[senco-forum] Funding

As far as I understand it, the school needs to make 'reasonable

When we had to take on board the requirements of the DDA a few years ago,
we were told that any structural alterations would be the responsibility
of the LA and would be tackled as and when.  In other words, as long as
the school did not have a wheelchair user, there would be no need for the
LA to construct ramps and widen doors etc.  They seemed to be thinking in
terms of schools having children/staff with permanent need for a
wheelchair; the question of what would happen in the event of a temporary
need was never satisfactorily answered!

Fortunately for us and the child affected, when one pupil needed a
wheelchair for a few weeks following surgery, our existing arrangements -
wider entrances and a suitable loo - together with the main school being a
single storey building that already had a ramped entrance to a
demountable, were fine.  The school that child had previously attended was
a three-floor Victorian structure with lots of narrow stairs; I'm not sure
how they would have coped!

Regards

Jean

 Hi Janice
>   As far as I understand it, the school needs to make 'reasonable
> adjustments' for pupils with disabilities.  This might mean paying out a
> small amount but large projects (such as providing ramps) should be
> funded centrally.  We have had huge amounts spent on putting ramps into
> our school in the last fifteen years, all funded by the LA.  We started
> with having ramps put in ourside because they can't be inside due to the
> layout.  When the legislation came in which said that pupils should not
> be put at a disadvantage because of their disability, we had an
> inspection which resulted in more work being done so pupils no longer
> had to go 'the long way round'.  Only a couple of places are not
> accessible, both because alterations are prohibitively expensive.
>   So, I'd say you are right - school should not have to fund building
> alterations.
>
>   Amanda
>   Secondary SENCO
>   Cornwall
> Janrolnick at aol.com wrote:
>   We have a child at our school who is having an operation on his legs for
> clubfoot. He will be in a wheelchair for about a month then on crutches
> for a
> month or so. We can manage the wheelchair by taking him round the outside
> of the
> building as we have several small flights of stairs and no ramp.
>
> However in the long term this is far from satisfactory and we could get a
> child in a wheelchair permanently. My understanding is that we are
> expected to
> find the money for alterations to the school - I don't know how. Does
> anyone
> have any experience of this? Are there any funds which can be accessed?
>
> Any ideas gratefully accepted.
>
>
> Janice Rolnick
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Amanda
> Secondary SENCO
> Cornwall
>
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