Support for Pupils

To remove barriers and minimise the impact of a child or young person’s vision impairment on their learning, the Vision Support Team work closely with pupils and provide a range of specialist assessment, teaching and skills development programmes to enable them to become increasingly independent in accessing their curriculum learning, confident in using a range of assistive technologies, able to  navigate their environments with confidence, be socially resilient and have good knowledge, skills  and understanding to be independent and empowered in making life choices.

Touch Typing

The Vision Support Team deliver a range of skills development programmes to support pupils in using assistive technologies. Skills development programmes include Touch Typing/Key Strokes – a programme which supports pupils to access using a desktop computer laptop or tablet through non-visual methods.

Tactile Curriculum 

  • Tactile Discrimination Skills
  • Pre-Braille Skills -Fantastic Fingers

Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology refers to low vision aides, adapted equipment technologies and specialist software applications which support pupils with a vision impairment to be increasingly independent in accessing their learning and to be included in class and wider school activities.

With developments in technology, many pupils can now access their work with mainstream equipment such as iPads/tablets or laptops. Accessibility features are being increasingly built in as standard specification.

Pupils require a programme of skills development to ensure they have the skills to use assistive technologies to maximise their inclusion in classroom learning.

The Vision Support Team provide a range of support to pupils, skills and families to ensure assistive technologies are used to provide maximum impact including:

  • Providing an assessment of pupil assistive technology needs
  • Advising schools in the purchase of technologies to support pupil’s access
  • Advising families on the purchase of technologies to support pupil’s access to learning in the home environment – including grants and equipment from charities
  • Delivering specialist teaching programmes to support pupil skills development in using assistive technology
  • Providing specialist technical support to schools in linking technologies to school networks

Click the following link to the Assistive Technology information from RNIB Bookshare to find out more information on the assistive technologies available to support pupil’s access.

Print Modification 

RNIB Bookshare allows you to access books that require further modification to create large print paper copies. You can do this yourself, and guidelines are provided by RNIB Bookshare regarding modification, and if the book you require is not available in the collection, or requires further modification that you are unable to do yourself, you can make a request to the Vision Support Team to do the additional modifications for you. Please do this via your QTVI who will make the request on your behalf.

We look forward to working with you to support your pupils to access their reading material with the use of the technology at their finger-tips.

Print Modification Leaflet

Access to Booskhare

RNIB Bookshare consists of a library of 225,000 books including fiction and non fiction, reading schemes and text books. Books can be downloaded in a range of accessible formats that can be read electronically or adapted to suit the personal reading needs of learners.

The accessible formats enables a pupil to:

  • Listen to books with high quality text-to-speech voices
  • Hear and see highlighted words on screen
  • Read with digital braille or enlarged fonts
  • Create physical braille or large print
  • Read directly from your Internet browser

Getting started

RNIB Bookshare have produced a guide to support users in accessing their website. A copy of their ‘get started‘ guide is available on the site. Additionally, from the RNIB Bookshare homepage select the Help Centre tab to access a number of training videos to support users to familiarise themselves with the service and access the materials contained on the site.

Vision Support Team – Tutorial support

A member of our team can assist you in using RNIB Bookshare at any stage in the process, whether it be working out how to create an account, familiarising yourself with RNIB Bookshare, or if you would like us to work with your pupil, or their parents, to support them in their independent use of RNIB Bookshare.

Birmingham School Support with RNIB Bookshare please email VSTReferrals@birmingham.gov.uk

Touch Typing

The Vision Support Team deliver a range of skills development programmes to support pupils in using assistive technologies. Skills development programmes include Touch Typing/Key Strokes – a programme which supports pupils to access using a desktop computer laptop or tablet through non-visual methods.

Tactile Curriculum 

  • Tactile Discrimination Skills
  • Pre-Braille Skills -Fantastic Fingers

Assistive Technology

Assistive Technology refers to low vision aides, adapted equipment technologies and specialist software applications which support pupils with a vision impairment to be increasingly independent in accessing their learning and to be included in class and wider school activities.

With developments in technology, many pupils can now access their work with mainstream equipment such as iPads/tablets or laptops. Accessibility features are being increasingly built in as standard specification.

Pupils require a programme of skills development to ensure they have the skills to use assistive technologies to maximise their inclusion in classroom learning.

The Vision Support Team provide a range of support to pupils, skills and families to ensure assistive technologies are used to provide maximum impact including:

  • Providing an assessment of pupil assistive technology needs
  • Advising schools in the purchase of technologies to support pupil’s access
  • Advising families on the purchase of technologies to support pupil’s access to learning in the home environment – including grants and equipment from charities
  • Delivering specialist teaching programmes to support pupil skills development in using assistive technology
  • Providing specialist technical support to schools in linking technologies to school networks

Click the following link to the Assistive Technology information from RNIB Bookshare to find out more information on the assistive technologies available to support pupil’s access.

Print Modification 

RNIB Bookshare allows you to access books that require further modification to create large print paper copies. You can do this yourself, and guidelines are provided by RNIB Bookshare regarding modification, and if the book you require is not available in the collection, or requires further modification that you are unable to do yourself, you can make a request to the Vision Support Team to do the additional modifications for you. Please do this via your QTVI who will make the request on your behalf.

We look forward to working with you to support your pupils to access their reading material with the use of the technology at their finger-tips.

Print Modification Leaflet

Access to Booskhare

RNIB Bookshare consists of a library of 225,000 books including fiction and non fiction, reading schemes and text books. Books can be downloaded in a range of accessible formats that can be read electronically or adapted to suit the personal reading needs of learners.

The accessible formats enables a pupil to:

  • Listen to books with high quality text-to-speech voices
  • Hear and see highlighted words on screen
  • Read with digital braille or enlarged fonts
  • Create physical braille or large print
  • Read directly from your Internet browser

Getting started

RNIB Bookshare have produced a guide to support users in accessing their website. A copy of their ‘get started‘ guide is available on the site. Additionally, from the RNIB Bookshare homepage select the Help Centre tab to access a number of training videos to support users to familiarise themselves with the service and access the materials contained on the site.

Vision Support Team – Tutorial support

A member of our team can assist you in using RNIB Bookshare at any stage in the process, whether it be working out how to create an account, familiarising yourself with RNIB Bookshare, or if you would like us to work with your pupil, or their parents, to support them in their independent use of RNIB Bookshare.

Birmingham School Support with RNIB Bookshare please email VSTReferrals@birmingham.gov.uk