Sample Solution

he reasonable adjustments duty requires schools:

• To have vision and values based on an inclusive ethos. This allows all involved within the school to effectively act upon and make reasonable adjustments
• To anticipate the barriers that disabled pupils may face by actively identifying barriers as early as possible and exploring solutions. A school can then identify more effective reasonable adjustments.
• To remove or minimise them before a disabled pupil is placed at a substantial disadvantage.

The Reasonable Adjustment Duty demands that schools foresee the necessary changes to fulfil the requirements of disabled students both in policies and practice. Senior managers and Head teachers are required to make reasonable adjustments with strong values and vision. The school staff should frame practices, which are adjusted to minimise barriers for the disabled students in all respects of school life, taking into account the concerns of the students, having good relationships with parents and other students, good understanding with professionals who are coming from outside the school which includes specialist staff from local schools and are being used as sources of ideas, information and practices.

Expertise in schools is normally developed by making practical alterations on a trial-and-error method, with assessment, supervising and considering the views of the students’, offering feedback for further fine-tuning. The teaching staff are required to make reasonable adjustments within their teaching and learning environment. This could be as simple as using a larger font for a visually impaired student, access to coloured overlays and the use of electronic reading pens. One important effect of the EA is the requirement for schools to ‘advance equality of opportunity’ between pupils with disabilities and their non-disabled peers. Reasonable adjustments can be a good way of addressing this issue.