The Department of Education and Training’s Statewide Vision Resource Centre (SVRC) is to provide braille books to students with vision impairment to give them the best start to school life.
The Department said students starting Prep this year would receive Prep bags including a range of free books.
“To ensure the free books can be enjoyed by all, the Statewide Vision Resource Centre is also supplying braille books to students with vision impairments,” the Department said.
“The books give children of all abilities the opportunity to read and participate in school,” it said.
The Department identifies ‘Robert’ as one of the children to receive a free Braille book when he started Prep at Murrumbeena Primary School in 2019.
It said the school staff prepared for Robert’s arrival by working with his family and going to the Department’s SVRC Dot Power training to better understand his needs.
“SVRC is a Department of Education and Training service and the leading centre of educational expertise and provider of materials in alternative format for eligible students with vision impairments in Victoria,” it said.
“SVRC supports students who have vision impairments such as blindness and low vision.”
The Department said schools usually requested books and materials in the format they needed, such as braille, electronic text, audio and large print.
It said SVRC produced alternative format materials that students needed to access their schools’ curriculum.
