Webinar:
Teaching Pupils with Mild Vision or Hearing Difficulties
Thursday, June 20, 2024 · 4:00 p.m.
About This Webinar
This webinar will offer practical strategies for how teachers and schools can support the education of these children, including classroom strategies and advice for the SEND/inclusion team. We will offer advice on spotting the signs of undiagnosed problems and tips on working with parents and carers to ensure children are supported.
Who is this webinar for?
This webinar will be relevant to professionals working in primary or secondary schools, including teachers and teaching assistants, inclusion and pastoral teams, SENCOs, and other school staff involved with teaching and learning and child welfare.
Meet our experts
• Pete Henshaw (host) is the editor of SecEd and Headteacher Update and has specialised in education journalism for more than 20 years.
• Professor David Thomson is the Clinical Lead: Optometry with Thomson Screening. He has spent most of his professional life at City, University of London and in 2016 was elected a Life Fellow of the College of Optometrists for his outstanding contribution to the profession.
• Liz Zoccolan is assistant headteacher and SENDCO at Harrogate Grammar School in North Yorkshire
• Caroline Lang is headteacher of Longsands Community Primary School, Preston.
• Further guests are to be confirmed
THIS WEBINAR WILL ANSWER KEY QUESTIONS
During the one-hour discussion, our expert panel will consider classroom advice for teaching staff, the common links between vision and hearing difficulties and other learning barriers, advice on working with families to support children, and guidance for the SEND/Inclusion team. Key questions for discussion include:
• What are the common vision and hearing difficulties that teachers will encounter in the classroom?
• What impact do these conditions have in the classroom in terms of pupil learning and engagement, behaviour, and on wider issues such as mental health?
• What are the implications for your classroom management and lesson-planning? What can teachers put in place to try and overcome these barriers to learning?
• What are the links between vision and hearing problems and other SEN or social emotional and mental health needs?
• How can schools spot the signs of vision and hearing problems and work with parents/carers to find solutions?
• Why do schools need to take the lead in identifying vision and hearing deficits in their pupils? How can in-school screening programmes support this work?
• We will also consider the work of case study schools (primary and secondary) to overcome these challenges, identify and support pupils, and work with families.
Question & answer from the audience
• We will leave time for questions at the end of the webinar.
Our webinar partners
This webinar is being produced in partnership with The Mark Allen Group, publishers of Head Teacher Update, Children & Young People Now, SEND Network and SecEd. Also, organisers of the TES SEND Show. The webinar is hosted via Big Marker.
References
• Holden et al: Global prevalence of myopia and high myopia and temporal trends from 2000 through 2050, Ophthalmology (123, 5), February 2016: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2016.01.006
• Li, Hoffman, Ward, Cohen & Rine: Epidemioilogy of dizziness and balance problems in the United States: A population-based study, The Journal of Pediatrics, April 2016: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022347615015127
• Lieu, Kenna, Anne & Davidson: Hearing Loss in Children: A Review, JAMA, December 2020: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2773567
• Moore, Zobay & Ferguson: Minimal and Mild Hearing Loss in Children: Association with Auditory Perception, Cognition, and Communication Problems, Ear Hear, July/August 2020: https://journals.lww.com/ear-hearing/abstract/2020/07000/minimal_and_mild_hearing_loss_in_children_.4.aspx
