Access to the Curriculum
Access to Information
Advice to Schools
Monitoring, Evaluation and Review
Appendices
Appendix 1:
Appendix 2:
Appendix 3:
Appendix 4:
Appendix 5:
Equality Act 2010 Schedule 10
SEND Code of Practice 2015, SEN Policy and Strategic Plan
Potential for Accessibility Support
Initial Checklist for Schools and other Providers
The School Accessibility Plan
STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLE
Definitions of Accessibility
1. The Local Authority (LA) has a duty to plan strategically so that the accessibility of its schools
and other provision increases over time. Schools share this duty as ‘responsible bodies’ and
have a duty to prepare an accessibility plan which will explain how they will increase
accessibility.
2. Accessibility strategies and plans must, in accordance with government guidance, show how
the LA and schools will:
-
increase the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the schools’ curriculums;
-
improve the physical environment of the schools for the purpose of increasing the extent to
which disabled pupils are able to take advantage of education and associated services
provided or offered by schools; and
-
improve the delivery to disabled pupils and parents of information which is already
provided, in writing, to pupils and parents who are not disabled. This should be done
within a reasonable period of time and in formats which take account of any views
expressed by the pupils or their parents about their preferred means of communication.
3. The duty to plan for improved accessibility is set out in the Schedule 10 of the Equality Act
2010.
4. Although the core of accessibility is about how pupils can access what is happening in schools,
the teaching and learning that is available, it is also about access to the whole social and out of
school curriculum. This means that all aspects of a school’s work need to be considered in
terms of their accessibility for those with a disability and, given the close involvement of parents
in their children’s education, parental accessibility too.
The Role of the Local Authority (LA)
5. The LA’s duty to prepare and maintain an accessibility strategy is part of its wider role to
support schools’ plans to improve accessibility. This is met through advice on the
development of accessibility plans for schools and through its on-going monitoring role. The
LA must also ensure that its planning role in general is used to support the improvement of
accessibility in schools.
6. Whilst the legal duty regarding physical access on the LA relates to school buildings, the LA is
also involved with a range of other provision. Rochdale LA considers that it is good practice to
support accessibility in other settings such as in early years’ provision, in its pupil referral
service, its youth service and community provision. Provision that is part of the LA will be
required to develop accessibility plans as part of their wider planning and other provision will be
encouraged to include accessibility in their development planning. The LA will work closely
with Sure Start (Early Years) to support this approach and with the Property and Facilities
Management Service within the LA.
7. The LA manages the capital estate of its maintained schools, working with the Dioceses in
respect of Voluntary Aided (VA) schools. This includes maintaining an Asset Management
Plan (AMP) which details the condition, suitability and sufficiency of school provision. The
AMP is the basis on which funding for buildings is prioritised and consequently there is a critical
link between the data held on the accessibility of school buildings and the detail of the AMP
which is needed if funding decisions are properly informed by the duty to improve accessibility.
8. The LA will ensure that all capital work for which it is responsible will include reference to
accessibility issues. This extends from new builds which will be designed for full accessibility
to refurbishment programmes which will seek to include adaptations to improve accessibility.
Where schools are commissioning refurbishments from devolved capital funding or from their
delegated budgets, LA advice is that accessibility should be an integral part of the planning
process.
9. For all schools, there is a need to work closely with the LA in terms of accessing specialist
advice. It must be recognised that schools may well not have the expertise that is needed ‘in
house’ and the LA’s role is therefore to promote access to and/or provide support and advice.
This responsibility may mean that the LA has to challenge schools’ plans and decision-making
processes where accessibility issues may have been overlooked.
10. The LA’s role in increasing access to the curriculum is essentially one which supports the work
that is done in school. This can be managed through the development of staff training and
advice on good practice. Rochdale LA has in place a mechanism for this work in the REAL
Trust and also supports half termly meetings for SENCOs which can provide ready means of
support in curriculum development. If accessibility is critical across the whole curriculum, then
work such as the dissemination of good practice should be part of the general way of working,
not some separate process.
11. The LA is responsible for a range of plans which affect the curriculum in schools and which
structure other provision such as Early Help. The LA has a responsibility to ensure that
access to the curriculum is integral to these plans. It is important to ensure that planning
reflects accessibility issues. The LA is in contact with other agencies with specialist
knowledge, such as Healthcare Trusts and therefore has a role in helping to apply such
specialisms to curriculum provision in schools.
12. The LA through its specialist support staff and its links with other agencies also has a role in
