The Equality Act 2010 states that children and young people with disabilities should be provided with auxiliary aids as a reasonable adjustment.
We will provide deaf children with:
- The equipment and auxiliary aids they need
- Radio aid/fm equipment for use in schools and in the home where requested*
- Repair or replacement equipment as quickly as possible.
We have access to funding for new equipment and repairs to equipment currently in use and we constantly upgrade equipment so our children and young people have access to up-to-date and state of the art equipment.
We can trial specialist equipment for individual children’s needs as requested by the school, the specialist teacher or the child and family and can provide such equipment for the child’s use if the trial proves successful.
*We also have a number of classroom Sound Field Systems available for schools to trial prior to purchasing for themselves.
School’s responsibilities
The school is responsible for:
- The maintenance and security of the equipment whilst on loan from us
- Keeping the equipment in a secure location and any charging procedures followed
- Immediately alerting us of the need for repairs or replacements
- Ensuring that electrical equipment on loan from us is regularly PAT tested
- Placing equipment on the school’s insurance register to enable school to reclaim some or all the costs of replacements on our behalf to ensure equipment is available for other children as required
- Returning all items of equipment in full working order if no longer required by a child.
Repairs
- We will organise and pay for repairs to all or any part of the equipment as soon as a problem is identified
- We will provide a temporary replacement for the duration of the repair which must be returned in full working order on receipt of repaired equipment
- If equipment cannot be repaired, we will provide replacements.
Replacements
- The school is responsible for replacing equipment if it is lost on school premises
- We may be able to provide a temporary replacement until the new equipment arrives, but this must be returned in full working order on receipt of the replacement equipment
- Alternatively, the school may wish to pay the replacement cost to us in order to retain the temporary replacement equipment. We can then order a replacement directly in order to be able to provide temporary replacement to other schools as necessary.
Use of our equipment in the home
Radio aids and fm systems are available for children and families to use at home if requested by the family and with our agreement. Families are requested to give due regard to the care and safekeeping of the equipment while at home. Schools will not be held responsible for equipment if lost at home.
Support
We are committed to supporting children with sensory needs to access the curriculum through the use of auxiliary aids as recommended.
If an individual child requires expensive equipment that cannot be provided by us, the school may be asked to request top up funding from the SEND team.