Why is disability information collected ?

The School Census collects information about schools and the children attending them. It is mainly used to decide school funding. From 2011 two questions are included in the School Census which now asks whether children are disabled and if so, in what ways. The reporting of this information is currently voluntary but helps to ensure that schools receive the right amount of funding, and also ensure that they meet the needs of their disabled children - which they have a legal duty to do.

This supports work that schools and Local Authorities are doing under the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 and Equality Act (2010) to:

• Promote equality of opportunity
• Promote positive attitudes towards disabled people;
• Assess and monitor the impact of their activities on disabled people;
• Make reasonable adjustments to ensure disabled children are not disadvantaged;
• Improve outcomes for disabled people

The Act apply to children who have a physical or mental health condition or impairment which has lasted (or expected to last) a year or more and which has a substantial impact on daily activities. Disability is not an easily defined term, the difficulties experienced depend in part on the environment in which a person finds themselves and the activities they wish to take part in, and this may vary from time to time. Only parents and children themselves can provide information about the impact on daily life. Our national survey therefore collected information through two approaches.

The parent and carer questionnaires

There are both paper based and online versions of the questionnaire. They are quick and easy to complete and should only take 5-10 minutes.

The information will be used by the school to promote the wellbeing of children.

Giving every child a voice

Schools were also invited to collect the views of all children on the things in school that are helpful and those that get in the way of learning. To help them to do this schools were provided with ideas and guidance on a range of activities to choose from, depending on children’s age and communication needs. In this way we hope to give every child a voice.

The materials were developed in collaboration with schools by a team that are experienced in working with children with and without disabilities, and who regularly work with teachers and other staff in schools. To find out more about the researchers please see the researcher profiles.