supporting schools to make information available to pupils with disabilities in alternative
formats. In many instances, this is taking place where pupils with low incidence special
educational needs (SEN) receive support from specialist staff, often through a Statement of
SEN or an Education, Health and Care Plan. The LA and schools need to look at how this
individually-focused provision can more widely support accessibility in schools.
The LA Commitment
13. The LA is committed to being an inclusive education authority and this is reflected in the LA’s
Children and Young People’s Plan and the SEN Policy and Strategic Plan. The LA considers
that inclusion is a process and an integral part of all aspects of the LA.
14. As part of its planning for better accessibility, improvements will be made to physical access to
buildings on a geographic basis so as to minimise the distance of Borough residents to their
nearest fully accessible school building and all new school buildings and extensions to existing
buildings will be monitored through the planning process to ensure that they are barrier free
and meet the current building regulations. At the same time, the LA will respond to specific
individual access needs of pupils where this is consistent with the broad policy to support
access.
15. The short term objectives within the policy framework are:
- an accessible secondary school in each township plus an accessible RC-aided secondary
school;
- a network of accessible primary schools across the Borough, reflecting Aided and
Community/Foundation provision;
- immediate response to specific individual need as identified by the SEN Team.
16. The LA manages this process by maintaining a register of all school buildings detailing
accessibility and will grade them according to the degree of access i.e.
A*
A
B
C
D
full disabled access and facilities
minimal work needed to provide full disabled access and facilities
work needed in several areas to provide full disabled access and facilities
significant work needed to provide full disabled access and facilities
major structural work needed to provide full disabled access and facilities
17. The gradings are used to identify priorities for work each year, in discussion with the SEN
Team. Priority work is focused on buildings identified as A or B, as this means that more
buildings can be improved within the year and thus the geographic spread increased as far as
possible. The position is reviewed on an annual basis and if there are large areas of the
Borough without appropriate facilities then improvements to a relatively high cost building are
considered. The timing of the review with new September placements of individual children
with access needs to be taken into account in the allocation of funding.
Resources
18. Until 31 March 2017 the LA has capital funding with a specific allocation to support improved
accessibility. The majority of this funding is spent on improvements to the physical estate.
19. As schools are required to have an accessibility plan, it is reasonable to expect that
accessibility will improve over time. However for any school there may be a sudden,
unpredicted requirement to improve accessibility due to the needs of a particular pupil. In
broad terms, the LA expects low cost support for accessibility of the school; all schools have
devolved funding for SEN to use for such purposes. Where only a high cost solution is
possible, then the LA may provide support, in accordance with its SEN Policy.
20. For individual pupil-linked needs in mainstream schools, the LA may fund specialist seating,
equipment and adaptations to support curriculum access for hearing and visual impairment and
building adaptations, including hoists and associated equipment for physical disabilities.
Special school budgets are deemed to cover the provision of pupil-led equipment. Decisions
on such funding will be made by the LA in the context of its agreed policies.
21. The LA’s resources include specialist expertise, in particular those working as part of Rochdale
Additional Needs Service (RANS). The RANS staff have a responsibility to support and advise
schools and contribute regularly to the half-termly SENCo meetings. RANS also monitors use
of specialist equipment and its impact on pupils’ progress.
22. Staff in schools, including special schools may also have expertise which can support
accessibility on a whole-LA basis. This may be specific to a particular special need, for
example pupils on the autistic spectrum or about a particular form of support. The REAL Trust
is a means of identifying and spreading good practice and as part of its work will promote
accessibility issues throughout its work.
The Legal Context: Policies and Plans
23. The basis for the accessibility strategy is, as noted above, Schedule 10 of the Equality Act
2010. The SEND Code of Practice 2015 outlines the process through which accessibility
needs can be assessed and met.
24. The work of the LA is structured through a series of plans, with its 5-Year Strategic Plan as the
baseline. This has two key aims, Improvement and Inclusion and two means of achieving
them, Investment and Innovation. Inclusion is, in its broadest sense, about accessibility and
the clear links between this and improvement, investment and innovation support the LA’s
commitment to being an inclusive authority.
25. As the need to plan for accessibility has become more widely appreciated, it has begun to
inform planning processes across the LA and is now much more explicit in written plans. The
LA’s SEN Policy & Strategic Plan sets out a clear commitment to inclusion and identifies how
this will happen. The introduction to this Policy & Strategic Plan makes it clear that the LA and
schools have both a shared responsibility and different tasks to do. Similarly, the Education
