Events

ZoomPals Hui online Immersion course

November 20, 2020

This year has been challenging for the Immersion team as we responded to the challenges presented by the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns (nationally and Auckland-wide). We have seen these challenges as an opportunity to grow and develop Immersion courses; trying new… Read more

Northland Visual Resource Centre relocation

November 19, 2020

After being located in the old dental clinic at Manaia View School for the past nine years, BLENNZ Northland Visual Resource Centre moved into our very own purpose built Sensory Resource Centre located… Read more

Braille literacy and braille skills

November 3, 2020

This year in Tauranga we have had a big push on our braille skills and teaching braille literacy. We have four staff members who have completed the BANZAT Transcribers exam over… Read more

Goalball session with learner’s class

September 7, 2020

In the last week of term 2, two BLENNZ learners and their classes from Glen Eden Intermediate experienced a goalball session facilitated by Casey from Blind Sport NZ. Both classes prepared for the session by… Read more

Parent Support Group

July 22, 2020

Over the year our preschool Parent Support Group has been well attended. Many new families have made connections with others and enjoy the opportunity to meet together and join RTVs fortnightly at BLENNZ… Read more

Ākonga developing swim safety and confidence skills

December 13, 2019

This year the BLENNZ Tūranganui a Kiwa/Gisborne and Napier teams collaborated with our Blind Low Vision NZ colleague, Erin Leonard to organise a very successful Curriculum Day at the Wairoa Community Centre Pool which focused on our ākonga developing Swim Safety and confidence skills. Five AUSTSwim instructors (two provisional) led by Denice Gasson were in the… Read more

BLENNZ Christchurch student groups get together to learn different skills

December 2, 2019

Fun Friday Workshops “Fun Friday” continues to be popular with our 6 to 10 age group. The students particularly enjoy learning daily living skills while cooking and our “Master Chef”… Read more

DOM Supporter courses – upskilling RTVs

October 7, 2019

This year BLENNZ has prioritised achieving 50% of all Resource Teachers Vision to have completed at least 1 of the Developmental Orientation and Mobility (DOM) supporter courses, run as a… Read more

‘Make a hamburger’ lunch – Celebrating te wiki o te reo Māori!

September 13, 2019

What an awesome way to celebrate te wiki o te reo Māori! To add to our te wiki o te reo Māori celebrations, we had a ‘Make a hamburger’ lunch… Read more

Ko te wiki o Te Reo Māori tēnei – This is the week of te reo Māori

September 10, 2019

E te whānau whanui o BLENNZ, tēnā koutou katoa. Ko te wiki o Te Reo Māori tēnei. He wiki whakahira ki te iwi o Aotearoa. Ā kāti, ia ra ia… Read more

BLENNZ

3 months ago

LEGO® Braille BricksBLENNZ is excited to be an official partner of the LEGO Foundation and the LEGO® Braille Bricks toolkit. The LEGO® Braille Bricks concept is a play-based methodology that teaches braille to children who are blind or have a visual impairment aged 4-21. The LEGO Group’s mission is to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through the power of play. The LEGO System in Play, with its foundation in LEGO bricks, allows children and fans to build and rebuild anything they can imagine.The LEGO Group was founded in Billund, Denmark in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, its name derived from the two Danish words LEg GOdt, which means “Play Well”. Today, the LEGO Group remains a family-owned company headquartered in Billund. However, its products are now sold in more than 140 countries worldwide. They have collaborated with educators to develop the concept of the LEGO® Braille Brick.Each brick in the LEGO® Braille Bricks toolkit retains its iconic form, but unlike a regular LEGO brick, the studs are arranged to correspond to numbers and letters in the Braille alphabet. Each brick shows the printed version of the symbol or letter, allowing sighted and blind children to play and learn together on equal terms. This ingenious combination of features opens up a whole new world of playful learning that teaches children Braille in an enjoyable and tactile environment.BLENNZ is delighted to announce the launch of this programme across New Zealand with students who are focusing on the development of early braille literacy. Resource Teachers: Vision will under go training provided by the LEGO foundation and undertake direct teaching to this cohort of BLENNZ ākonga. This programme will be rolled out to identified ākonga from mid-June. LEGO® Braille Bricks are a teaching program/resource for early braille literacy. They will be used by the RTV with specific BLENNZ ākonga. Image Description: A child is sitting in front of a grey LEGO base plate which has four rows of LEGO attached. The top two rows are coloured LEGO, the two lower rows are LEGO® Braille Bricks. One LEGO® Braille Bricks row is red and has one top left dot on the brick that represents the letter A and number 1. The second LEGO® Braille Bricks row is yellow and has the top and middle left dots on the brick which represents the letter B and number 2. ... See MoreSee Less

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