‘Vision for learning’ building VI expertise in special schools effective practice case study: Bradford vision impairment (VI) service
Background
Special school pupil population in Bradford
There are eight special schools in Bradford. According to published DfE statistics, 1,000 pupils in total attend these schools, more half of whom have a learning difficulty as their primary special educational need (SEN) (DfE, 2016).
Description of the ‘Vision for learning’ initiative
This is an initiative involving the vision impairment (VI) service and special schools in Bradford to embed better ways of working with children with VI and additional complex needs. Six special schools in Bradford - three primary and three secondary schools - belong to the ‘Vision for Learning’ initiative, which provides a framework for increasing knowledge of vision impairment among the school staff leading to improved ways of working.
Project lead
The initiative is led by Yvonne Smith, advisory teacher for Children with Visual Impairment and Additional Complex Needs with the Bradford VI service. Yvonne is a qualified teacher of children and young people with VI (QTVI) and of children and young people with multi-sensory impairment (QTMSI) with over 20 years experience of working with children with a range of SEND. She provides the specialist advisory teaching support for vision leads and vision champions, acts as project co-ordinator, and organises training and professional development events.
Vision leads
Each school has a ‘vision lead’ – a teacher or higher level teaching assistant (HLTA) with knowledge and experience of VI. Each vision lead is supported by the senior management team of his or her school. The role of the vision lead is to co-ordinate and lead on support for pupils with VI within the school. The role of the vision lead and the resources they are allocated varies between schools. In one school the vision lead has a clearly defined role, their own room, and a budget, while in others the role is less distinct.
Vision champions
Each school also has several ‘vision champions’. These are members of staff who have volunteered to undertake training and professional development in order to improve the quality of support for pupils with VI in their school. There is a rolling programme of training in :
· ‘Positive Looking’ (developed by Positive Eye training and consultancy), an approach to supporting pupils with VI that is based on ‘Positive Looking’ resources and methods for recording observations of the child’s behavour.
· Common Eye Conditions and the implications for a child’s learning.
· Cerebral Visual Impairment.
District Attainment Partnership (DAP)
This is a local initiative set up by the headteachers of the special schools in Bradford, which provides a framework and funding for sharing good practice through training in specific areas of the special school curriculum.( http://www.dapbradford.org.uk/). Vision is a strand along with autism, behaviour, literacy and others. Through the DAP, the vision leads attend regular meetings twice per term in school time. Joint training days are funded for vision champions from all six schools. These are opportunities to Network and receive good quality training.
Why and how the initiative was set up
The head of the Bradford Sensory Service, Anne Lomas, had identified a gap in support for pupils with VI in special schools. While younger children were supported by the Early Years team up to the end of Reception in specials schools, QTVI support from Year 1 onwards was less consistent due to capacity issues. To address this gap Yvonne Smith, a QTVI with expertise in supporting children with complex needs was appointed to the VI service. Her first task was to undertake a review of specialist VI provision for this group of pupils in Bradford.
Stage 1 – identification of pupils with VI and complex needs
Yvonne’s first task was to visit all the schools, and ask existing vision leads to identify children with VI. Some of the pupils concerned did not have their VI recorded either on their statement/EHCP or as their primary or secondary SEN. The pupils fell into one of the following categories;
· Early years children whose VI was known and who were receiving support from the Early Years team
· Older pupils who were blind and receiving mobility training from the VI service
· Older pupils who had received VI service (early years) support up to the end of reception but whose case was now ‘dormant’
· Pupils who were not on the active caseload of the VI service
Stage 2 – identify vision leads
The senior management team in each of the 6 participating schools selected and supported a vision lead for their school. Two people had taken on this role already – one was a HLTA who had completed RNIB’s ‘Partners in Learning’ BTEC accredited online training course for TAs supporting pupils with VI, and the second was currently on the mandatory training course for qualified teachers of learners with multi-sensory impairment (QTMSI).
Stage 3 – identify vision champions
In collaboration with the vision leads, Yvonne rolled out a programme of training on cerebral vision impairment (CVI) for teachers and TAs in each school. At the end of each training session, staff members interested in learning more about children’s vision were invited to attend a separate meeting in their own school. There was a positive response, and a significant number of people who subsequently attended the meeting expressed an interest in CVI and in finding out how they could do more to support their pupils’ vision needs.
Stage 4 – training and deployment of vision champions
Yvonne provided training in Positive Looking to the vision champions in each school. Each school purchased a copy of the Positive Looking materials and put them on the school system. The vision lead and senior management team then decided what approach to use in using the materials, in deploying the vision champions and in recording their observations of pupils. Positive Looking was available on the system in all the schools, and was accessible to all school staff.
Stage 5 – The District Attainment Partnership
A mechanism was needed for the vision leads across the 6 schools to meet and share information and resources and to learn from each other about what worked well. It was difficult to find time within the school day to do this. The District Attainment Partnership (DAP) provided this mechanism. Through the DAP, the vision leads from all 6 schools have been able to plan joint training days delivered to all vision champions to support their professional development. Another positive outcome of bringing the project into the DAP is that vision is now a teaching and learning strand and therefore ‘officially’ recognised as such by the special schools.
Stage 6 – ‘Vision for Learning’ project development
In order to personalise the project, the vision leads agreed to give it a name: ‘Vision for Learning’ which is now its official title.