Development Plan (EDP) reflects the accessibility agenda with a clear commitment to meet the
needs of all pupils.
26. Provision in schools is supported by a range of initiatives such as Achievement for All and
Early Talk Boost. What they have in common is a focus on identifying and supporting the
needs of all pupils and that means looking at barriers to accessibility and overcoming them.
The role of the Accessibility Strategy is essentially complementary; it requires schools and
other providers to look at the ‘how’ of access, including the physical estate, the curriculum and
the means of communication. It brings together specialist advice and support that can
underpin the various initiatives and also seeks to provide coherence and consistency across
the many settings that are involved.
27. Opportunities for pupils to take part in activities outside school such as work experience or
college placements are increasing and it is important that accessibility is a part of the planning
for such activities. As noted above, accessibility has to cover the whole of the pupil’s school
experience, not just what happens in the classroom. The LA, through its links with local
providers can support this work but on an individual level schools need to include in their plans
how they monitor accessibility across their whole range of provision.
28. This strategy is the legal responsibility of the LA. All services for children are within the remit
of the Director of Children’s Services i.e. Early Help & Schools and Children’s Social Care.
This demonstrates the commitment to children and young people and enables closer working
between agencies which can, in turn, support accessibility.
29. The LA also has a duty to provide sufficient school places and manages this through a formal
review process. As plans are developed to increase school places, including those in special
schools, accessibility will be an integral part of the planning process.
30. Any challenge to provision is likely to be heard by the SEN & Disability Tribunal (SENDIST).
Ideally, co-operation between the LA, schools and parents will resolve any difficulties.
However before parents can appeal to SENDIST, they must first contact the Mediation Service
provided by Rochdale Borough Council. Following contact, should the situation still be
unresolved, the Mediation Service will issue a certificate which will enable parents to submit
their appeal. It is important to note that SENDIST has the power to order:
-
-
-
disability training for staff;
the preparation of guidance for staff on combating disability discrimination;
meetings between an LA Equal Opportunities Officer, parents, the pupil and school to
review what reasonable adjustments (short of adjustments to the physical premises or
provision of auxiliary aids) might be required;
the review or alteration of school or LA policies, for example, those that prevent visually
impaired pupils going into the science laboratory, those that prevent disabled pupils going
on certain school trips and anti-bullying policies so that they deal with bullying on the
grounds of disability;
additional tuition to compensate for missed lessons (such as science lessons in the
example above);
the relocation of facilities (short of requiring an adjustment to the physical premises);
additional tuition for a temporarily excluded pupil to enable the pupil to catch up on
education missed due to discrimination;
a formal apology to a child.
LA Strategy
31. The LA’s strategy is based on a series of key commitments, namely:
the maintenance of its physical estate
- the audit of accessibility will be updated at least every two years;
- the LA will refer to building regulations to inform planning of new build and refurbishment;
- all new building will be barrier-free and will take into account, where appropriate, the needs
of hearing and visual impairment;
- there will be a clear policy of improving physical accessibility in buildings maintained by the
LA;
access to the curriculum
- the Early Help and Schools Service Development Plan will include access to the curriculum
as an integral part of its action planning;
- the LA will offer specialist advice to schools and other providers in response both to
individual pupil needs and as part of its support for school-level access planning;
access to information
- the LA will provide specialist advice to schools on communication issues in response to
individual needs and as part of its support for school-level access planning;
- the LA will review its communications policies through an analysis of need and in
consultation with other agencies and organisations;
- the LA will take part in the LA’s Communications Working Group to support improved
access to information;
advice to schools
- the LA will provide guidance to schools on accessibility issues;
- the expertise of RANS staff will be available to support schools;
- meetings of SENCos will include issues related to accessibility;
- formal meetings such as Headteachers’ Conferences and Governors’ Forums will be used
to raise awareness of accessibility issues;
monitoring, evaluation and review
- monitoring and evaluation requirements in LA plans will include accessibility issues;
- headteachers’ consultative groups will form the first line reporting forum;
- the formal reporting process will be to the Council’s Overview & Scrutiny Committee for
Education & Lifelong Learning;
- where there is partnership working there will be an expectation that partnerships will
monitor and evaluate accessibility in the areas where they have an involvement;
- the accessibility strategy will be kept under review and action plans updated as necessary.
Appendix 1: Rochdale Schools Accessibility Action Plan 2016-19
Improving physical access in schools
Priority
Improved physical access to
facilities
Outcome
Children and young people have the
best start in life
Objectives
Responsible owner

