Disability Discrimination

Disability Policy

1. Admission to the RGSAO depends upon a prospective pupil meeting the criteria required to maintain and, if possible to improve, the educational and general standards for all its pupils commensurate with the ethos to which the RGSAO aspires. The RGSAO must also feel reasonably sure that it will be able to educate and develop the prospective pupil to the best of his/her potential and in line with the general standards achieved by the pupil’s peers, so that there is every chance that the pupil will have a complete, happy and successful school career and emerge a confident, well-educated and well-rounded adult with a good prospect of a satisfying life. These criteria must continue to be met throughout the pupil’s time at the RGSAO.

2. The RGSAO policy is to apply these criteria to all pupils and potential pupils regardless of any disability of which it is aware, subject to its obligation to make reasonable adjustments not to put any disabled pupil or potential pupil at a substantial disadvantage compared to any pupil who is not disadvantaged because of his disability.

3. The RGSAO asks parents to complete a Disability Needs Assessment Form (see Appendix 1) in respect of a prospective pupil at the time of application. In assessing any pupil or prospective pupil, the RGSAO may take such advice and require such assessments as it regards as appropriate. Subject to this, the RGSAO will be sensitive to any requests for confidentiality.

4. The RGSAO acknowledges that an inclusive policy for disabled pupils would have the effect of enhancing the educational opportunities for the school community as a whole and that such a policy is very much in the spirit of its Equal Opportunities Policy. The school also attaches great importance to meeting the needs of individual pupils and wishes to maintain a careful balance to ensure that no individual pupil’s education is impaired.

5. Since 2004, the RGSAO has made progress in providing access for physically disabled people. The provision of disabled access was an integral part of the design process for the new building at The Grange (opened in September 2004) and the new buildings projected in the school development plan for the next few years will also contain integrated disabled access. Refurbished existing buildings will be equipped for disabled access where practicable and when costs are reasonable. Functions which operate on the first and second floors of Main Block, Clock Block, the Science Block, Gordon House or Whiteladies may be moved to accommodate the needs of the disabled if the occasion arises.

6. The school has a long-run maintenance programme which allows future planning of works and adaptations to best and most economic effect. So far as practical, any modification or refurbishment will take into account the needs of disabled people and it is not envisaged that such incremental costs would be an issue for the school.

7. Generally, the school has sufficient funds to make reasonable adaptations as required. However, the school’s sites are large and complex, making precautionary changes unduly expensive.

7.1. The school has invested in access facilities for those with mobility difficulty and will not without good reason allow limited accessibility for other reasons on financial grounds.

7.2. The school has set up a Disability Policy Review Committee which consists of the Senior Master, the School Nurse, the Learning Development Co-ordinator and the Director of Sport. The committee may co-opt additional members whose expertise in any field would be of assistance. The Committee’s terms of reference are:

7.2.1. To meet at least annually to review the school’s policies, procedures and
facilities as they are likely to affect pupils and prospective pupils who are
disabled, and to review the progress of individual accessibility plans drawn
up for disabled pupils when they enter the school;

7.2.2. To make recommendations with a view to improving the accessibility of its
education in its many aspects to pupils or prospective pupils with
disabilities by means of reasonable adjustments and by planning for the
future and to prepare this Disability Policy;

7.2.3. To prepare the school’s Disability Policy;

7.2.4. To prepare the school’s Accessibility Plan; (see Appendix 2)

8. The Committee has reviewed the school’s admissions literature, policy, examinations and procedures (including access to scholarships and bursaries) and has introduced a Disability Needs Assessment Form (see Appendix 1), to be treated as confidential if the applicant or parents require, giving the school details of the nature and effect of any disability so as to enable it to consider any adjustments it might need to make.

8.1. 11+, 12+ and 13+ Examinations: Policy for Disabled Candidates:
If the parent of a candidate has declared on the Entrance Procedures Form that he/she considers him to be disabled, the school reserves the right to seek independent verification of the child’s disability from the family GP or Educational Psychologist, depending on the individual circumstances of the case. The school may either grant the disabled candidate extra time during the examination or vary the pass mark, depending on individual circumstances.

8.2. 11+, 12+ and 13+ Examinations: Policy for Disabled Candidates:
Marking of scripts for candidates with special learning needs English: English scripts of such candidates of whom the school has been notified in advance are directed to the Head of English for marking. English Scripts of candidates who appear to be dyslexic or have associated conditions when being marked may be redirected to the Learning Development Co-ordinator for further assessment.

