Time 4 Change, The Children's Society Pact project, York
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
What is it? Time 4 Change is a scheme for schools led by a group of disabled young people. It's designed to help schools comply with their duties under the Disability Discrimination Act 2005.
What are the duties? The law requires schools to eliminate discrimination, to promote equality of opportunity and to promote positive attitudes towards disabled people. Schools should do this by developing a disability equality scheme, in consultation with disabled people.
How did Time 4 Change help schools to do this? The scheme offers mainstream schools the chance to be inspected by disabled young people. The young people pick out areas of best practice and identify how the school could better meet its duties. Head teachers and special educational needs co-ordinators are given feedback and are offered recommendations to improve their schemes.
Where can I find out more? The Children's Society has created a resource for teachers about disability awareness, which is available at www.childrenssociety.org.uk/research. Time 4 Change has created a DVD to show how schools should approach collaborative working. To request a copy, call 01904 639056.
