Accessibility Audit & Plan 16/07/2019 Samuel Lucas JMI School Gaping Lane, Hitchen, Herts SG5 2JQ www.samlucas.herts.sch.uk 01462 456737 School Type Local Authority Maintained Pupil Age Range Primary Most recent Ofsted rating Outstanding Head Teacher Mrs Tracy Thomas, [email protected] SENCO Mrs Kate Kenny, [email protected] Lead Officer re Site & Facilities Mr R McAdam Next Audit & Plan due by 16/07/2022 Equality Act Audits Hopfields, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 1PH 07885 755618 www.ea-audits.com This report can be provided in large print or Braille on request, or read with a “text to speech” reader pen. Thank you for choosing us. We are an established business who focus exclusively on providing Access Audits for Schools in UK; from Nursery Schools, to Primary and Secondary Schools in all educational sectors. We advise you on how to make ‘reasonable’ adjustments to your school. This does not always need to be costly. We identify obstacles to access, look at the options for removing these, and make clear recommendations to you. Since setting up EA Audits in 2010, we have undertaken Access Audits in the UK on over 1000 schools, helping them with their accessibility plans and SEN policies, advising Headteachers and SENCOs on 'reasonable adjustments' to be made to comply with the Equality Act 2010. SEN Policy We can also provide a detailed and bespoke SEN policy for your school, should you need one. We will liaise with your SENCo to establish the present needs of your pupils and the resources you have available. Please contact us for a quotation. Equality Act Audits Hopfields, Farnham, Surrey, GU10 1PH 07885 755618 www.ea-audits.com email: [email protected] Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary......................................................................................................................................... 5 1.1 Table of Audit Findings .............................................................................................................................. 7 1.2. Overview of The Equality Act 2010 ...................................................................................................... 9 1.3. Schools: who and what the Act applies to ........................................................................................... 9 1.4. Protected characteristics ................................................................................................................... 10 2. Special provisions for disability ..................................................................................................................... 11 2.1. Provisions relating to disability .......................................................................................................... 11 2.2. Definition of disability ........................................................................................................................ 11 2.3. Unlawful behaviour regarding disabled pupils ..................................................................................... 12 2.4. Public Sector Equality Duty ................................................................................................................... 13 2.5 Disability Equality Duty .......................................................................................................................... 13 3. Purpose of Audit ........................................................................................................................................... 16 4. Commissioning of Audit ................................................................................................................................ 17 5. Credentials of Access Auditor ....................................................................................................................... 17 6. Contextual Background to the School .......................................................................................................... 18 8. Constraints and limitations to the audit ....................................................................................................... 20 9. Key to the Accessibility Audit ........................................................................................................................ 22 10. Accessibility Audit ......................................................................................................................................... 23 10.1. Access to Information ........................................................................................................................ 23 10.2. Access to Site and Facilities................................................................................................................ 30 10.3. Access to Education ........................................................................................................................... 57 11. Accessibility Plan for Samuel Lucas JMI School ........................................................................................... 71 12. Key to Action Plan ......................................................................................................................................... 75 12.1. Priority Ratings .................................................................................................................................... 75 12.2. Budget Implications ........................................................................................................................... 76 13. Action Plan .................................................................................................................................................... 77 13.1. Access to Information ........................................................................................................................ 77 13.2. Access to Site and Facilities................................................................................................................ 77 13.3. Access to Education ........................................................................................................................... 81 13.4. Signatures .......................................................................................................................................... 81 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................ 83 14. Guidance and Support .................................................................................................................................. 83 14.1. Sources of general advice and information ....................................................................................... 83 14.2. Links to Legislation & Codes of Practice ............................................................................................ 83 14.3. Links to DfE Advice ............................................................................................................................. 83 14.4. Links to Support organisations ........................................................................................................... 84 14.5. Links to Medical information ............................................................................................................. 84 14.6. Links to Suppliers of solutions............................................................................................................ 85 1. Executive Summary An Accessibility Audit of Samuel Lucas JMI School was commissioned by Mrs Kelly Massie, School Business Manager. The audit visit took place on 16/07/2019. Key staff visited included Head Teacher – Mrs Tracy Thomas, SENCO - Mrs Kate Kenny, Lead Officer re Site & Facilities – Mr Richard McAdam. Further information was obtained from the school web site and by pre-visit questionnaire. Accessibility and Equality legislation as it applies in schools is summarised in Sections 2 and 3 below. Contextual background information is summarised in Section 7. The school context is considered when suggesting recommendations for improvements to accessibility. The constraints and limitations to the audit are considered in Section 8. The detailed Access Audit follows in Section 10. The Audit section describes accepted best practice where appropriate. The School was named after Samuel Lucas the artist 1805 – 1870, the second son of William Lucas whose Quaker family had been yeomen and maltsters in Hitchin for more than 300 years. Samuel Lucas School was built originally as an infant school and opened on 3rd September 1974 with 48 children. The school’s official opening was on 12th March 1975 by the Rev. Richard Lucas one of the few surviving relatives of the Samuel Lucas family. The plan was for both an infant (key stage 1) and junior school (key stage 2) to be built on the site. However, these plans were dropped, and Samuel Lucas became a junior mixed infant community primary school in 1978. To accommodate the rapidly growing Key Stage 2 it later became necessary to add mobile classrooms. The School is set in large grounds. There are two buildings on the site the latter being built in 2013. The School recently added new fencing to increase the security. There is a lift in the new building which makes the whole school accessible. There is disabled parking in the car park and one ramp at the rear of the School. There are two disabled toilets – one adjacent to the Reception area and ambulant toilets in each set of toilets