RNIB supporting blind and partially sighted people
Effective practice guide
This guide looks at the processes around ensuring that a child or young person with special educational needs gets all the support that they require.
This guide should be used alongside the 'Special educational needs and disability Code of Practice: 0 - 25' which can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-ofpractice-0-to-25
1. Introduction
2. Where the college, school or setting can get advice and support
3. Extra help - SEN Support
4. Education, health and care plans
5. The importance of effective support to allow access to the curriculum
6. What should be covered in the annual review?
7. Preparing for adulthood
8. Resources
9. Further guides
Colleges, schools and early years settings have the primary responsibility to educate all learners, drawing on specialist support where appropriate. Vision impairment is a low incidence disability and therefore your setting may not have previously had a blind or partially sighted learner. In addition, individual needs vary: there is
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a wide range of visual difficulties and the requirement for one child will not be the same for another.
Children and Young People (CYP) with vision impairment are likely to be eligible for entitlements under both SEN and equality legislation, so it is important to consider both aspects.
Under the Code of Practice, any child or young person with a recognised visual condition will need to be on SEN Support or have an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). The Code says that the best early years settings, schools and colleges do what is necessary to enable children and young people to develop, learn and participate and achieve the best possible outcomes irrespective of whether that is through reasonable adjustments for a disabled child or special educational provision for a child or young person with SEN.
The Equality Act 2010 says that schools, local authorities and other service providers have a duty to think about and plan for any needs that a child or young person (CYP) with SEND may have, whether or not someone with those needs currently wants to go to that school or use that service. This anticipatory duty is a way of improving provision for CYP with SEND over time, including those with vision impairment. For further information on the Equality Act and education, visit http://www.rnib.org.uk/information-everydayliving-your-rights/equality-act-2010
Each local authority has a specialist service for vision impairment to assess, give advice and support colleges, schools, early years' settings, parents and learners. This might be called an Inclusion
Team (VI), Sensory Service or Vision Impairment (VI) service.
This service will be able to:

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support parents at home in the early years to provide information about developmental stages, play and early education settings
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provide direct teaching of specialist skills such as braille, the use of specialist equipment and ICT
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advise education settings on strategies for curriculum access and independent learning
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support and train staff to understand the visual condition and its effects
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support effective planning to ensure a learner can access the curriculum including the use of support staff
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advise on appropriate equipment and information and communications technology (ICT) solutions to enable a learner to be fully engaged in teaching and learning
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adapt and modify learning resources and train setting based staff to do this
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advise on access arrangements for exams at all stages.
For more information about standards of support for CYP with vision impairment please visit our 'Quality standards' webpage at this address: http://www.rnib.org.uk/services-we-offer-advice-professionalseducation-professionals/maintaining-quality-provision
Educational settings should provide all CYP with SEN with support in the form of a four part cycle (assess, plan, do, review).
Where a CYP has a known vision impairment, a Qualified Teacher of Children with Vision Impairment (QTVI) should be involved in supporting the child. If not, they should be involved without delay.
Settings should not wait until a learner falls behind before additional support is provided.
Specialists should always be involved when a child makes little or no progress. As well as a QTVI, this could come from an

educational psychologist, for example. Help like this is referred to as SEN Support.
Settings should involve parents in early discussions about their child to be fully aware of the planned support and intervention.
Parents should always be involved in any decision involving specialists. Settings should involve parents in discussions about their child's progress at least three times a year, set clear outcomes and produce a report of these as well as the action taken and support agreed. They must provide parents with an annual report on their child's progress.
There should also be an Area SENCO employed by the local authority who is responsible for supporting non-maintained settings, such as playgroups or day nurseries, within their area.
The Area SENCO's role is to support the work of the setting-based
SENCO and in many areas they also support children's move into schools.
The SENCO in the school or early years setting has responsibility to ensure there is a plan in place for a learner with SEN to set short term targets. For a child with vision impairment, this is most likely to focus on their access to the curriculum, unless there are additional learning or other difficulties. The success criteria will therefore need to consider targets that are ‘additional to or different from’ the curriculum that is followed by the other learners within the group to enable the outcomes to be met.
This means that the plan should clearly be about what needs to be put in place to ensure a learner can have full access to what is happening within the learning environment. The things it needs to consider would typically include:
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How a learner can access material from a distance, such as the whiteboard.
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The modifications necessary to ensure worksheets and text books are in the correct size, font, colour, spacing, or if needed, in braille or electronic format.

