On Monday 9 December 2024, the Sensory and Physical team held a sport Discovery Day for children and young people aged between five and sixteen who are vision impaired and attend a mainstream setting.
We worked in collaboration with Active Devon, who organised representatives from Goalball, Devon Cricket, LTA Tennis and Football England to deliver workshops that allowed opportunities to try inclusive sports. The local School Games co-ordinator hosted the event, at St Luke’s C of E School, Exeter.
As vision impairment is a low incidence disability, the day provided a valuable opportunity for children and young people to meet others, share experiences and develop friendships. Many had never met another child or young person with a vision impairment before and this was very empowering for them that they were not alone. We have since heard that some of the young people that attended have already set up a WhatsApp group to keep in touch!
Our team promotes a can do approach and the children and young people were encouraged to have a go and to work with each other to participate and develop independence. As well as being able to watch their children participate, we provided useful workshops, for their parents and school staff that brought attended event, which gave useful technology tips and how to support social, emotional and mental health.
The event was a huge success and here is a selection of some of the feedback from the parents and school staff that attended the event:
- Seeing our pupils meeting others (with VI) and having fun
- Great to have useful handouts to take back to school
- Fantastic presentations and advice for parents and schools alike
- Technology workshop was fantastic
- Seeing the kids enjoy themselves and have a chance to do things that they might not normally be able to do
- The talks were really informative with useful information for home and school settings
- Seeing my son try new things independently
- Links to resources to try at home
- Meeting other people in the area to share experiences with
- Opportunity for students to have a day with other VI peers and to be independent throughout the day. The workshops were really useful, great topics (technology/SEMH) to choose.
- Great to have an opportunity to chat with ATVIs and ask further questions.
- Input about tech made us think how we can change/improve things in this area. SEMH – important points, particularly about discussing futures and bucket lists. Great that the students got the opportunity to be with other VI students.
- Thoroughly enjoyed the day, lovely to meet other parents and talk. Wonderful to see my daughter engage and chat to other children with VI. This has definitely been an extremely beneficial day for myself and my daughter. We very much look forward to the next one.
- Please can we have more events like this!
- In a relaxed atmosphere it was fantastic to talk to other parents that have had similar experiences – we could help each other and would like to meet more often at events like this.
Useful signposting:
Activity Alliance: Download activity cards that provide teachers and school staff with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to plan and deliver inclusive and accessible PE sessions.https://www.activityalliance.org.uk/how-we-help/resources/7053-inclusive-pe-activity-cards (Inclusive PE activity cards)
Active Devon: A community-focused, non-profit organisation with a vision of everyone in Devon to be active for life: https://activedevon.org/ (Active Devon – Supporting and Inspiring for an Active Devon)
School Games: The School Games is a programme which puts physical activity and school sport at the heart of schools, providing young people with the opportunity to learn through physical activity and competition to achieve their personal best. https://www.yourschoolgames.com/ (Your School Games – Your School Games)