The report suggests that the starting point for developing an inclusive approach is the willingness to adopt attitudes and values that encourage all staff to rethink the big drivers of policy: assessment, standards and outcomes. By starting with the view that all disabled children have the right to fully enjoy and benefit from the whole of school life, the individual expertise of each member of the school staff can be used to include every child.

The first thing to consider is how all the staff in the school approach issues in their day to day work. To highlight some of the different methods currently in place, the Disability Rights Commission joined with the DfES to produce a practical resource for schools on making reasonable adjustments for disabled children. This resource is packed with examples of teachers in all kinds of schools, all over the country, making the changes to the classroom environment or the teaching of that day’s lesson to make sure that every child in the class can benefit equally from what is being taught.

In one example, a PE teacher relates a story about telling a pupil who uses a wheelchair that he needs to talk to him about sports day. The pupil assumes that he will spend another year on the sidelines, but instead the teacher works with him to effectively differentiate each activity so that he can be fully included in the day. It’s a small adjustment, but one that makes a big impact.

As this example shows, what matters in ensuring that every disabled child can enjoy and learn is not rocket science. But it does rely on some fundamental factors being in place. First and foremost, all staff need to have the appropriate resources to make adjustments and effective training on how to remove barriers to learning. Local authorities need to play their part too, by providing support and guidance and making sure they fulfill their duties to provide the necessary equipment and support for each disabled child.

With this in place, the headteacher needs to set out a clear vision for inclusion. This vision should set high expectations for disabled children, encourage disabled children to have a positive self identity and give them ample opportunities to interact with non-disabled children, and ensure that all disabled children in the school can access the whole of school life from the breakfast club to the field trip.

The headteacher of Batheaston Primary School, for example, sets a clear ethos for the school that welcomes diversity, identifying children as individuals who are all highly valued. The school's Value Curriculum ensures that each year, every pupil will focus on the important issues of: empathy, disability, racism, gender, poverty and privilege and age in order to help the children relate to others in an informed and non-judgemental way. This approach has led to Batheaston being cited by Ofsted as an example of outstanding practice. Ofsted’s view was that "the school's emphasis on inclusion is central to everything it does; it seeks to produce children who think of themselves as responsible citizens of the world, as well as of members of their own and their local community”.

The Disability Rights Commission wants to see this kind of approach becoming the norm. One big opportunity to support the greater development of disability equality in schools is the new Disability Equality Duty. This new duty requires all public bodies, including schools, to pay due regard to the need to:

•  eliminate unlawful discrimination 
•  promote equal opportunities
• eliminate disability related harassment
• promote positive attitudes towards disabled persons
• encourage participation by disabled persons in public life.

To do this, from December this year, schools will need to develop an action plan that sets out how they plan to achieve these aims.

The plan will assess the impact of the school’s policies and practices by gathering information on the effect they have on disabled children, parents and staff in the school, in areas such as the recruitment of staff and the attainment of disabled children. Disabled people and children will need to be involved in developing the plan and it will need to be reviewed on a regular basis to see how effective it has been. More information can be found at www.dotheduty.org

So, away from the rhetoric and the newspapers, the reality is that schools can make disability equality a reality despite unexceptional and unpromising circumstances. Adopting positive attitudes and values, taking practical steps to remove barriers and a clear vision from the headteacher are all important parts of how a school can do this. With these in place, from December the Disability Equality Duty should give all schools the plan of action make disability equality a reality.