Concerns about a young person’s vision should be raised with parents/carers and a referral should be made to the local Orthoptist and Visual Impaired Team (Sensory Needs Team – Vision).    

Information to aid understanding of visual impairment should be shared with parents/carers and staff.

Develop staff awareness of the young person’s needs, SEND guidance, specialist support and available resources.

Staff to be aware that the young person may be experiencing visually related learning difficulties and provide support to enable them to plan appropriately. 

Gather the views of the young person, using person-centred approaches regarding their opinions and preferred strategies.

Create a ‘clutter-free’ environment. Pay attention to layout of furniture, seating and adult position in the classroom.  Avoid standing in front of windows as your face can become difficult to see. It may be helpful to complete an environmental audit of the school including indoor and outdoor areas. Ensure displays have good contrast to enable access.

Creation of a One-Page Profile which is shared with all staff.

Assessment by Qualified Teacher of children with Visual Impairments (QTVI) and report distributed to key staff.

Recommendations of the report implemented in the school to enable full inclusion within the mainstream class.

The school should monitor a young person’s progress in this respect e.g. carrying out reading assessments in different fonts.

Learning materials must be selected and prepared for their clarity.

Make basic adaptations to activities and materials to facilitate access for a visually impaired young person e.g. oral descriptions of visual materials, saying young person’s name before asking a question. Awareness that the young person may need more time to complete the tasks and the pace of the work may need to be slower. Information about adapted resources is available at Sight Advice.

Low level adjustments may need to be made to activities e.g. reducing length of visual tasks. Break up visually demanding tasks with other activities. Standard adjustments advised include:

·         Non cursive, bold size 14 font;

·         Increased letter spaces;

·         Clear images in books;

·         Use of high contrast colours e.g. cream background and black text (in print and on screen).

Teaching methods which facilitate access to the curriculum, social/emotional development and class/group participation.

The curriculum includes examples of diversity.

Use of information relating to a range of resources and agencies, within the Local Authority and the wider community e.g. Victaparents and Look UK.

Involvement of parents/carers and provision of information relevant to them e.g. using resources available at RNIB and Vision UK.

ICT to be used to increase access to the curriculum, where appropriate e.g. iPads for reading.

Considerations for good transitions between stages of education, and how to plan and prepare for these e.g. opportunities to walk with an adult, repeating the process, moving towards more independence. Talking the young person through the route, noting key points, textures or space to feel for.

Development of a transition plan for young person moving between year groups, key stages, primary and secondary school and Post 16 provision.