Teach-Primary-Issue-19.3

Teachers need to rethink colour in the classroom to ensure accessibility for all, argues Marie Difolco I t started on a typical afternoon. My son, who was almost seven years old at the time, was sitting at the table drawing, when he suddenly held up two felt-tip pens. “Is this orange, or is this orange?” he asked innocently. I looked at his hands – one held an orange pen, the other, lime green. That was the moment I realised he was colour blind. It was such a shock. He'd previously had a school eye test and a follow-up with an optician, so it was hard to understand how something like this could have been missed. The realisation hit even harder when I discovered that in every average classroom across the UK, at least one child is colour blind (via colourblindaware- ness.org ). Staggering, isn’t it? Right now, there are around 450,000 colour blind children in our education system, and each year around 27,000 more will start school. Yet, despite colour blindness being one of the most common genetic conditions in the world, most schools aren't able to identify many of their children who live with it. Hidden disadvantage In 2009, screening for colour blindness was removed from the Healthy Child Screening Programme, based on a review that relied on faulty and outdated evidence. Today, 80 per cent of children reach secondary school without ever having been tested for this common SEND, despite the fact 75 per cent of them will have had an NHS eye test. Opticians in England often don’t check for it unless specifically asked, meaning even children who wear glasses may never have been tested (colourblind- awareness.org) . This leaves schools in the dark and children to struggle in silence. Through no fault of their own, teachers receive no training on how to spot the signs of this visual impairment or how to support affected pupils. The consequence? Pupils miss vital detail across the whole curriculum. Any information reliant on differentiating between colours is likely to be inaccessible to them. They lose confidence, they can become frustrated and disengaged, and often their struggle is mistaken for something else. Have you ever thought of a child as inattentive or slow to grasp instructions? Have you ever wondered why a pupil doesn’t seem to engage with certain classroom tasks? There’s a chance they’re not being difficult – they’re just not seeing what you think they are. The impact of undiagnosed colour blindness extends far beyond the art supplies cupboard. In science, a child might misinterpret pH charts or electrical circuit diagrams. In maths, they might not be able to understand colour-coded graphs or number blocks. In geography, they could be struggling with maps or flags. In sport, they might pass a ball to the other team because, to them, their own kit looks the same as their opponents’. And not only does colour blindness affect understanding, it can also impact safety, wellbeing, and quality of life. Is this orange, or is THIS ORANGE? www.teachwire.net | 49 “80 per cent of children reach secondary school without ever having been tested for colour blindness” T EACH PR I MARY S END SPEC I A L I N AS SOC I A T I ON W I TH This image shows how a person without colourblindness views one orange pen, and one green pen. The image on the following page shows the perspective of a person with colourblindness.