8.2.1. Mathematics and Verbal Reasoning: The scripts of candidates who are known
dyslexics are checked, as are those of candidates who are suspected of being so
when the English examination is marked. The reports on the candidates from
previous schools are an important part of the assessment process and any
information provided about a candidate’s disability is taken into account.

9. Physical and health Impairment - An examination room with only a small number of candidates may be provided for those candidates with any physical disability or ailment, and for those with allergies that might lead to a serious condition such as anaphylactic shock. It could also available for candidates who arrive with conditions that require such facilities and of whom the school was previously unaware.

9.1. Particular Physical Disabilities:

9.1.1. Partially Sighted Candidates: Large Print Examinations papers can be provided. (It is important that the School is advised in advance of the examination so that papers can be prepared ahead of time).

9.1.2. Candidates with Cochlear Implants: The staff and prefect who will invigilate the
examinations and look after the candidates undertake training in the use of the
radio-microphone involved.

9.1.3. Candidates reliant on Signing and Lip Reading: A member of staff would need to be specially trained or a specialist might need to be brought in for the day.

9.1.4. Partial Hearing Impairment: These candidates will be seated in the front of the
room and staff will ensure that the candidates fully understand the various
instructions.

9.1.5. Candidates in wheelchairs or unable to climb stairs: It is essential that the
School be informed of such candidates prior to the Examinations. All such
candidates will be assigned a prefect to look after them throughout the day.

9.1.6. Access to the School Site: Entrance to the School Site will be via the Little London vehicular gate, the main entrance near to Brittania House or via the vehicular
entrance in Tennis Walk. Special arrangements may be made for parking in the
playground.

9.1.7. Access to School Buildings: A special examination room will be set aside on the
ground floor of Clock Block, or AO Main Block with movable ramps enabling
wheelchair access.

9.1.8. Registration: This will take place either in the Ground Floor foyer of Whiteladies,
in the foyer of Clock Block, or in the AO Main Block.

9.1.9. Examinations: Candidates will sit all examination papers in the same room in Clock Block.

9.1.10. Lavatories: The candidates will have access to the lavatory facilities on the
ground floor of Gordon House, Whiteladies and AO Main Block.

9.1.11. Refreshments: Refreshments will be brought to candidates in Clock Block or AO Main Block.

9.1.12. Interview: Interviews may be arranged in a room adjacent to the examination
room depending on individual needs.

9.1.13. End of Day: Parents may be advised, when registering their child on the day, to
collect him/her from Clock Block, Whiteladies Reception or AO Main Block.

10. Physical layout of the RGSAO - Since 2004, considerable progress has been made in facilitating access for the disabled to buildings at RGSAO The Grange. Building development plans for The Tything site will incorporate disabled access in any new-build schemes.

Buildings such as Brittania House Main Block, Perrins Hall, Clock Block, Whiteladies and Gordon House present difficulties owing to their English Heritage listed status, but wherever possible the school will relocate activities to wheelchair-accessible rooms if necessary.

Within existing buildings, adaptations to facilitate wheelchair access such as widening all internal doors to classrooms, installing disabled toilet facilities, adapting fire doors, enlarging the sick bay and installing specialist furniture and equipment are long term aims. However, where necessary, the school will provide special wheelchairs which are designed to permit access to rooms with standard-width door frames.

11. Education - The Committee has considered the following access issues in connection with particular disabilities:

11.1. Physical Disability
The academic timetable of the RGSAO is organised in such a way that pupils
normally move between areas of the school to be taught in classrooms which
contain specialist facilities for the delivery of the academic curriculum.
Adjustments will be made to the timetabling of rooms to facilitate physical access
for pupils with physical disabilities after an individual needs-assessment has been
made. Radical changes of location might be undesirable for the able-bodied
majority of pupils since such changes would deny them access to key parts of the
curriculum. Height and width of desks (especially in subjects such as Science and
Technology), benches, tables and chairs might all need to be adjustable to
accommodate wheelchairs; such a change in style of furniture would have
implications for accommodation within existing classrooms and numbers of pupils
per class might have to be reduced. Such major changes would be expensive and
are unrealistic in the short and medium terms. However, specially-designed
wheelchairs might circumvent such problems. There are also many Health and
Safety considerations which would require individual risk assessment according to
the activity or curriculum area. The school will do its best to ensure that disabled
pupils are given access to all parts of the curriculum, including laboratory work
and field trips. The needs of the individual pupil will be assessed, and activities
will be adapted to enable the disabled pupil to participate as long as the adapted
version of the activity still meets the curricular needs of the other pupils. If not, an
alternative activity may be devised for the disabled pupil.

