Accessibility

South Kilvington Church of England Academy Accessibility Plan September 2025

At South Kilvington C of E Academy we work hard to celebrate diversity, promote equity and enable every child to live life to the fullest. We are proud of our inclusive community and remain committed to sustaining and evolving our practice to meet the highest standards and ensure exceptional outcome for all.

This policy and plan has been devised in accordance with the planning duty in the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and as amended by the SEN and Disability Act 2001 (SENDA). It also draws on the guidance set out in “Accessing School: Planning to increase access to schools for disabled pupils” issued by the DFES in July 2002.

Definition of Disability

‘A person has a disability if he or she has a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. This means that in general the person must have an impairment that is either physical or mental; the impairment must have adverse effects which are substantial; the substantial adverse effects must be long-term; and the long-term substantial adverse effects must be effects on normal day-to-day activities.’ (Equality Act 2010)

We have a duty to promote equality of opportunity, eliminate unlawful discrimination, eliminate disability related harassment, promote positive attitudes towards disabled people and encourage disabled people to participate in school life.

We also have a duty to prepare and publish a disability equality scheme that will outline accessibility to the school premises and its facilities, accessibility to the curriculum, accessibility of educational services, provision of training for school personnel and pupils which result in improved outcomes for disabled pupils, parents/carers and school personnel in all aspects of school life.

We are proud of our ethos of support, collaboration and respect for one another. We strive to create a safe and caring environment for all our pupils to experience success, happiness and excellence. All school users will benefit from the school’s disability equality scheme as it will allow them to take full benefit of the opportunities that this school offers.

We are committed to providing a fully accessible environment which values and includes all pupils, school personnel, parents and visitors regardless of their education, physical, sensory, social, spiritual, emotional and cultural needs. We are committed to challenging negative attitudes about disability and accessibility and to developing a culture of awareness, tolerance and inclusion.

Contextual information

Main Building	Children only access the ground floor of the building which is accessible for wheel chairs to be used. Corridors and the central space is wide enough for wheel chairs to be used. There is a disabled toilet for adults and children in the main corridor.
Classrooms	Classrooms are accessible for wheel chairs with clear access to the fire doors.
Outside of classrooms	There are no stairs outside of any classrooms
Hall	Main entrances are flat. Access to the fire doors and kitchen servery is clear and suitable for wheel chair bound pupils or staff
Playground	Available for all pupils. Access is available without the need to use steps
Field Area	Available for all pupils. Ramp access from school playground.
Entrance Paths	All clear of steps allowing easy access for all pupils and parents
Outdoor learning area	All clear of steps allowing access for all pupils and parents. There is a path to the outdoor learning that wheelchair users can use

Target	Strategies	Time- scale	Responsibility	Success Criteria
Increase confidence of all staff in implementing an inclusive curriculum	Be aware of staff training needs on curriculum access Assign CPD for dyslexia, adaptive teaching and recording methods Elevate Trust wide training	On-going and as required	SENDCO Headteacher	Raised staff confidence in strategies for adaptive teaching and increased pupil participation
Ensure classroom support staff have specific training on disability issues	Be aware of staff training needs Be aware of individual needs Staff access appropriate CPD Elevate Trust wide training	As required	SENDCO Headteacher	Raised confidence and knowledge of support staff
Ensure all staff are aware of disabled children’s curriculum access	Set up a system of individual access plans for disabled pupils when required Information sharing with all agencies involved with child	As required	SENDCO Headteacher	All staff aware of individuals needs
Use ICT software to support learning	Make sure software installed where needed Staff access appropriate CPD	As required	SENDCO Headteacher Computing Lead	Wider use of SEN resources in classrooms
All educational visits to be accessible to all	Develop guidance for staff on making trips accessible Ensure each new venue is vetted for appropriateness	As required	SENDCO Headteacher Class Teacher	All pupils in school able to access all educational visits and take part in a range of activities
Review PE curriculum to ensure PE accessible to all	Gather information on accessible PE and disability sports Seek disabled sports people to come into school	As required	PE subject leader	All to have access to PE and be able to excel

Improving access to the physical environment of the school

Provision, in exceptional cases, will be negotiated when a pupil’s specific needs are known.

