Professor Rachel Pilling

Testimonial: Professor Rachel Pilling – Consultant Ophthalmologist, Bradford

Positive Looking

Rachel says, “Vision plays a huge part in learning, so accessing it needs to be part of the everyday curriculum and not something that is just applied for an hour a week. Positive Looking is brilliant because it can be used not only by experts, but by teachers who are not specialists in VI, and it can be applied to the whole classroom to enhance the learning of children who have various different special needs. “The programme uses readily accessible products that anyone would have at home and doesn’t require you to invest in expensive equipment. It also uses popular contemporary themes that the children can share with their siblings like Frozen and Star Wars.”

In the last three years since Positive Looking has become a part of the syllabus in Bradford schools, Rachel has noticed not only improvements in the development of the children, but an increased confidence amongst teaching staff, and more accurate reporting of progress. She adds, “Using Positive Looking has given teachers and teaching assistants the assurance to work with the children every day to stimulate visual skills and enhance learning in the classroom and beyond, helping children to access the curriculum.

“Vision is such a key part of learning and what Positive Looking’s methods do is to help teachers and assistants push the child to improve their attentiveness and visual stamina. Each teacher is confident and able to embed visual learning in every task that they do, integrating the knowledge they have gained in order to try new things and explore ideas using the basic Positive Looking principles. Just like muscle injuries need physiotherapy to keep them supple and ready to use, so the part of the brain that deals with vision needs to be constantly stimulated so that it doesn’t lie dormant. Thanks to Positive Looking vision is now part of the everyday agenda in Bradford schools, making a huge difference in attainment.”