Initially the main emphasis was on visual promotion through the Positive Looking approach, but through working with pupils with VI, the vision leads identified other difficulties which they felt they lacked the expertise to address. Working with Yvonne, areas have subsequently been identified which relate to vision:
· Visual environment in schools
· Tactile skills development
· Literacy
· General awareness of VI
· Access to the curriculum
· Mobility
· Transition at KS2 / KS3
· Vision Friendly Schools
Other partners
· Positive Eye training and consultancy provided the Positive Looking materials and initial training to Yvonne that have been rolled out to the Vision for Learning project, and which formed the foundations for further developments.
· Consultant paediatric ophthalmologist at Bradford Royal Infirmary, Rachel Pilling, is very supportive of the project and has delivered training at a DAP training day. Rachel is a member of the Vision2020 UK Learning Disability sub-committee and has raised concerns about patchy provision of vision screening in special schools. Research that she carried out in 2015 identified 33% of pupils in special schools in Bradford with previously unidentified VI (http://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2016/07/27/bjophthalmol-2016-308534.short?rss=1)
Factors that have helped make the project effective
· Awareness of high prevalence of VI in the special school pupil population. At the start of the project, the head of the Sensory Service and the head teachers of the six special schools were already aware of the high prevalence of VI within the schools
· Individuals with appropriate knowledge and skills. The project couldn’t have been set up in first place without Yvonne’s specialist skills and knowledge, and her expertise continues to be needed to guide the vision support provided by vision leads and vision champions. The involvement of a QTVI with expertise in complex needs has therefore been a key factor in the success of this project.
o Having a small pool of special school staff with sufficient knowledge of VI to become vision leads was also important.
o The support and involvement of a consultant paediatric ophthalmologist with a particular interest in learning disability, Rachel Pilling, has been beneficial.
· Senior management support. ‘Buy in’ to the project by the special school headteachers and senior management teams, as well as the support of the head of the Sensory service, have been crucial.
· District Attainment Partnership. This has provided a framework and funding for the project enabling vision leads and vision champions to attend meetings and joint training events in school time as part of their professional development. It would be difficult to release staff from school for training and meetings without this mechanism being in place. In addition, the fact that vision is now one of the DAP strands has reinforced/raised the profile of VI in special schools .
· Professional development opportunities. The professional development opportunities provided by the training have been motivating for the vision champions.
· An existing interest in VI. The project has built on the vision leads’ existing knowledge and interest in VI and has given them the opportunity to learn more. The training they received in CVI was of particular interest to the vision leads as they felt it helped to explain some behaviours in pupils that they had observed but were unable to account for.
· Specific materials. The Positive Looking materials were accessible and free of jargon, hence easy for the vision champions to use. The inclusion of a system for recording observations and data collection has been key, as staff are required to keep a structured, written record of their observations which then forms the basis of discussions with the experts Yvonne Smith and Rachel Pilling.
· Evidence of improved outcomes for pupils. Vision champions have reported that following use of Positive Looking strategies there have been improvements in the way that pupils use their vision. This encourages them to continue with the project.
· Minimising the burden to schools as far as possible by allowing them flexibility in how they used the Positive Looking approach and record keeping, incorporating these into existing procedures and systems within the school. However, this also brings some challenges as it introduces inconsistency into the project. This flexible approach has enabled all the schools to take ownership of it.
· Positive Looking materials are available to all vision champions. All schools have made the materials available to all vision champions within the school, which Yvonne feels has worked particularly well.
· Vision Champions can now identify pupils in their class who appear to have visual difficulties. Yvonne visits and together they work out individual strategies for each child. These are passed on to the class teacher, Speech and Language Therapist and other professionals as appropriate.
Challenges to the project
· Staff turnover. One key challenge is that there has been some turnover amongst the vision champions. This can happen for several reasons: some have changed job and moved to another school, a few withdrew from the role after losing interest in VI, and occasionally the school has chosen to prioritise the individual’s expertise in areas other than vision. Training days therefore need to be planned to meet the needs of new vision champions as well as those who are more established and therefore have greater expertise in VI.
· Lack of consistency in approach. Giving the participating schools a degree of flexibility in how they deploy the vision champions and use the Positive Looking approach and resources has been listed as a factor that helped the project to succeed. However, this can also be seen as a challenge because it introduces inconsistency across schools and a risk of the materials being used inappropriately.The fact that 3 schools have chosen not to make the positive looking materials available to all vision champions within the school also raises questions about inconsistency within these schools.
· Schools prioritising the work of the vision leads and vision champions in supporting pupils with VI. Providing the additional or differentiated support that is needed for pupils with VI takes time but some schools have expected staff to fit into the existing school timetable and teaching approaches. For vision champions, being given sufficient time to work with pupils in relation to their vision in the context of an already crowded curriculum is the main challenge. For vision leads, having a clearly defined role and adequate resources is often an additional challenge.
Benefits for stakeholders
Benefits for CYP
· School staff report improved outcomes in the way that pupils use their vision and that for some children there have been developments in their vision.
o In order to evidence these claims, the Vision Leads are beginning a project in partnership with Positive Eye and relevant staff in the special schools to develop Positive Looking further in order to show very small steps of progress
· Identification of pupils as VI whose visual problems were previously not recorded/known about. Strategies can then be developed tailored to the needs of the individual child or young person
· Better access to the curriculum because staff understand pupils’ learning needs better and can adjust the way that they teach accordingly
· Vision champions become advocates for the pupils and can advise other staff when they are using an inappropriate teaching approach/materials