<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40"><head><meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)"><style><!--
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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Good morning everyone,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal> Since we’re all about the blind in history I thought this article from a list for blind Australians would be of interest. The United States is not the only country in which classes for low vision students, what we often refer to as “Sight Saving Classes” existed. Enjoy.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Peter Donahue<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #E1E1E1 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0in 0in 0in'><p class=MsoNormal><b>From:</b> vip-l-bounce@freelists.org <vip-l-bounce@freelists.org> <b>On Behalf Of </b>Bruce<br><b>Sent:</b> Saturday, July 11, 2020 11:37 PM<br><b>To:</b> vip-l@freelists.org<br><b>Subject:</b> [vip-l] THE CLASS FOR THE PARTIALLY SIGHTED.<o:p></o:p></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>THE CLASS FOR THE PARTIALLY SIGHTED, </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>In 1941, the Victorian Education Department set up the first special class for students who were partially sighted at the Princes Hill Infant School in Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>The class sometimes known as the ‘Sight Saving Class’, was similar to many small rural schools with grades one to eight being taught the same curriculum as in other state schools in one room with a single teacher. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>John Simpson AM, President of Blind Citizens Australia and I commenced our education in this special class in 1953 which had ten other students. Those attending the class, had varying degrees of vision impairment and were not taught Braille. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>Miss Lydia Checcucci, the longest serving teacher and considered to be the backbone of the special class, was not adequately trained or supplied with much in the way of equipment especially reading material. As there were very few large print books available to read, teachers often read books to the entire class. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>In time, the Education Department took steps to provide equipment that would reduce the strain on students’ sight. Desks with sloping tops were provided so that students would not need to bend when reading or writing. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>In 1957, the Department introduced a number of other changes to assist the students. This included various types of magnifying lenses and the purchase of what was referred to as a ‘Reading Machine’. This device was the forerunner of Closed-Circuit Television magnifiers. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>Although the students had lessons at their level for the grades they were in, on many occasions all students would be involved together in discussions, lessons and projects plus the entire class listened to radio broadcasts from the ABC.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>Despite staff efforts to integrate the students into the normal fabric of the school by including them in the morning assemblies and other activities, during recesses the students tended to remain by themselves as most were older and bigger than the other younger students and were sometimes referred to as the ‘blindies’. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>This class remained at the Princes Hill School until 1961 when it moved to the suburb of Kew as a special school known as Carronnbank. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>In late 2018, I contacted the Princes Hill Primary School to enquire if the school was prepared to have some type of a display to mark the fact that this special class was at the school as it is a part of the school history. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>The School Council decided that a small hard cover booklet could be produced and kept in the school library. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>I prepared a document of eleven pages of text using information from a chapter of a book I have been writing about my own life. The chapter and the document I sent to the school, included a segment about the Class for the Partially Sighted taken from a book published in 1989 as part of the Princes Hill Schools’ centenary celebrations. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>Two copies of the booklet were produced with one for the school library and one for me. The booklet has white text printed on black paper. There are also fourteen class photographs included in the document. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>There may be ex-students of the class, the Carronnbank school and others who may like to read a copy of this brief history of the class. The special class is a part of the history of educating blind and low vision students in Victoria and Australia. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>Both the School Council of the Princes Hill Primary School and the author of the book ‘Prinny Hill’ Nicholas Vlahogiannis, support the information contained in the document being made available to anyone interested in reading it. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>The copy I can send as an email attachment, can either be text only, or text with the photographs included. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>If anyone would like a copy, please send an email to me at; </span><a href="mailto:brucecgillies@gmail.com"><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>brucecgillies@gmail.com</span></a><span style='font-size:16.0pt'> and I will then send you a copy. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>Regards, </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto'><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>Bruce Gillies</span><o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>