View is a registered charity, which represents the interests and needs of children and young people with visual impairment across the United Kingdom. VIEW is a membership association open to professionals and others with an interest in the field of visual impairment.
We welcome new members! If you would like to join us, please apply here.
VIEW Committee:
The VIEW Committee is comprised of professionals with particular expertise within the field of visual impairment and education provision. These individuals provide leadership in moving VIEW forward to constantly improve benefits and services to the professionals who work and support the education and welfare of children with a vision impairment.
Gillian ColesJoint Chair |
Gillian qualified as a teacher in 1977. Her teaching career has included work in the Yemen with Yemeni children as well as working in the UK as a Primary Teacher and peripatetic teacher for Children with Literacy difficulties. She qualified with a Special Needs Diploma (Reading University 1994) and Masters in Education (Visual Impairment) with Birmingham University in 1996. She was lucky enough to be working with a blind pupil in a mainstream secondary school during her training and this experience has had a significant impact upon her inclusion philosophy.She was appointed Head of Berkshire Sensory Consortium Service (SCS) in September 2003. The Berkshire Sensory Consortium Service is an Education service working with children and young people aged 0-19 yrs who have a hearing, visual or multi-sensory impairment. SCS works in all the Unitary Authorities, which were formerly Berkshire: West Berkshire, Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell, Windsor and Maidenhead and Slough. Gillian has recently taken on the role of joint chair of VIEW. |
Judy SandersonJoint Chair |
In a varied career Judy has held a variety of positions in several locations; starting as a music specialist in Staffordshire and then Newcastle upon Tyne; working for a music publisher in York; working as SENCo in Tyne & Wear and Surrey; appointed as Head of a Specialist Resource Centre for Vision Impairment, then as an ATVI with the Surrey Sensory Support Service, becoming the Professional Lead for the VI Team; and currently as Strategic Manager with Physical & Sensory Support (PSS), with Surrey County Council.Judy has always been committed to partnership working as a means to support and develop the needs of learners with low incidence disabilities and is an active member of NATSIP, being a member of the reference group and currently co-leading the Equalities Workstream.Judy has also been a member for many years of local and national strategy groups such as the Surrey Low Vision Services Committee, Vision 2020 UK as a member of the Low Vision Services Implementation Group (Children) and CYP with VI Group, and last, but not least, as co-chair of VIEW. |
Rory CobbSecretary |
Rory Cobb is a teacher of children with visual impairment and has worked in a number of roles for the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) since entering the field as a history teacher at New College Worcester in 1982. He coordinates RNIB’s services for education professionals in mainstream education and is the lead tutor on Partners in Learning, RNIB’s accredited course for teaching assistants.Rory has a special interest in access to the curriculum and examinations, working closely with awarding bodies and government agencies to improve provision for blind and partially sighted learners in public exams. In 2008 he completed an MPhil on this subject at Birmingham University, where he is also a regional tutor on the distance training course for teachers of children with visual impairment. Rory has been chair of the annual VIEW conference since 2003. |
Paula ScottTreasurer |
Paula qualified as a teacher in 1979, She has an additional qualification in teaching children with Special Needs (Reading University 1988) and had wide experience of working with those with special and complex needs across all age ranges before completing her Diploma in Education Special Needs : Visual Impairment (Birmingham University 1992) She has also worked as a Pre-School Teacher Counselor, and is experienced in working with children and their families in the Early Years, She has a particular interest in the inclusion of blind children in both mainstream and special schools. Paula completed a Mobility specialist course with Open College Network in 2005.In September 2003 Paula was appointed as the Co-ordinator for the Visual Impairment Team as part of Berkshire Sensory Consortium Service – an education service that works with children and young people aged 0-19 who have a hearing, visual or multi-sensory impairment SCS works across the six unitary authorities West Berkshire, Reading, Bracknell, Wokingham , Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead and Slough that were formerly Berkshire. Paula took on the role of the Treasurer for VIEW in 2011. |