We have a wide range of equipment and resources available for day to day use. We keep resource provision under constant review. The schools improvement planning process is the vehicle for considering such needs on an annual basis.

Target	Strategies	Time-scale	Responsibility	Success criteria
The school is aware of the potential needs of disabled pupils, staff, local committee, parent/carers and visitors	To create access plans for individual disabled pupils as part of the send support plan process when required Be aware of staff, local committee and parents access needs and meet as appropriate Through questions and discussions find out the access needs of parents/carers Consider access needs during recruitment process Ensure staff aware of Environment Access Standard	As required Induction and on- going if required Annually Recruitment process	SENDCO Headteacher	SEND support plans in place for disabled pupils and all staff aware of pupils needs All staff and committee members feel confident their needs are met Parents have full access to all school activities Access issues do not influence recruitment and retention issues
Layout of school to allow access for all pupils to all areas	Consider needs of disabled pupils, parents/carers or visitors when considering any redesign	As required	Headteacher/ Local Committee/ Site manager/ School Surveyor	Re-designed buildings are usable by all
Ensure all disabled pupils can be safely evacuated	Put in place Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP) for all pupils with difficulties Develop a system to ensure all staff are aware of their responsibilities	As required	SENDCO Headteacher	All disabled pupils and staff working alongside are safe in the event of a fire
Ensure accessibility of access to IT equipment	Alternative equipment in place to ensure access to all hardware including hall Liaise with VI/HI on information with regard to the visual impaired and hearing impaired pupils	On-going and as required Software may be required As required	SENCO - Teachers	Hardware and software available to meet the needs of children as appropriate
Ensure hearing equipment in classrooms to support hearing impaired	Seek support from NYCC hearing impaired unit on the appropriate equipment	Ongoing	LA hearing Specialist Teachers	All children have access to the equipment
All fire escape routes are suitable for all	Make sure all areas of school can have wheelchair access Egress routes visual check	On-going and as required and as appropriate Weekly	Headteacher	All disabled staff, pupils and visitors able to have safe independent access
Ensure seating and other furniture supports the physical needs of pupils	Seek support from Specialist Teachers and Physiotherapy to purchase specialist furniture and access funding.	Yearly for pupils requiring this	SENDCo Headteacher	All disabled staff, pupils and visitors able to have safe independent access

Improving the delivery of written information to disabled pupils

This will include planning to make written information that is normally provided by the school to its pupils available to disabled pupils. Examples might include handouts, textbooks and information about school events. The information should take account of pupils’ disabilities and pupils’ and parents’ preferred formats and be made available within a reasonable timeframe.

In planning to make written information available to disabled pupils we again need to establish the current level of need and be able to respond to changes in the range of need. The school will need to identify agencies and sources of such materials to be able to make the provision when required. The ICT infrastructure will enable us to access a range of materials to support any need.

Targets	Strategies	Time- scale	Responsibility	Success Criteria
Review information to parents/carers to ensure it is accessible.	Provide information and letters in clear print in “simple” English School office will support and help parents to access information and complete school forms Ensure website and all documents accessible via the school website can be accessed by the visually impaired.	During induction On-going Current	SENCO /Teaching Support Administrators Administrators	All parents receive information in a form that they can access All parents understand what are the headlines of the school information
Improve the delivery of information in writing in an appropriate format	Provide suitably enlarged, clear print for pupils with a visual impairment	As required	Administrators	Excellent communication
Ensure all staff are aware of guidance on accessible formats	Guidance to staff on dyslexia and accessible information	On-going	SENCO	Staff produce their own information
Annual review information to be as accessible as possible	Develop child friendly SEND support plans review formats	On-going	SENCO	Staff more aware of pupils preferred method of Communications
Provide information in other languages for pupils or prospective pupils who may have difficulty with hearing or language problems	Access to translators, sign language interpreters to be considered and offered if possible	As required Provided for parents when necessary	SENCO	Pupils and/or parents feel supported and included
Provide information in simple language, symbols, large print for prospective pupils or prospective parents/carers who may have difficulty with standard form of printed information	Ensure website is fully compliant with requirement for access by person with visual impairment.		Administrators Headteacher	All can access information about the school