Headteacher of The Children’s Trust School receives Tes award
Published on: 23/06/26
Launa Randles, Headteacher of The Children’s Trust School and Qualified Teacher of the Visually Impaired (QTVI), has been awarded a Tes award for Specialist Provision School Leader of the Year 2026, recognising her exceptional leadership and innovative work in sensory education.
The Tes Schools Awards celebrate exceptional teachers, leaders, and support staff across the UK. This category recognises outstanding leadership within special educational needs (SEND), alternative provision, and profound and multiple learning disability (PMLD) settings.
Pioneering project
At the heart of this achievement is SEE LIKE ME, a pioneering project embedded within the Sensory Communication, Language and Literacy (CLL) curriculum. The initiative focuses on vision as a means of maintaining communication, connection and wellbeing for learners with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD). Staff are trained to understand how vision influences engagement, recognise subtle visual cues, and adapt environments to reduce visual barriers and support emotional safety and participation.
Through this work led by Launa Randles, the school has developed a deeper understanding of how pupils perceive and engage with the world, enabling highly personalised learning strategies that significantly enhance both communication and emotional development.
The impact of SEE LIKE ME
Launa’s use of the See Like Me model has driven measurable impact across the school, including:
- Enhanced individual progression for pupils with PMLD, recognising achievements from each child’s personal visual baseline, with development measured through small, meaningful steps in visual attention, engagement and emotional connection
- Increased staff confidence and wellbeing, built through specialist training in vision impairment and PMLD, enabling a shared understanding of how pupils access their world and how best to support their visual and sensory needs
- Highly personalised, vision-led and child-centred practice, where all strategies and interventions are shaped by each learner’s unique visual profile, responses and lived experience, ensuring progress from their own starting point
The impact of SEE LIKE ME extends beyond The Children’s Trust school. External recognition from organisations including the Royal Ballet and Opera House, alongside positive feedback from families and professional partners, highlights the project’s wider influence. An internally produced documentary has further amplified its reach, challenging perceptions of hidden barriers such as fatigue and restricted movement.
Launa Randles’ work with the SEE LIKE ME school team exemplifies innovation, rigour, and outstanding impact, collectively setting a new benchmark in specialist provision.
