VISUALLY impaired schoolchildren aged seven to 15 met at Woking High School for an international competition to test their Braille literacy skills.

Around 16 students, mostly from the school, took part in the UK round of the International Braille Challenge. The rest were from across Surrey and some from Berkshire. A further group will be taking part in their own schools at a later date.

Vanessa Rose, a VI teacher who helped to run the event, described it as “absolutely amazing”.

“It was really wonderful to watch,” Vanessa said. “The students were so engaged and it was really wonderful to have the younger Braille users competing as well as the older ones.”

The challenges were set by the Braille Institute in the US with simultaneous rounds held in more than 30 states and Canada. There were also demonstrations of some of the latest VI technology.

It is the first time the Woking school has staged a round of the International Braille Challenge. (WHS)

“Some of it were things the students use now,” Vanessa said. “But others were things they don’t normally use and which they could have a go at. They could think about using these in the future when they’re in the world of work.

“There are lots of different Braille machines, in the same way as we have different laptops. Trying out new things was quite an exciting part of the day for the students.”

Sight Surrey went along to help the children make mug cakes, which they ate and the children also had social time when they could mix.

Woking High School students have been taking part in the competition informally for a couple of years after Sophie Lock, who organises resources for the visually impaired students, was looking for something in which they could challenge themselves.

This year, the school was chosen to run the first formal UK round.

“One of our students said they preferred this year’s event because it wasn’t only their school,” Vanessa said.

“Lots of the students said it was challenging, but in a good way. They felt really proud of themselves and that they’d achieved something.”

When all the work has been marked, prizes will be awarded and the top 10 in each of the five categories in the overall challenge will qualify for the two-day final round in Los Angeles in June.

There were also visiting VI staff from other schools, who chatted with Sophie and her team and said they would be able to use what they had learnt.

The students who took part in the challenge at Woking High were each given a goodie bag and a certificate. “The children were all excited about that,” Vanessa said. “It was a really wonderful day.”