5 ways schools should be using accessibility plans for students

Once again, I found myself sitting on the left side of the classroom despite my accessibility plan making it clear that I should always be seated on the right, the board largely a blur. I was unable to participate.

Accessibility in schools is frequently overlooked. I attended secondary schools with a visual impairment, but found my accessibility plan was too often ignored or viewed as unnecessary.

This meant I had to constantly explain myself to my teachers and self-advocate, because if I didn’t speak up, nobody else was going to. And if I didn’t, my learning would have been impaired.

Legal duty for SEND

Schools have a legal duty to proactively meet the needs of young people with disabilities by preparing and implementing an accessibility plan, according to Haley Sullivan, principal associate at Browne Jacobson.

Failure to do so could leave a school vulnerable to challenges such as a disability discrimination claim, complaints to Ofsted or, in more serious cases, judicial review, she adds. 

Despite this, my experience is not an isolated one.

The Alliance for Inclusive Education published a project called How was school? in October 2023. The project shared individual stories from students with disabilities.

Joanne Wacha, who is partially sighted, spoke about not feeling confident in asking for help as teachers assumed disabled students would know what they need.

Mark Baggley spoke about his school being unwilling to move classrooms to accommodate his physical disability so that he was able to attend maths or English. Their solution was that he just wouldn’t do those subjects.

Assistance for accessibility

In my experience, my teachers didn’t prioritise helping me as they were not informed about what support I actually required.

This is common for those of us who need accessibility plans, and it shows that just having a plan does not mean it is ever implemented effectively.

What should happen to improve things? Here are five things that, from my own experience, I think could work:

1. Ensure consistency

Providing consistency for disabled students is important, as their school journey may already be complicated. Ensure any accessibility plan is sent to all of the young person’s teachers and that any change of teacher prioritises a handover of the plan. This should also extend to having a central plan for all needs for whole school assemblies or year group trips.

2. Focus on communication

Communication is important in two ways. First, communication with the student: make sure they are comfortable with what is on their plan and ensure changes are made if they are not. Secondly, ensure that teachers who have that student in the class speak to each other about what is working and what is not.

3. Think about advocacy

Ensure that someone can advocate for the student so they don’t feel as though they must explain their plan to teachers constantly. This will stop the young person from having an issue and suffering in silence because they are afraid to tell someone.

4. Get implementation right

Have a system where you are checking the plan is being used and, more importantly, being used correctly. This stops the plan being ignored or overlooked and creates the best learning environment for the student.

5. Review regularly

Check over the details of the plan with the student regularly so that changes can be made. Disabilities can develop, and therefore accessibility arrangements will need to be adjusted so they are suitable. 

Hannah O’Brien is a freelance writer and current Year 12 student