To improve the level of accessibility of more schools (primary & secondary)
in Rochdale by end 2015

Asset Management,
Schools Organisation
To ensure accessibility needs of disabled pupils are part of any capital
school building programme requirements
Training & support for headteachers & SENCos
Outcome
Objectives
Responsible owner
Develop skills of SENCOs
Children and young people have the
best start in life

To ensure all new SENCOs in Rochdale have achieved or are working
towards national accreditation as outlined in CAFA 2014 Regulation.
School improvement
Raised awareness amongst
HTs and specialists
Children and young people have the
best start in life

To run a series of one-day training events on disability discrimination

To develop LA materials and advice to support staff in mainstream schools
SEN and Disability
Service

To develop outreach work

To facilitate a network of SENCo Cluster Groups to provide practical advice,
support and guidance and encourage exchange of ideas and best practice
classroom techniques across Rochdale
Priority
Raising awareness and skills
Priority
Outcome
Raised awareness amongst
staff in mainstream schools
and parents
SEND children and young people
are supported to access
mainstream services.
Increase parental confidence
and engagement
SEND children and young people
are supported to access
mainstream services
Raised awareness amongst
classmates in mainstream
SEND children and young people
are supported to access
Objectives
Responsible owner

SEN and Disability
Service


To run coaching/training programme for mainstream staff and parents to
develop understanding & strategies in addressing low incidence needs such
as autism
To provide training for parents/carers and parent support groups to
develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of SEN
To develop classroom materials to raise awareness of pupils in primary and
secondary schools to needs of SEND pupils
SEN and Disability
Service
SEN and Disability
Service
schools
mainstream services
Communication with pupils, parents and other groups
Priority
Understand views of pupils
and parents/carers better
Provide more information
about accessibility and make
it easier to understand
Increase parents’ confidence
and involvement
Outcome
Objectives
Responsible owner
SEND children and young people
are supported to access
mainstream services

To embed pupil voice in schools and pupils and increase parent/carers’
active participation in person-centred reviews
SEN Assessment Team

To consult with the parent carer forum and other representative groups on a
regular basis to understand their concerns, discuss options and develop
solutions as appropriate where possible
SEN and Disability
Service
SEND children and young people
are supported to access
mainstream services

To make an easy-read summary of this strategy available on the LA’s
website and the Local Offer website. Distribute to all schools and libraries in
Rochdale
SEN and Disability
Service

Regular updates about progress of actions in the strategy will be made
available through the Children and Young People’s Additional Needs
Partnership Board which includes representatives from schools and parent
groups.

