Learning

Conference: Great Expectations - Pathways to literacy

Summary: Review and comments from our conference on meeting the literacy needs of children and young people with sight loss.

• Review
• Feedback from delegates
• Comments on keynote speeches
• Comments on workshops
• Related information

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Wednesday 12 November 2008 - Together Trust, Stockport, Greater Manchester

Review

This exciting conference provided an important opportunity to review established policies and practices in literacy provision for blind and partially sighted children in the light of new research, changing pupil needs and developments in technology. It also reinforced RNIB's commitment to making sure all blind and partially sighted children receive access to literacy to further their education.

Hardip Begol from the Department for Children, Schools and Families outlined the government's commitment to promoting literacy, including details of their new pilot project to provide accessible curriculum materials for schools.

Cay Holbrook from the University of British Columbia provided a stirring defence of high quality braille teaching, while Liz Twist from NFER placed the debate in a wider context by outlining the latest findings of international research into children's reading habits.

Delegates enjoyed a range of workshops on braille, large print, technology, leisure reading and literacy for children with complex needs.

Graeme Douglas from University of Birmingham summed up the conference by reflecting on the various roles of the teacher in developing a love of reading in visually impaired children.

Feedback from delegates

Below we share the feedback received from delegates.

Range and level of content

• "Good mixture of practical advice and research data."
• "Informative and inspiring."
• "Well worth it. Good to have someone from DCSF who engaged with the audience."
• "Thought that this was an excellent event. Content was spot on."

Relevance to professional needs

• "Good to hear "others" have same/similar opinions/problems."
• "Excellent - I wish I could have attended all workshops."
• "Good to visit exhibits for RNIB, Calibre, Clearvision etc."

Did the conference meet expectations?

• "More than!"
• "Exceeded expectations - well done!"
• "One of the best I have attended."
• "Really enjoyed it all."

Comments on keynote speeches

Developing literacy in children with visual impairment
Speaker: Cay Holbrook, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia

• "Inspirational!"
• "Excellent! Very motivating and true to experience."
• "Helped me to reflect, review and re-evaluate my braille teaching of reading."
• "Very inspiring and entertaining. Enjoyed this a lot and will inform my practice."

Reading around the world, in and out of school: messages from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006
Speaker: Liz Twist, Principal Research Officer, NFER

• "Good also to have factual information from an expert researcher who knows her stuff."
• "Useful as a context for VI literacy."

Summing up: teaching reading, supporting access, and concepts of disability
Speaker: Graeme Douglas, Senior Research Fellow, VICTAR, University of Birmingham

• "Mixed the two themes of realism and inspiration to teach very well."
• "Good summary."

Comments on workshops

Grade 1 versus Grade 2 Braille: Latest findings from the USA
Professor Cay Holbrook, University of British Columbia

• "Eye-openingly informative. Excellent!"
• "Provided lots of ‘food for thought’. Will consider changing some aspects of practise."
• "Excellent – very important research/information."
• "Mind-blowing!"

Opening books with ICT
Richard Orme, Head of Accessibility, RNIB

• "Very relevant, useful workshop, good content with practical potential."
• "Very practical and accessible workshop."
• "My service really needs to get up to speed with this – really showed me what I’m missing."
• "Very informative on what is available now and what is expected in future."

Access to literacy for children with complex needs
Dr Steve McCall and Dr Mike McLinden, VICTAR, University of Birmingham

• "Excellent."
• "Really useful ideas – great practical illustration."
• "Thought provoking. Makes me think about my own practices."
• "Very good, interactive and interesting."

Creating a love of reading
Pat Beech, Manager, RNIB National Library Service

• "Another inspirational workshop. Pat encouraged the group to focus on practical ways we can get blind and partially-sighted children reading."
• "Very informative – lots of pointers to access more information, or services."
• "Very good – very enthusiastic and passionate speaker."
• "Excellent – love to do it again."

Large print versus magnifiers
Rory Cobb, RNIB and Dr Graeme Douglas, VICTAR, University of Birmingham

• "Thought provoking!"
• "Good awareness-raising session. Reinforcing the need for balance."
• "Very thought-provoking – liked the approach/presentation, role-play and questionnaire."
• "Interesting – food for thought!"

Related information

• Children's Services short courses and training events
• Regional Children’s Services course index
• Reading homepage

Content author: children@rnib.org.uk

Last updated: 05/01/2009 15:49