11.2. Visual Impairment
Visually impaired pupils could be accommodated by a variety of methods: initial
escorting by sighted peers or orientation via a mentoring system would enable the
visually disabled person to familiarise him/herself with the campus. The school
would consider installing large and/or colour-coded signage to help the partiallysighted.

In the case of pupils with severe visual impairment, there are certain
parts of the curriculum (eg. Art, Games) which might present access problems,
but no blanket decision would be made without an individual needs assessment.
Some parts of the curriculum might be adapted, or alternative activities might be
devised by consultation and agreement with parents. The supply of large print or
braille textbooks would be expensive, and many of the textbooks in use at the
RGSAO are not available in such editions, but solutions utilising ICT, such as
applications which read text aloud to the listener, would be explored. Less severe
visual impairment would be helped by seating the pupil at the front of classes and
by supplying notes and handouts with enlarged type.

11.3. Hearing Impairment
In cases of hearing impairment, the school enables the pupil to use a medically prescribed hearing-aid and/or hearing loop. Pupils with impaired hearing would be seated at the front of classes to increase the volume of sound, or at a convenient
position elsewhere in class if lip-reading or signing is used. It is envisaged that
most of the curriculum (with the possible exception of Music) would be readily
accessible to those with hearing impairment. Staff training would be a
requirement.

11.4. Special Needs
The school aims to provide learning support to those pupils who are identified as
being in need of it. This identification can come from the pupils themselves, from
staff or from parents. If parents include circumstances which might require
learning support in their medical return to the School Nurse or on the Disability
Needs Assessment Form prior to their child’s entry into the RGSAO, the School
Nurse or Registrar will pass that information on to the Learning Support Coordinator
and to the child’s tutor. In some circumstances, such as severe dyslexia,
dyspraxia, ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome, the Learning Support Co-ordinator
will recommend that parents seek outside professional advice and support. In the
case of pupils who have a Local Education Authority Individual Education Plan
(IEP) and are statemented as having Special Needs, classroom support will be
provided by the school and funded by the LEA. All new pupils are screened for
spelling or reading difficulties. Screening is done by means of nationally
standardised tests which allow determination of a spelling age and reading
comprehension age for each pupil. On the basis of those results, any pupils who
seem likely to struggle because of such difficulties are offered support by the
Learning Development Co-ordinator. Pupils are withdrawn from normal lessons for
perhaps one period per week for a given time when they receive individualized
tuition. Parents are charged separately for these sessions. Such pupils are taken
through common spelling patterns, shown some techniques to help them learn to
spell better, and given guidance in study skills. The Learning Support Co-ordinator
is also very happy to reassess any pupils who performed well in the initial
screening, but whose tutors or subject teachers consider them to be likely to
benefit from such support. Usually, pupils who have had this support go on to be
successful in their studies without any further assistance.

11.4.1. Occasionally however, there are pupils who need further support. The school
may advise parents to seek outside help, such as specialist lessons for dyslexia
or other specific learning difficulties. The Learning Development Co-ordinator
can advise parents on suitable tutors if necessary.

11.4.2. One issue that is often of concern to parents is that of extra time in public
examinations. There are a number of grounds on which pupils may be granted
extra time. These include dyslexia, slow writing speed and severe difficulties
with handwriting, as well as other learning difficulties.

11.4.3. Parents are advised to seek an external assessment by a qualified educational psychologist to provide grounds for claiming extra time in public examinations.

In certain exceptional cases, pupils may be allowed to word process their
examination scripts rather than write them out by hand. Again, it is necessary to
provide an assessment of the pupil’s learning difficulty as evidence for this.
Consideration will be given to such cases, but all pupils are encouraged to
practise the skill of fluent and legible handwriting.

11.4.4. In the case of pupils who are seriously unwell or incapacitated during periods of public examinations, the School will do all it reasonably can to ensure that pupils
can sit their examinations. This may involve the use of a computer for wordprocessing
scripts or the use of a scribe, and/or a dedicated room with one-to-one invigilation. The school reserves the right to charge parents if extra costs are incurred. Pupils who are suffering from contagious or infectious diseases will not be allowed to sit examinations on school premises. The school may ask parents to provide a medical certificate to verify that their child’s state of health does not present a risk to others.

