Would your school website pass the Ofsted test?

Prior to Ofsted calling desktop checks are made to ensure school websites comply with statutory guidance.  If you are a maintained school there is a compliance checklist available on the DfE site.

Academies and Free Schools need to check their funding agreements to find out what they are required to publish.

A recent audit and several school inspection reports have found gaps in relation to Special Educational Needs.

SEN and Disability Requirements

In particular, the recent audit highlighted the following statutory requirements missing from school websites:

• The admission arrangements for pupils with SEN or disabilities – linking to the WCC Admissions’ page or detailing arrangements for pupils with statements / EHCPs is not sufficient.  Schools must ensure that prospective pupils with special educational needs and/or disabilities, including long term medical conditions are not treated less favourably or unfairly in the admissions' process.
• The steps taken to prevent pupils with SEND from being treated less favourably than other pupils.
• Details of the school’s access facilities for pupils with SEND;
• The school’s Accessibility Plan, showing how the school is planning to increase access over time for pupils with disabilities

Our recent audit found that many Access Plans had not been reviewed and updated for several years, were not resourced and did not cover the three required areas, i.e. how the school is:

• increasing the extent to which disabled pupils can participate in the curriculum;
• improving the physical environment of schools to enable those with disabilities to take better advantage of education, benefits, facilities and services provided; and
• improving the availability of accessible information to those with disabilities.

For more advice and to access a Model Accessibility Plan, see our website.

School SEN Information Reports

Although our recent audit found all but one school had an SEN Information Report, very few reports met the statutory requirements.  The most common gaps were:

• not including the link to Warwickshire’s Local Offer website: http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/send
• not explaining to parents how they can contact the SEND Information and Advice Service (formerly Parent Partnership): https://www.family-action.org.uk/what-we-do/children-families/special-educational-needs-services-children/warwickshire-parent-partnership-service/
• not including the name and contact details of the SENCo.

Hopefully these are three requirements which can be fixed really quickly.

“Guidance on Special Toileting Needs in Schools and Early Years’ Settings”

Reminder to schools and settings that the Local Authority’s guidance for those learners with toileting needs can be found on the ‘Disability equality – statutory duties for schools’ webpage.