Kim Piff

Tags: Accessibility in Education

Unlocking Potential: How SuperNova Education Kit Supports the CFVI Framework

Every learner with a vision impairment brings a unique set of strengths, perspectives and aspirations to the classroom. With the right support, they can thrive academically, socially and emotionally.

Qualified Teachers of Vision Impairment (QTVIs) know that access to the curriculum is only one part of the picture. True inclusion means equipping learners with the skills and confidence to participate fully in education and beyond. For schools, teachers and other education staff, providing the right training and equipment to fully support children and young people with vision impairment ensures they can encourage and enable independent learning.

The Curriculum Framework for Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (CFVI) provides a structure for this broader development. It identifies eleven key areas of learning that go beyond academic subjects, supporting learners to build independence, resilience and self-awareness. Learn how SuperNova Education Kit - developed and curated by Dolphin Computer Access - offers practical tools that align closely with each area of the framework.

This article explores how SuperNova supports the CFVI, drawing on examples from learners and professionals across the UK.

Understanding the CFVI

The CFVI was developed by Royal National Institute for Blind People (RNIB) in collaboration with specialist educators, professionals, families and vision impaired children and young people in the UK. It complements the national curriculum by identifying the additional learning needs of children and young people with vision impairments. The framework is designed to support planning, assessment and delivery of specialist input.

The eleven areas of learning defined by the CFVI framework are:

Facilitating the inclusive world: recognising the role of educators and specialist practitioners
Sensory development
Communication
Literacy
Orientation and mobility
Independent living skills
Accessing information
Technology
Social, emotional, mental and physical wellbeing
Social and cultural inclusion, sports and leisure
Preparing for Adulthood

Each area plays a vital role in education and preparing learners for life after school. SuperNova Education Kit provides tools and strategies that support progress across the whole framework, read on to find out how!

1. Supporting Schools and Education Staff

SuperNova Education Kit has been developed in consultation with teachers and QTVIs, to help make their teaching and support of children and young people with vision impairments less complicated. Its portability, quick set up and helpful additions such as Whiteboard Assistant help reduce low level disruption early in class, so young people are ready to learn. Crucially, SuperNova Education Kit enables and encourages independent reading and learning, so teachers can concentrate on teaching and support is available when it's needed.

Teaching Assistant Clare Harris shared, “Before SuperNova Education Kit, I spent hours photocopying worksheets into large print. Now my students just connect and view in SuperNova.”

At Dolphin, we recognise that supporting vision impaired learners starts with confident educators. With this in mind, Dolphin has developed and offers a free CPD-accredited online course for QTVIs, teachers and other educational professionals.

This course provides the information they need to:

Set up the Education Kit
Use SuperNova features effectively
Make classroom materials accessible

QTVIs should encourage education staff to take this course, as it ensures that children and young people with vision impairments benefit fully from the technology, and that their education team feels equipped to support them.

Visit Learning Zone

In addition, we are happy to provide product demonstrations and training for your whole QTVI and Sensory Support Teams, to show you how it supports the learning of children and young people with vision impairment. We'll provide you with the knowledge and confidence to share what you know and support schools, your students and their families with helpful, practical information.

You are welcome to connect and book a meeting to discuss how Dolphin can support you to introduce SuperNova Education Kit to the schools in your local education authority area, you'll learn how SuperNova Education Kit is the best choice to support their learning journey and independence throughout education.

2. Sensory Development

SuperNova enables learners to explore and refine their use of vision, hearing and touch. Adjustable magnification, colour schemes and screen reader output with speech, enables students to personalise their experience and discover what works best for them.

The HoverCam document camera included in the kit allows learners to view printed materials, such as class handouts, in detail.

Using SuperNova Education Kit means learners can begin to recognise how lighting, colour settings and fatigue throughout the school day affects their visual comfort. Students can then independently manage this effectively with features such as adjustable colour contrasts, speech and audio.

3. Communication

SuperNova Education Kit supports both expressive and receptive communication.

