Recently Welsh Government have encouraged parents to book their children an eye test as research has shown around 20% of school-aged children have an undiagnosed vision problem.
To help raise awareness about the importance of looking after our eyes and about vision impairment we have developed a fun, interactive and free resource pack for primary schools. The electronic resource pack will include:
- A simple assembly plan all about vision impairment and how to look after our eyes
- Lesson activities and templates
- Art competition with the opportunity for children’s pictures to be published in the Vision support Newsletter, website and social media
A child’s eyesight lets them learn and discover — in fact, about 80% of what is taught in schools is presented visually. Being able to see clearly is therefore incredibly important in the child’s overall development. Living with a vision impairment can have a significant impact upon a child’s health and wellbeing which is a key focus within the Welsh Curriculum. Therefore, we aim to encourage children to look after their eyes but to also raise awareness of what it is like to live with a vision impairment from the perspective of a child of Primary School age.
We believe that this work is very important, not just for children but also their families. Do you know that 50% of vision impairment is preventable? One of the things that people can do to prevent sight loss is to have their eyes tested regularly. This is for children and adults. We hope that parents will take the opportunity to get their eyes tested as well as their children.
The resource pack has been designed with primary schools in mind. This is a pilot project that we aim to expand next year. In order to do this we need to secure funding so in return for the free resources. Therefore, following your Mission we will send out a simple online form which will help us collect data such as how many children did you deliver the assembly to, how many children went to have their eyes tested as a result of the assembly and how many parents had their eyes tested at the same time (guesses will be accepted).
We hope you can all join us on our Mission for Vision!
To sign up for updates about our project or for any queries please do not hesitate to get in touch. We do have limited spaces for November for a member of the Vision Support Team to deliver an assembly to your school to kick start your very own School’s Mission. Email awareness@visionsupport.org.uk for more details.
Now let’s introduce you to Detective Eye Spy!
