Posted on: Tuesday 27 June 2023
The head of a service that supports visually impaired children with their education across Gwent has won a national award.
Sarah Hughes leads the SenCom Vision Impairment Service and has been involved in the implementation of a new curriculum to help visually impaired children and young people prepare for adult life.
Last week, Sarah was presented with the award for leadership in promoting vision impairment education at the UK Professional Association for the Vision Impairment Education Workforce awards, in Birmingham.
As well as the award, Sarah was presented with an official photo of Paralympic and Commonwealth cyclist James Ball, from Ponthir, who was helped by the SenCom service, formerly known as Gwent Visual Impairment Service.
Sarah, who is also chair of the Welsh Association of Vision Impairment Educators, has since gifted the photograph of James winning gold for Wales at the Commonwealth Games in 2022, to James and his parents.
She said: "James is a highly successful vision impaired athlete who was supported throughout his education by the SenCom Vision Impairment Service, or Gwent Visual Impairment Service as it was then.
"It felt apt to give this prize to James himself because he exemplifies the difference the service can make to visually impaired young people.
"He is a success story and we are very proud of him and his achievements. It is also so fitting that the new curriculum for visually impaired children includes sports and leisure, and James is truly our champion in this area.”
James, 32, who is training for the World Championships in Glasgow in August as part of the GB cycling team, said: "I couldn't believe it when Sarah got in contact to ask if I would like to have the photograph.
"The Gwent Visual Impairment Service helped me throughout school - I had someone with me to help take notes, they taught me how to touch type and loaned me a lap top with specialist software. Just knowing I had someone there as a safety net really helped."
Roger Thurlbeck, Head of Sensory and Communication Support Services, who nominated Sarah for the award, said: "I’m incredibly proud of the SenCom team and the positive impact they have on the lives of so many children and young people across the region.
"I wanted to make sure Sarah’s achievements in leading her team had the chance to be recognised on a national stage. Winning the award is great tribute to the work Sarah and her team have undertaken over many years to make a difference for children with vision impairment across our region."
The SenCom team provides three services – speech, language and communication; hearing impaired support and vision impairment support for children and young people, families, schools, colleges and early years settings.
The service is hosted by Torfaen Council and works regionally in Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen. To contact the service, email sencom@torfaen.gov.uk or call 01633 648888.
For more information about the Curriculum Framework for Children and Young People with Vision Impairment, visit the Royal National Institute of Blind People website.