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Where support staff time needs to be allocated with clear identification of role, and planning time with teacher(s) identified and when resource preparation is to take place.
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What teaching strategies are most effective to achieve access for the learner.
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What specialist equipment is needed to ensure access in different curriculum areas, including who will ensure it is in place.
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What ICT / specialist equipment training for the learner needs to be put in place (e.g. keyboard skills, use of specialist software, low vision aids).
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Broader inclusion in wider activities – are specific strategies needed to support social inclusion, independence or playtime activities?
The plan should clearly state who is responsible for each point and this may be the SENCO, external VI service, learning support, class teacher or the learner.
The learner’s parent carer should be invited to attend a meeting and receive a copy of the programme of support.
If a learner is on SEN support and the appropriate action has been taken but the CYP has not made the expected progress, the setting or parent should consider requesting an Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment. This is a single assessment process carried out by the local authority which is designed to identify all the special help a learner needs and to decide whether these can or cannot be provided from within the college, school or early years setting's resources. ‘Single assessment process’ does not mean that there will be just one assessment: the specialist expertise of several professionals may still be needed in a coordinated process. Children, young people and families should be actively supported to contribute to the decision making.

If the child or young person has a vision impairment, the educational advice and information for the assessment must be given after consultation with a person who is qualified to teach learners with VI, i.e. a QTVI.
If it is agreed to draw up an EHC plan this should describe in detail the learner ’s special educational, health and care needs and the special provision and resources he or she should receive. These resources could include funding, staff time and special equipment.
An EHC plan is set out in 12 sections which include
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the views, interests and aspirations of the child and parents or young person
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the special educational needs and health and social care needs
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outcomes
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the special educational provision and health and social care provision
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any details on the use of a personal budget.
There will be no new assessments for statements or learning difficulty assessments (LDA) from 1 September 2014. Children and young people with an assessed need of vision impairment will follow the new EHC assessment process.
Children and young people with existing statements will transfer to
EHC plans by April 2018. The phasing of this will differ between local authorities, but is likely to coincide with key stage transitions for the child. Learners in Y6 and Y11 will be prioritized. Parents should be informed when the statement is due to be reviewed.
Young people with LDAs will transfer to EHC plans by September
2016. It is important that young people in Y11 do not lose the protection of continuity of their support in FE.

The legal force of statements and LDAs remains in place until all children and young people have transferred.
Whether a child or young person is on SEN Support or has an
EHC plan, the correct support is crucial in ensuring they have access to the full curriculum. Materials may need to be enlarged or put into braille. Enlargement software on a computer or lap top may be necessary, as well as the use of magnifiers and other low vision resources. Additional teaching or learning support may need to be put into place.
Careful planning between the VI service (QTVI), Special
Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO), subject teachers and learning support needs to be put in place. All written material
(including any homework) will need to be prepared in advance to ensure it is presented to a learner in the correct format. A child has the right to have the materials at the same time as other learners in the group, which makes planning key.
Practical subjects such as science and PE need to be discussed with the VI service to ensure any issues relating to a learner’svisual difficulties are taken into account. Moving around the school and playground environment safely will need to be discussed and the VI service may recommend a Mobility
Officer/Habilitation worker to teach the learner how best to manage in a new environment. If necessary/ appropriate they will teach cane use and/or routes to and from the setting and support independence skills.
If a CYP has complex needs in addition to a vision impairment, the
VI service will be able to advise on promoting use of vision, where appropriate, to support communication or use of alternative strategies such as tactile or auditory options.

You can find more information at http://www.rnib.org.uk/services-we-offer-adviceprofessionals/education-professionals
You may also be interested in our 'Partners in learning' course for teaching assistants which you can find more information about by visiting the following link: http://www.rnib.org.uk/services-we-offer-advice-professionalseducation-professionals/events-training-and-networks
The annual review process for any child with an EHC plan is set out by legislation and local authority policies. The QTVI from the local authority sensory service can support by submitting a report or attending the meeting.
The process will involve reviewing the needs of the child or young person as set out in the Plan. For a learner with a vision impairment, the key areas for consideration are most likely to be:
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Identification and acknowledgement of the need for all materials to be provided in a defined format and the resources and staffing needed to achieve this.
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Identification of staff support necessary to ensure health and safety and access to activities within the college, school or setting.
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The need for a regular ICT / equipment assessment, subsequent monitoring, training and evaluation of effective use.
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Review of need for habilitation/mobility training to develop independence and broader life skills that are specific to the difficulties due to vision impairment.

