What SENCOs need to know about building projects

    0
    1270

    School building planners need to go beyond statutory regulations and listen to what SENCOs have to say about inclusion

    I am an architect and a member of the National Register of Access Consultants (NRAC), advising fellow designers on how best to create educational environments that are conducive to enabling the provision of inclusive education.

    Problems arise in the building procurement and design processes if there is an insufficiently robust connection made by schools and local education authorities between the brief development stage of building projects and both the Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001 (SENDA) and the Disability Equality Duty (DED), which arises from the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (DDA). I believe that if a school building project is to be procured appropriately, a SENCO ought to be called upon to act as an “inclusion stakeholder.”

     

    Implementation of policy into practice within a building project

    The danger is that, without an early and direct dialogue arising between SENCOs and the project team, key policy implementation, as applied to building projects, does not necessarily receive the attention it should under DDA, SENDA and the DED.

    While appropriately qualified and experienced access consultants are best placed to advise the project team as to the interrelationship between design decisions and the management of inclusion by schools, access consultants, in turn, need to be in a position to consult SENCOs. This is because SENCOs are, arguably, best placed within an education environment to see that a disability equality scheme is implemented, to consult disabled people and to carry out impact assessments. They are also ideally placed to convey inclusive and enabling educational strategies, in line with specific duties under the DED and, with the help of the access consultant, to translate this into a brief that addresses the client body’s wider legal duties.

    It doesn’t necessarily occur to other players in the building procurement process that there is a big difference between design that receives Building Regulations approval and designs that might otherwise be considered suitable following the application of the DDA, SENDA and the DED.

    Building Regulations are not enough to satisfy duties under the DDA, SENDA and the DED

    For example, in relation to lifts, the Building Regulations

    • say nothing regarding the number of lifts that should be provided
    • do not stipulate travel distances to lifts
    • do not require that lifts accommodate people who use the larger wheelchair size
    • do not stipulate that evacuation lifts be specified.

    However, if there is only one lift serving key facilities, what happens when the lift fails? Furthermore,   people with mobility impairment may have to travel much further than those that can use stairs, unless a sufficient number of lifts are positioned in such a way as to reduce travel distances? Implementation of emergency evacuation via stairs might also prove impractical where wheelchair users are unable to transfer out of heavy electric wheelchairs that are too heavy for others to carry?

    There are many other areas that are not covered by the building regulations. For example, sound field (sound amplification) systems have been found to benefit children with hearing impairment, maintain the attention span of younger children and those with learning or behavioural difficulties, and preserve the voices of teachers. Similarly, children on the autistic spectrum have particular needs in terms of managing sensory stimulation and the levels of social interaction. However, design considerations that seek to address these needs are not even touched upon in the Building Regulations.

    It’s clear, then, that project teams need to go beyond “utilitarian” Building Regulations issues and to engage with the wider educational considerations that have a bearing on inclusion. There are many practical considerations that should influence project designs, including means of:

    • enabling children to feel secure and valued
    • stimulating learning
    • inspiring development
    • managing behaviour
    • reducing the incidence of bullying
    • implementing educational strategies.

    In order to advise SENCOs and others regarding such issues, and those not covered by the Building Regulations, access consultants will refer to Building Bulletin (BB) 102 , BS 8300 and a range of other less well known guidance. Nevertheless, it helps considerably if SENCOs are able to use their positions to ensure key duties under the DED are addressed, such as consulting disabled people, carrying out impact assessments and treating disabled people more favourably.

    Inclusion registers

    It might help SENCOs to know that the construction industry is familiar with the concept of risk registers to track risks which, if not designed out, need to be managed. I have found risk registers to be a useful model for tracking decisions relating to inclusion. I would therefore encourage SENCOs to establish an inclusion register so that they have a means of listing out the issue to be addressed and the means by which they, following consultation with disabled people and advice from an access consultant, would ideally like to address the issue. If, in the course of the project’s development, other information comes to bear on the project and alternative decisions are proposed, one then has a means of identifying the impact and what course of action will be necessary to manage the environment once built.

    Help available from access consultants

    Since technical aspects of building projects are not necessarily ones that SENCOs will be most familiar with, it is advisable that they seek to ensure that the project teams make a suitably qualified person available to assist them. It is not uncommon however for project teams to think that the architect can fulfil his role. However, unless the architect has a suitable additional qualification, they will not necessarily be able to advise the SENCO and other project team members of the management implications of design decisions. However, suitably qualified and experienced access consultants, such as those who are members of the NRAC, involved in education work, should be able to assist.

    Conclusion

    So, if you are a SENCO and your school or local authority is starting to think about the building procurement process, my advice is that you seek to ensure that you are identified as the “inclusion stakeholder” for the project,  so that you can manage your school’s or authority’s responsibilities and influence the brief and decision making process. Also, ensure that you and the project team have a suitably qualified person, such as an NRAC registered access consultant to advise you.

    Further information

    Steve Maslin is an associate architect and Inclusive Design Manager at Stride Treglown Architects
    www.stridetreglown.co.uk

    Article first published in SEN Magazine issue 42: September/October 2009.

    Steve Maslin
    Author: Steve Maslin

    + posts

    LEAVE A REPLY

    Please enter your comment!
    Please enter your name here