Accessibility and Inclusion
Despite the fact that the school building is split across various levels, stair lifts allow full access across the ground floor of the building and, as a result, the school building and outdoor environment is fully accessible to wheelchair users, ambulant children and adults and those who use a variety of mobility equipment. The school environment is large enough to enable complete flexibility of access. The car park areas have accessible parking spaces close to reception areas at both ends of the building. Two classrooms have full auditory provision and this is provided on a needs basis. Six of the classrooms are up a set of stairs. Currently, this is one Year 2, one Year 3, one Year 4, one Year 5 one Year 6 and a science lab. A full environmental audit is carried out as required and improvements needed are completed. The school has two fully alarmed disabled toilet facilities at each end of the school available to both children and adults. A fully accessible electronic changing bed is available. One of the accessible toilets is also accessible for children who attend the nursery within school. Also, four lifts are used to enable access at ground floor level. One computer suite is available which is accessible to all users. Regular reviews and audits are carried out and implemented at an individual level and to ensure that access is improved and compliant with The Equality Act 2010.
School has all the required policies and guidance in place. These are based closely on the local authority model policies and guidance and take account of individual circumstances. These can be accessed via the school website or from the school office. Information can be translated into other language formats when required. If required, the school will seek to provide an interpreter. The school aims to ensure that all written communications are clear and concise but will support parents/carers and family members verbally where appropriate. Where this is due to visual or hearing needs, the school will ensure appropriate systems of communication.
The school provides an all-embracing communication environment to meet the needs of children, parents, carers, staff, family members and external agencies that we work with.
We assess the needs of individuals and provide the appropriate specialist equipment, aids or technology. We work extremely closely with a variety of external professionals to ensure accurate access to training and deployment of resources. Individual children’s accessibility requirements will determine how lessons are differentiated to ensure and support full inclusion in the curriculum and wider school life.
As the building was constructed in the 1950s, the building has a lot of single glazed glass windows, hard floors, no false ceilings and flat roofs. This can lead to echoes and amplification of the sounds of the 450 children moving around school and chatting when eating lunch. Consequently, school is not ideal for a child who is sensitive to noise, crowded / very busy areas, changes in temperature from room to corridor.