11.5. Recreational Activities - All Clubs, Societies and Recreational activities on offer
to pupils at the RGSAO are open to disabled pupils, though the nature of the
activity and where it takes place will clearly impact on whether pupils with certain
types of disability may participate fully, though any decisions would be made on an
individual basis. However, the school wishes to foster the idea that accommodating
the needs of disabled people is part of a pupil’s wider education. Therefore,
systems such as providing a disabled child with a runner in cricket or rounders, and
adapting the rules of a game would be encouraged. The school will take all
reasonable steps to facilitate access for the disabled: Club and Society meetings will
be held in accessible rooms. Access to the Astroturf pitch and playground is level or
via sloping ramps.

11.6. Sporting Education and Activities - Major adjustments to the Physical
Education and Sports programme to accommodate the needs of the physically
disabled would not be possible without potential detriment to the education of all
pupils, but decisions would be made on an individual basis after consultation on the
basis of safety and practicality. Health and Safety concerns and levels of staffing
would also be potential factors to take into account. A special programme of
physical activity might be designed according to the needs and capabilities of the
disabled pupil in consultation with his parents and medical advisers. Staffing and
specialist equipment costs might need to be borne by parents.

11.7. Welfare - The RGSAO is a caring community in which pupils and staff respect
themselves and each other and take an interest in each others’ welfare. Disabled
pupils would be accorded the same respect and care as all other members of the
school community. Details of the structure of the pastoral care system, anti-bullying
policy, mentoring and policy for caring for vulnerable pupils are contained in the
Staff Handbook. The School Nurses are available for individuals to consult, although
the primary pastoral care contact is with a child’s tutor.

11.8. Awareness and Observance of the Policy - A Disability Policy Review
Committee has been established, the duties of which include formulation, review
and dissemination of the RGSAO Disability Policy. Written guidance and training will
be provided for staff, and pupil-awareness of issues connected with disability will be
raised via the School Rules, the PSHE programme, assembly announcements and
visual display around the school.

11.9. Assessment and Recording Procedures - Disabled pupils who are admitted to
the school will undergo a needs assessment which will be recorded on a Disability
Needs Assessment Form (see Appendix 1). The needs assessment procedure will
probably involve several members of the RGSAO staff and possibly representatives
of outside agencies. It is the responsibility of the Senior Master to co-ordinate
needs assessments and to ensure that detailed records are kept and filed centrally.

Appendix 1 RGSAO

Disability Needs Assessment Form

The purpose of this form is formally to record the process of needs assessment for a disabled pupil, and to give details of action to be taken by the school and/or by the pupil, his/her parents or outside agencies.
Additional written material may need to be appended.
The initial assessment must be reviewed after the pupil’s first half term in the school, and periodically thereafter by agreement with all parties concerned.
The form and any appended material must be filed centrally by the Senior Master, whose responsibility it is to co-ordinate the needs assessment process.

Pupil’s name:

Age on admission:

Date:

Brief description of disability:

Report by parent of pupil:

Report by pupil’s General Practitioner:

Report by disability specialist/ medical consultant/physiotherapist/Educational Psychologist:

School Action Plan:

Monitoring and Review (after the first half term in the school):

Appendix 2 RGSAO Worcester Accessibility Plan for Disabled Persons

	TARGET	STRATEGIES	TIMEFRAME and CURRENT PROGRESS
PHYSICAL DISABILITY	To facilitate access to all areas of the school where it is reasonably practical to do so.	Progressive installation of ramps and lifts in and around existing buildings. Integral design of disabled access in new and refurbished buildings.	RGSAO The Grange new building opened in Sept 2004. All plans for new buildings to incorporate disabled access from design stage.
VISUAL IMPAIRMENT	To enable safe access to all areas of the school and to as much as is ractical most of the academic curriculum and to extracurricular activities.	Escorting and orientation. Colour-coded signage. ICT software applications for clear display and the reading aloud of material. Targeted seating arrangements.	Action dependent on needs.
HEARING IMPAIRMENT	To enable access to all areas of the school and to the whole academic curriculum and to extracurricular activities.	Hearing loop installation. Portable hearing loops. Staff training. Seating arrangements.	Portable hearing loops available from September 2006.
SPECIAL LEARNING NEEDS	To enable pupils with special learning needs to achieve their full academic potential, and to participate in all areas of school life.	Screening of all new pupils for learning difficulties. Monitoring of progress by Tutor, Learning Development Co-ordinator and/or School Nurse. Extra time in public exams. Laptops for examinations. Classroom support for pupils with an IEP.	Learning Development Coordinator is fully qualified to assess SLDs. Several pupils with mild dyslexia, dyspraxia, mild ADHD and Asperger’s Syndrome successfully passed through the school and gone to university in the last five years.