Summary: Positive Looking Best Practice Event held July 13th 2026
Positive Looking Best Practice Event 2026: Making a Difference Through Shared Practice
The 8th Online International Positive Looking Best Practice Event was a wonderful opportunity to bring together practitioners from across the UK and beyond who are passionate about creating meaningful learning opportunities for children with Vision Impairment (VI), Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI) and PMLD.
This year’s event combined research, practical ideas, creative approaches and real classroom experiences, all with one aim: to help practitioners feel confident, inspired and equipped to make a difference in their own settings.
We were honoured to welcome Professor Rachel Pilling, who shared her recently published research exploring the impact of accessible literacy programmes for children with PMLD and CVI. The research highlighted the positive impact these approaches can have, not only on learners but also on teachers’ confidence and practice.
“The show doesn’t simply entertain children…It changes teachers…..And changed teachers change classrooms.”
Lisa Hall and Helen Stanley brought the Positive Looking Programme to life through their inspiring presentations, sharing creative storytelling, practical resource ideas and examples of how Positive Looking can be embedded across the curriculum to increase engagement and participation. Their enthusiasm and commitment to their learners shone through, leaving delegates with lots of ideas they could take away and use straight away.
One of the most encouraging aspects of the event was hearing how quickly attendees were already thinking about putting ideas into practice. The feedback received after the event demonstrated the real impact that sharing best practice can have:
“Thank you for the course last night, it was very helpful and interesting. I had three other colleagues with me watching it, who all work with children who have VI and/or PMLD.”
“Thank you for a really lovely event on Monday! Joy and I really enjoyed it and both have taken ideas away to try with our classes. I have already made a book based on our story to use.”
“It was fantastic. So inspirational and the TAs who joined were so excited to put their new knowledge into practice.”
“It was truly fantastic. Really inspiring.”
“Lovely to listen to this today and some great info and more ideas. Thank you for organising.”
“It was a great event, thank you Gwyn, Rachel, Lisa and Helen.”
“Thank you to all of you. Very inspiring and lots of great resource ideas.”
The feedback reflects exactly what the Positive Looking Best Practice Event hopes to achieve: sharing ideas that are practical, achievable and immediately useful. It was particularly encouraging to hear that colleagues attended together, allowing learning to be shared across teams and increasing the impact within schools and services.
The event also highlighted the strength of the Positive Looking community. By bringing together research, creativity and everyday classroom practice, delegates were able to learn from each other, ask questions, reflect on their own practice and celebrate what is possible for children with complex visual and learning needs.
Most importantly, practitioners left feeling inspired, re-energised and motivated to try new approaches. Every new story created, resource made, activity adapted or opportunity offered has the potential to make a meaningful difference to a child’s engagement, communication and learning.
Thank you to everyone who attended, presented and contributed to making the event such a positive and inspiring experience. Together we continue to demonstrate the power of sharing best practice and the difference it can make for children with VI, CVI and PMLD. ✨
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