To update and revise the SEND Local Offer to signpost parents and carers
of children with special educational needs or disabilities towards sources of
advice

To run consultation, awareness and learning events for parents and parent
support groups

To provide up to date information and regular updates to parents and pupils
about progress and opportunities
SEND children and young people
are supported to access
mainstream services
Family Information
Service
SEN and Disability
Service
SEN and Disability
Service
Developing an inclusive curriculum
Priority
Improved access to
curriculum
Outcome
Objectives
Responsible owner
Children and young people have the
best start in life

Early Help & Schools
Improve access to national curriculum, extra-curricular activities and the
wider ‘school curriculum’ through personalisation agenda
Providing supportive materials, equipment and information for learning
Priority
Improved access to
information and better
Outcome
Objectives
Responsible owner
Children and young people have the
best start in life

SEN and Disability
Service
To recommend standards (e.g. house style font and other
usability/readability standards for paper and ICT) for all media that carry
learning materials, letters and other information so messages to pupils and
communication
parents are easy to understand

Provide training in the use of written communication supported with symbols
Managing transitions
Outcome
Objectives
Responsible owner
Improved transition from the
different phases of education
SEND children and young people
are supported to access
mainstream services

To improve transition arrangements for pupils with high needs by providing
support from specialist services such as the Rochdale Additional Needs
Service (RANS)
RANS
Better understanding of
future needs about
employment and training
opportunities for all schoolleavers in Rochdale
Children and young people have the
best start in life

To conduct analysis of NEET figures, survey pupils and employers in
Rochdale and produce report which identifies ways to reduce NEET
amongst young SEND population
Raising Participation &
Skills Service
Priority
Evaluating progress and outcomes
Priority
Consistent and reliable
assessment of accessibility in
Rochdale schools
Outcome
Objectives/Activities
All children and young people in
Rochdale benefit from strategies
and programmes in schools

To monitor & evaluate delivery of accessibility improvements across
Rochdale schools on an annual basis
SEN and Disability
Service/School
Improvement

Use of attainment data, exclusion data, etc. to monitor progress and to
identify areas of concern

To publish “good news” stories & celebrate the progress and achievements
of SEND pupils in Rochdale
SEN and Disability
Service/School
Improvement
Responsible owner
Information about accessibility is
available to plan services in
Rochdale
SEND children succeed more
in learning
Children and young people have the
best start in life
Appendix 2: Rochdale Schools Accessibility Strategy
This is the plan to make sure:

School buildings and the grounds are safe and easy to get around (accessible)

Courses at school are open to all pupils

Schools give people information in a way they understand

Children and young people get the support they need in school
Who is it for?

All pupils at school with special educational needs or disabilities

School staff, parents and visitors to the school who have SEN or a disability
Why are we doing this?


The law says we have to do this
A Council priority is that 'We are targeting the early years, English and Mathematics
at every key stage, and making sure that children who need help make stronger
progress. We are determined that every child and young person will enjoy learning
and achieve.'
What will it do?

Make changes so that it is easy and safe for people to get around schools and their
grounds

Support SENCOs to get training

Support people in mainstream schools to know how to help children of school age
with special educational needs or disabilities

Develop partnerships between special schools and mainstream schools to share
good ideas

Support parents to feel more confident about choosing the schools their children go
to and the courses they do




Develop new courses that help pupils to gain skills and qualifications so they can be
independent
Make sure resources are there for pupils to use in lessons
Find out about getting more suitable paid work for all young people and increase the
support for the transition into work
Let everyone know about the successes of pupils with special educational needs or
disabilities in Rochdale