Disability Equality Scheme

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Introduction

The Disability Equality Duty was introduced into The Disability Discrimination Act (1995) in 2005. The general duty applies to all schools from 4 December 2006.The Duty applies to schools in a range of different ways. In particular it applies to three main school functions:

The main function of providing education to pupils.

As an employer; and
As a provider of services to parents and carers and the wider public.

The Duty requires schools, when carrying out their functions, to have due regard to the need to:

Promote equality of opportunity between disabled people and other people.
Eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under the Disability Discrimination Act.
Eliminate harassment of disabled people that is related to their disability.
Promote positive attitudes towards disabled people.
Encourage participation by disabled people in public life.
Take steps to meet disabled people's needs, even if this requires more favourable treatment.

The Duty applies across the school's duties:

To disabled pupils.
To disabled staff.
To disabled parents and carers and other users of the school.

The Duty applies to:

Admissions
Exclusions
Education and associated services (a broad term covering the whole life of the school).

KEY DUTIES

The SEN and Disability Act 2001 extended the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) to cover education. Since September 2002, the Governing Body has had three key duties towards disabled students, under Part 4 of the DDA

Not to treat disabled students less favourably for a reason related to their disability.
To make reasonable adjustments for disabled students, so that they are not at a substantial disadvantage.
To plan to increase access to education for disabled students.

This plan sets out the proposals of the Governing Body of the school to increase access to education for disabled students in the three areas required by the planning duties in the DDA:

Increasing the extent to which disabled students can participate in the school curriculum.
Improving the environment of the school to increase the extent to which disabled students can take advantage of education and associated services.
Improving the delivery to disabled students and parents of information that is provided in writing for students who are not disabled.

The aim is to adopt a proactive approach to promoting disability equality and eliminating discrimination. Whilst there will always be a focus on the needs of individual s we aim to develop an approach that builds disability equality considerations in from the start and at every level of the school: at strategic, policy, management and classroom level.

We aim to actively include disabled people in the development and review of our plan.

Our policy aims to address the six elements of the general duty:

Promoting equality of opportunity
Eliminating discrimination
Eliminating harassment and bullying
Promoting positive attitudes

Encouraging participation in public life

Taking steps to meet disabled people's needs: this may require more favourable treatment

The Definition of Disability

The DDA defines a disabled person as someone who has:

'A physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.'

Definition of the terms:

'Physical impairment' includes sensory impairments.
'Mental impairment' includes learning difficulties and an impairment resulting from or consisting of a mental illness.
'Substantial' means 'more than minor or trivial'; and
'Long-term' is defined as 12 months or more.

The definition includes a wide range of impairments, including hidden impairments such as dyslexia, autism, speech and language impairments, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). These are all likely to amount to a disability, but only if the effect on the person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities is substantial and long-term, as defined above.

The effect on normal day-to-day activities is on one or more of the following:

Mobility.
Manual dexterity.
Physical co-ordination.
Continence.
Ability to lift, carry or otherwise move everyday objects.
Speech, hearing or eyesight.
Memory or ability to concentrate, learn or understand.
Perception of risk of physical danger.

Some people are automatically covered by the definition: those with cancer, multiple sclerosis, HIV infection or a severe disfigurement. There are special provisions for people with progressive or recurring conditions.

The definition covers a much larger group of people than is commonly thought. A report from the Cabinet Office suggests that about 772,000 children in the UK are disabled, equivalent to 7 per cent of all children and about 11 million adults, equivalent to 24 per cent of all adults.

For children and young people in schools, there is a significant overlap between those who count as disabled under the DDA and those who have special educational needs as defined by the Education Act 1996. The definition of SEN includes many, but not necessarily all, disabled children: a disabled child has special educational needs if they have a disability and need special educational provision to be made for them in order to be able to access the education which is available locally.

There are 13 KEY FACTORS to devleop.

A copy of all is available form the school.