If a child has additional difficulties these will be detailed within the
Plan. Issues arising from vision impairment should be integrated as part of all the support requirements.
Schools and other service providers, such as the VI service, should start to discuss options about a young person's long term goals early, ideally before they are 14. The Y9 review, and every review after that, should focus on preparing for adulthood. In line with the Children and Families Act, this includes support for higher education/employment, independent living, participating in society
(including mobility and transport support) and staying as healthy as possible.
Schools and colleges should work together to enable young people to get to know the college environment and gain experience of college life and study, particularly for those young people with EHC plans. This could be through taster courses, link programmes or mentoring. Use of technology should be reviewed to ensure that it is in place at the time of transition. It is particularly important for students with vision impairment to be familiar with new routes to and within the college and this should form part of their habilitation plan. They should be given the opportunity to visit their new education location in advance so they can familiarise themselves with the layout and other aspects of the setting.
Young people should be involved more closely in decision making as they get older and should be given the support to do so.
Parents may still be involved and it is important that they agree with the young person how best this may happen.
Young people up to the age of 19 can have an EHC plan if they remain in education or training, including apprenticeships. In some cases, this can be extended up to 25. If a young person with an
EHC plan leaves education and is unemployed, they can keep their plan until they are 19. Again, in some cases, this can be

extended up to 25 if the young person needs more time to complete their education.
Young people who do not already have an EHC Plan continue to have to right to request an assessment of their SEN at any point prior to their 25th birthday. In addition, when making a decision about whether a plan needs to be made for a 19-25 year old, local authorities must consider whether the young person requires additional time, in comparison to the majority of others of the same age who do not have SEN, to complete their education or training.
For more information on transition, see Bridging the Gap http://www.rnib.org.uk/young-people-school-life-and-planningahead-making-transition-school/transition-guide-bridging-gap
To find out what the new system means for you visit .
• Code of Practice https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-code-ofpractice-0-to-25
• SEND Pathfinders (Mott McDonald) http://www.sendpathfinder.co.uk/
• Council for Disabled Children http://www.councilfordisabledchildren.org.uk/what-wedo/strategic-reform-partner-work
• NASEN Gateway www.sendgateway.org.uk/
• SEN Direct www.sendirect.org.uk/
• National Sensory Impairment Partnership www.natsip.org.uk
The Department for Education has released a guide on the Code of Practice for parents and carers of disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs.

It is available to download at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/send-guide-forparents-and-carers
You may also be interested in the following series of guides, all of which are relevant to children, young people and families:
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Supporting Early Years Education series
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Removing barriers to learning series
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Teaching National Curriculum Subjects series
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Complex needs series
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Further and Higher education series
We also produce a number of stand-alone factsheets, on a range of topics, which may be of interest, please contact us to find out what we have available.
All these guides can be found in electronic form at www.rnib.org.uk/guidanceonteaching For print, braille, large print or audio, please contact the RNIB Children, Young people and
Families (CYPF)Team at cypf@rnib.org.uk
Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), and its associate charity Action for Blind People, provide a range of services to support children and young people with vision impairment, their families and the professionals who work with them.
RNIB Helpline can refer you to specialists for further advice and guidance relating to your situation. RNIB Helpline can also help you by providing information and advice on a range of topics, such as eye health, the latest products, leisure opportunities, benefits advice and emotional support.

Call the Helpline team on 0303 123 9999 or email helpline@rnib.org.uk
If you would like regular information to help your work with children who have sight problems, why not subscribe to "Insight", RNIB's magazine for all who live or work with children and young people with sight problems.
You can also subscribe to our enewsletter for education professionals.
Effective Practice Guides provide general information and ideas for consideration when working with learners who have a vision impairment (and complex needs). All information provided is from the personal perspective of the author of each guide and as such,
RNIB will not accept liability for any loss or damage or inconvenience arising as a consequence of the use of or the inability to use any information within this guide. Readers who use this guide and rely on any information do so at their own risk. All activities should be done with the full knowledge of the medical condition of the learner and with guidance from the QTVI and other professionals involved with the learner. RNIB does not represent or warrant that the information accessible via the website, including
Effective Practice Guidance is accurate, complete or up to date.
Guide updated: August 2014