DISABILITY EQUALITY SCHEME INDEX

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DISABILITY EQUALITY SCHEME

INDEX

PAGES

THE DISABILITY DUTY 2

BACKGROUND 2

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCHEME 2

HOW WILL IT OPERATE? 3

THE LEGAL POSITION 4

DEFINITION OF ‘DISABILITY’ 4

INVOLVING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES 5

IMPLEMENTING THE SCHEME 6

IMPACT ASSESSMENT 6

PUBLISHING THE SCHEME 6

RECOMMENDATIONS – Employment 6

General Employment practices 7

Equal Opportunities for all Pupils 7

ACTION PLAN SPECIFICS 8

THE AIMS OF THE ACTION PLAN 8

KTS ACADEMY VIEW POINT 9

APPENDIX – THE ACTION PLAN 10

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DISABILITY EQUALITY SCHEME

The KTS Academy Disability Equality Scheme intends to illustrate our intention to eliminate any unlawful discrimination and to promote equal opportunities for all pupils, staff, visitors and users of the school.

This scheme forms part of the Governing Bodies` duty to enforce the vision to eliminate unlawful discrimination and to promote equal opportunities for all pupils, staff, visitors and users of the school. Employees and users of the school with disabilities can expect to be treated with respect and to have their needs met. The service they receive from the School will not be diminished because they have a disability. We will continue to raise awareness of this commitment with our staff, pupils, visitors and users of the school.

THE DISABILITY EQUALITY DUTY

BACKGROUND

From December 2006, the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 was amended to place a duty on all public bodies to promote disability equality. If a public body is perceived as failing to comply with this duty, then an application can be made to the High Courts for a judicial review.

Although the law has been in place for 10 years there are still many barriers which prevent people with a disability from fair and equal access. The Disability Equality Duty will require the public sector to actively promote disability equality.

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCHEME

Disability Discrimination Policy issued November 2007 Disability Equality Scheme issued December 2007

This Equality Scheme gives introductory guidance. It:-

 describes the Disability Equality Duty

 outlines the legal background to disability discrimination

 outlines implementation

 describes impact assessment

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HOW WILL IT OPERATE?

The Act sets out what is known as the General Duty. This means that KTS Academy will need to have refreshed regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination and promotion of equal opportunities for people with disabilities. Under the general duty the basic requirement for the School when carrying out its functions is to have “due regard” to the following:

 promote equality of opportunity between people with disabilities and other persons

 eliminate discrimination that is unlawful under the act

 eliminate harassment of disabled persons related to their disabilities

 promote positive attitudes towards people with disabilities

 encourage participation by disabled persons in all school activities

 consider the need to take account of a persons disabilities, even when that involves treating disabled persons more favourably than other persons.

‘Due regard’ means that the school should give due weight to the need to promote disability equality in proportion to its relevance.

The Regulations give key public bodies (School) a Specific Duty, which defines for them a framework with which to meet the General Duty. The main element of this Specific Duty will be the requirement to produce a Disability Equality Scheme.

In the process of producing a Disability Equality Scheme the School must:

 Involve people with disabilities in the production of the scheme and development of an action plan

 Identify how they gather and analyse evidence to inform their actions and track progress

 Set out how it will assess the impact of its existing and proposed activities on people with disabilities

 Produce an Action Plan for the next three years

 Report on its progress every year and make appropriate revisions to this scheme at least every three years.

 The School must demonstrate that they have followed the actions they have committed themselves to and achieved appropriate outcomes.

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THE LEGAL POSITION

The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) is the main piece of legislation which makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person with a disability in their terms of employment, promotion or opportunities. In addition there are various statutes and regulations covering disability, including:

 The Disability Discrimination (Meaning of Disability) Regulations 1996 (SI 1996/1455)

 Disability Rights Commission Act 1999

 The Disability Discrimination (Blind and Partially Sighted Persons) Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/712)

 The Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (Amendment) Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/1673

 The Disability Discrimination Act 2005

In the Equality Scheme we focus on the employment relationship and the duties owed by KTS Academy towards employees, pupils, staff, visitors and users of the school.

DEFINITION OF `DISABILITY`

The DDA defines disability for the purposes of the Act. “There must be a mental or physical condition which has a substantial and long-term adverse affect on the persons` ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities”. Long-term means that the condition must last, or be likely to last, for more than 12 months. The persons` ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities can be adversely affected in one or more of the following ways:

 mobility

 manual dexterity

 physical co-ordination

 ability to lift or otherwise move everyday objects

 speech, hearing or eyesight

 memory or ability to concentrate, learn or understand

 understanding the risk of physical danger.

