Educating Schools about Disability

Prior to 1st September 2002, discrimination in schools was not generally banned. Education was not covered by part 3 of the DDA (access to goods and services) and part 4 of the act at that time only required schools to provide information on access to education for disabled pupils.

This all changed on 1st September 2002, when The Special Education Needs and Disability Act (SENDA) 2001, amended part 4 of the DDA, to include schools. It also removed the exemption of education from part 3 of the act. The new part 4 requires schools not to treat disabled pupils less favourably, and to make reasonable adjustments to avoid putting disabled pupils at a substantial disadvantage.

The DDA defines disability as "a physical or mental impairment, which has a substantial and long-term adverse affect on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities." This includes learning disabilities, mental health problems, epilepsy and children with mobility problems who require the use of a stick or wheelchair.

It is now against the law for the responsible body of a school to discriminate against a disabled child with regards to admission, school trips, the curriculum, sports and meals. The person(s) responsible for meeting these requirements depends on the type of school. In the case of a school managed by an education authority, it is the authority that is responsible. With an independent school, the proprietor has a duty to abide by the regulations, and the people responsible in a self-governing school are the board of managers.

The revised act requires schools to improve access to the curriculum, improve communication with disabled pupils, and to make improvements to the physical environment and physical aids. These issues should be dealt with under the Special Educational Needs Leglislation and Guidance (the SEN framework). The main purpose of SEN is to meet the needs of children with special educational requirements, and the duties laid down by the DDA are designed to dovetail with existing duties under the SEN framework.

There are 24,000 children in England under the age of 16 who use a wheelchair, and these children will require physical changes to be made to their school to ensure they are not discriminated against. Many of these changes are simple and low cost, such as changing the height of a door handle so that a child in a wheelchair can use it, and putting handrails up staircases.

One of the major problems in schools is the change of level inside or outside the building. A simple step or flight of stairs is a barrier to a wheelchair user. A change in level will require a wheelchair ramp or lift. However, both ramps and passenger lifts can take up a lot of space and have a major structural impact on the building.

A platform lift is ideal for situations where a normal passenger lift or a wheelchair ramp is not possible. In existing or historic buildings, it can be difficult to find a balance between accessibility and preserving the character of the building. Small buildings may have insufficient space for a passenger lift. A platform lift can overcome these problems, when used in appropriate situations.

Platform lifts are typically installed to allow wheelchair users to negotiate two or three steps leading into a building, or flights of stairs inside one. They are compact with no pit or machine room requirement, and most are free standing and only require a single-phase power supply.

When installing a platform lift, landings must be at least 1,500mm² or have a straight access route of at least 900mm wide. Floors in the entrance area and within the lift should be made of non-slip material, and the lift must be fitted with a handrail and emergency communication system.

Although the fitting of an emergency two-way communication system has been compulsory for many years in passenger lifts, it was only recently with the revised Document M, that these regulations have extended to platform lifts. The system can include an alarm button, which can be operated from a wheelchair, and a telephone handset that connects to the outside world so assistance can be requested in the event of a problem. A 'hands free autodialler' is another option - the platform lift occupant presses the emergency button by automatically dialling one or more pre-programmed telephone numbers. The built-in microphone and speaker enables the occupant to communicate with an engineer or carer without the need for a handset.

Moveman is one of the UK's leading suppliers of platform lifts, and has been installing its lifts with a communication system as standard for a number of years. There are 29,653 mainstream schools in the UK, and Moveman has supplied lifts for a number of these, and other educational establishments.

One example is Holy Trinity CE Primary School in Darwen, Blackburn, which can now accommodate children with mobility problems thanks to a Companion Prestige platform lift supplied and installed by Moveman.

The school has 420 pupils aged from five to eleven years, and considers inclusion to be a very important issue. Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, which specified the lift, wanted a self-contained unit that could travel to another storey without the need for a lot of building work. The Prestige proved to be ideal as it is a totally free-standing structure that doesn't require a pit, and therefore kept structural work to a minimum.

The lift is situated in a two-storey building, which consists of eight classrooms for the older juniors - four on the ground floor and four on the first. The lift is located in the building's stairwell and provides alternative access to the first floor, meaning the school can now welcome children who might not otherwise have been able to attend.

Children spend a large percentage of their time in school, so it is important that they are not discriminated against. In the last three years, schools must have made reasonable adjustments to ensure that existing and future disabled pupils are not put at a disadvantage because of their disability. Access is one issue that needs addressing in schools, and it is vital that the responsible bodies regularly review their policies, practices and procedures, so that disability access is up to date with the current DDA regulations.

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