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Equipment for schools

Equipment provision in mainstream schools

If you feel your child requires additional equipment at school you should discuss this in the first instance with the school. 

Guidance from the Herefordshire Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) with regards to equipment provision in schools includes the following:

“All schools and settings are required to make reasonable adjustments to prevent a disabled child being put at a disadvantage. Typically, this will be the provision of additional materials and resources. This will be provided through funding from the school budget under the scheme of delegation.

In some very specific instances, the scale, the cost of provision or the highly specialist nature of the equipment could not reasonably be met by the school. In these circumstances the Local Authority (or sometimes the NHS) would provide the equipment as a loan to the school.

As a working assumption, where a school needs to make a ‘reasonable adjustment’ of this nature, the council has determined that schools will be responsible for all individual items costing £600 or less. In most cases therefore, schools would typically provide a writing slope, posture pack, lap top, sound recording device or similar. For more specialist and high cost aids such as radio hearing aids, sound field systems and some specialist seats Herefordshire Council should be approached. The exception to the £600 threshold would be where a lower cost item was an integral part of a more expensive specialist piece of equipment, for example a replacement arm rest or headrest for a specialist chair.”

Where the school has advised that the council should be approached, please contact Wye Valley NHS Trust paediatric occupational therapy team for further advice:

  • Paediatric occupational therapy team: 01432 373940 (select option 2)

Equipment provision in specialist settings (special schools)

Herefordshire Council specialist schools are funded from the council’s education budget to provide the required equipment, and at each re-fit anticipated needs are met. However circumstances change and children change settings, so new items will need to be requested as required.

Please discuss any equipment issues with the school in the first instance.

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