Buckinghamshire Accessibility Strategy 2022 to 2025 consultation

Closed 18 Jul 2022

Opened 8 Jun 2022

Contact

Education Strategy Team

01296 382662

engageeducation@buckinghamshire.gov.uk

Feedback updated 21 Dec 2022

We asked

We have a legal duty to prepare and publish an Accessibility Strategy.

This outlines our responsibilities, as the local authority, as well as those of maintained schools, to ensure that all students can access the education and opportunities that best suit their needs.

We launched a consultation with our key partners to shape the final version of the strategy. This was aimed at:

  • Maintained Schools in Buckinghamshire. These include mainstream schools, Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), Additionally Resourced Provision (ARPs) and Special schools
  • Other educational providers such as independent schools and further education providers
  • Parent / carer representative groups (e.g., FACT Bucks, SENDIAS)
  • Early years providers

The consultation ran from 8 June 2022 to 18 July 2022.

You said

We received 8 responses to the consultation:

  • 63% (5 in total) were from an educational professional in Buckinghamshire e.g. headteacher / school business manager / SENCo
  • 37% of responses (3 in total) were from parents / carers of children / young people currently in education in Buckinghamshire
  • 1 respondent said that they were both an educational professional and a parent / carer of a child / young person currently in education in Buckinghamshire

75% of respondents agreed that the strategy was easy to understand. One respondent said that the language used in the strategy could be made more reader friendly.

We did

We used the consultation feedback to update the final strategy:

  • Language in the strategy was reviewed and wording adapted, where possible
  • Comments about school responsibilities were shared with maintained schools - for guidance on training and updating skills for all school staff
  • Comments about Buckinghamshire Council responsibilities were shared with the Integrated SEND service for review

On 17 November 2022, the Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, on behalf of the Leader of Buckinghamshire Council, approved the Accessibility Strategy 2022 to 2025. The strategy was then published on our website.

Overview

Buckinghamshire Council logo

We are reviewing the Buckinghamshire Accessibility Strategy and we want to hear your views on the key priorities for 2022 to 2025.

We have a duty to prepare and publish an Accessibility Strategy outlining the responsibilities for enabling all students to access education.

The accessibility strategy supports the Buckinghamshire Children and Young People’s Partnership vision “To build a better future for all children and young people in Buckinghamshire so that they realise their potential, whatever their starting point is”.

We are committed to working alongside schools to ensure all students can access educational opportunities that best suit their needs.

What is an Accessibility Strategy?

The Equality Act 2010 requires local authorities to put in place an accessibility strategy for disabled pupils. It is a strategy for:

  • Increasing access to the curriculum. Increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in schools’ curriculum
  • Improving the physical environment of schools. To increase the extent to which disabled pupils can take advantage of education and the facilities offered by the school
  • Improving access to information. Improving the delivery of information to disabled pupils

More Information

This strategy applies to children and young people with disabilities:

  • Who are currently in schools
  • Who are in the school system but at an earlier key stage
  • Who are not yet in the school system but are known to Buckinghamshire Council or other agencies

This strategy applies to local authority-maintained schools, nurseries, and early years settings only.

It does not apply to academies, Private Funded Initiative (PFI) schools or private nursery providers on school sites. However, the strategy may be useful in complying with their requirement to have an accessibility plan.

More Information

The Accessibility Strategy sits alongside other key strategies that support our broader ambitions for children and young people in Buckinghamshire:

These other key strategies are not part of this consultation.

We want to hear from you

The accessibility strategy sets out how we continue to support the improvement of physical access and access to the curriculum for children and young people with disabilities.

It is a strategy for schools, governors, parents / carers, young people, professionals, and members of the local community.

We want to hear from individuals and organisations across Buckinghamshire, to help ensure we have identified key priorities and responsibilities. This includes:

  • Education providers of maintained Buckinghamshire Schools, including:
    • Mainstream schools, 
    • Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) and Additionally Resourced Provision (ARPs), 
    • Special schools, 
    • Independent schools, and 
    • Further education providers
  • Parent / carer groups supporting children and young people with disabilities (e.g. FACT Bucks, SENDIAS)
  • Early Years providers

Related documents

Before you respond to this consultation, please have a look at the following document:

How to have your say

You can tell us your views in one of the following ways:

If you have any questions about this activity, please email us at: engageeducation@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or phone us on 01296 382662.

Please tell us your views by midnight on Monday 18 July 2022.

What happens next

All feedback received through the consultation will be collated and analysed.

The findings will be reported to key decision-making bodies within the Council. This will inform the final version of the Strategy before it is presented to Cabinet for approval and adoption in Autumn 2022.

The strategy will be reviewed and revised towards the end of the period 2022 to 2025, following a consultation process in 2025.

Privacy

We will use the information you provide here only for this activity. We will store the information securely in line with data protection laws and will not share or publish any personal details. For more information about data and privacy, please see our Privacy Policy.

If you have questions about data and privacy, please email us on dataprotection@buckinghamshire.gov.uk. Or write to our Data Protection Officer at Buckinghamshire Council, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8FF.

Areas

  • All Areas

Interests

  • Schools & education
  • Children & young people