Under the DDA it is unlawful for an employer (or prospective employer) to:

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Various Codes of Practice issued under the DDA are available on the Disability Rights

Commission (DRC) website. These are important when considering matters relating to disability and employment and they will be taken into account by courts and tribunals where relevant.

The Disability Discrimination Act 2005 is related to disability generally and includes:

 Extension of the definition of disability to cover persons with progressive conditions such as HIV, multiple sclerosis and cancer.

 People with mental illness are now protected in the same way as everyone else by removing the requirement that their illness be clinically recognised.

 People with HIV, cancer and multiple sclerosis (MS) will be deemed to be covered by the DDA effectively from the point of diagnosis, rather than from the point when the

condition has some adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day to day activities.

 Publishers are now liable for publishing discriminatory advertisements.

The DDA 2005 extends as from 4^th December 2006 to cover discrimination by public bodies when carrying out a function. This means that, when carrying out their functions, public bodies:

 will not be able to treat people with disabilities less favourably.

This means that they will not be able to treat people with disabilities differently simply because they have a disability and the School will:

 have to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people.

For example, this might mean that the School may have to make arrangements for a deaf person to have a BSL signer present to explain to the deaf person their rights; or the School may

encourage more staff training in the use of British Sign Language.

INVOLVING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

The approach to producing our Disability Equality Scheme has been developed in partnership with our School Council who have devised a Disability Equality Questionnaire. This was circulated to all pupils and staff at the School, and feedback considered by the Disability Equality Scheme working party. The school will need to continue to challenge procedures

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IMPLEMENTING THE SCHEME

KTS Academy governing body and the Head Teacher are responsible for ensuring that the Scheme is interpreted by the school and its users.

IMPACT ASSESSMENT

Equality Impact Assessment ensures that a policy, procedure or strategy will have an impact on the members of the school community and workforce. The Disability Equality Scheme intends to complement the current ethos of the school to diminish any disability discrimination and to promote opportunities for all. The information gathered by the School Council is considered when looking at barriers which may affect disabled people and prevent them from gaining fair access to the schools’ services.

The School is guided by policies which ensure that all pupils are given access to a broad and balanced curriculum, and through specialised and carefully planned differentiation, all pupils have fair opportunities to learn and progress. (Please see page 8 for current policies which inform the Disability Equality Scheme).

PUBLISHING THE SCHEME

The Scheme will be available to view via the schools website. The document will also be held by the Head Teacher and be available for viewing where requested.

RECOMMENDATIONS – Employment

To reflect good practice in the employment of people with disabilities the School should undertake the following key steps. These are taken from Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council General Employment Practices recommendations.

Recruitment and Interviews:

 Initiate programmes which encourage job applications from people with disabilities.

 Consult people with disabilities to find out about the effects of their disability and job requirements.

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General Employment Practices:

 Provide training and development which actively supports the recruitment and retention of people with disabilities, including extending workplace training to avoid harassment and to cover disability issues.

 Conduct a review of all employment policies and practices to determine how they are affected by the provisions of the DDA.

 Provide appropriate training, development and guidance to staff, pupils, and school users, to assure understanding about the way unfair discrimination occurs and how it can be avoided.

 Make sure all employees and representatives of the organisation, especially the school leadership team, know what their personal responsibilities and accountabilities are.

 Not require higher standards of performance and conduct of a person with a disability than that of any other employee.

Equal Opportunities for all Pupils:

The school provides an ethos that ensures respect and equality for all. This environment expects no exclusions, and is governed by pupil to pupil, adult to pupil, and adult to adult relationships. A high standard of mutual respect is expected, and good role modelling should always prevail.

The school has methods and strategies to ensure that all pupils are entitled to a broad and balanced curriculum, which includes enriched curricula experiences, and offers opportunities for pupils to develop both academically and socially.

The Disability Equality Scheme within KTS Academy encompasses a whole range of policies and strategies and will ensure that all children have fair and unbiased access to a high standard of education, with high expectations for each child. This ensures that every child has an equal chance to reach their highest individual potential.

Policies which are included in the Umbrella of Guidance within the Disability Equality Scheme:

 Admission Policy

 Assessment for Learning Policy

 Augmented Communication Policy

 Reward and Behaviour Policy

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