Learners can read with magnified text and with audio if they prefer. In addition, it provides access to mainstream platforms such as Microsoft 365, Google Classroom, emails and web browsers, which simplifies student/teacher communication and document sharing. SuperNova users can find out how to use SuperNova to access these platforms in the Dolphin Learning Zone Learning For You courses.

This enables learners to learn at the same time as their peers, so they can take part in class discussions, complete assignments and engage with others independently.

4. Literacy

For children and young people with vision impairment, literacy involves more than reading. It’s about accessing and engaging with text in ways that are meaningful and manageable. SuperNova supports literacy development by:

Providing access to RNIB Bookshare titles via the EasyReader Personal plan
Enabling learners to read printed worksheets using magnification or speech
Supporting annotation and editing of digital documents

Literacy is essential for independence. SuperNova Education Kit includes a touchscreen laptop (tablets are also available on request), a lightweight HoverCam and EasyReader, giving students the tools they need to navigate all kinds of text - both digital and print.

SuperNova software provides screen magnification and speech output across all mainstream applications, including Microsoft 365, Google Classroom and web browsers. This enables students to read text in multiple formats, complete assignments, join virtual lessons and work collaboratively with their classmates on group projects. This helps them read and understand what they are learning, and apply it to their classwork and homework.

“SuperNova lets me read my textbooks and write essays without help. I feel like I’m finally doing it on my own.” Charlotte, Birmingham

Crucially, with SuperNova Education Kit, students receive access to the EasyReader Personal plan, which connects them directly to RNIB Bookshare, a UK-based online library offering over one million education titles. These include textbooks, revision guides, set texts, and reference materials that span the entire national curriculum, as well as further education and vocational content. Students can also explore a wide range of leisure reading, from fiction and biographies to magazines and graphic novels.

This seamless access to educational and recreational reading supports literacy in multiple ways:

It enables students to keep pace with their peers in mainstream classrooms.
It encourages independent study and research.
It fosters a love of reading beyond the curriculum.

By integrating EasyReader into SuperNova Education Kit, Dolphin ensures that literacy is not a barrier, but a gateway to learning, creativity, and personal growth.

Charlotte, a former student at the University of Birmingham shared, “SuperNova gave me the tools to succeed at university. I use it every day.”

5. Orientation and Mobility

While SuperNova is not a mobility aid, it complements independent orientation by enabling learners to position themselves anywhere in the classroom and still access the learning content they need.

The Dolphin Whiteboard Assistant allows students to view the classroom whiteboard from any seat. This reduces reliance on fixed seating plans, so students can sit where they like and join in with their friends. It also reduces low level disruption as they need less support from others to read the whiteboard content, and can read the display at the same time as their classmates for an equitable learning experience.

Additionally, a QTVI panel interviewed by Dolphin Computer Access about the SuperNova Education Kit identified the benefits of the laptop included its battery life. The charge lasts the whole school day, which addresses another seating problem, as students don't need to be seated near a plug socket in class. It should also eliminate the need for students to 'miss parts of their break' to charge their devices throughout the day.

This flexibility encourages independence and confidence in learning environments.

For Iona, a college student who used SuperNova throughout her course and exams, it's also enabled her to navigate digitally, and complete her coursework and exams independently:

"Due to my mobility issues, I can find [a mouse] quite difficult to use. With SuperNova Education Kit, I can use the touchscreen and the keyboard to get to where I want [on screen] and I can navigate it really quickly"

6. Independent Living Skills

SuperNova helps learners build routines and take ownership of everyday tasks to build ‘life skills’. The laptop and software included in the kit allow students to independently:

Organise files and folders
Use calendars and reminders
Access online resources
Complete online forms
Read printed information such as mail, prescriptions and labels

Learners can navigate their devices, save and retrieve documents, and use calendars and reminders to stay on track. These skills are transferable beyond the classroom, helping students prepare for life at home, in further education, and in the workplace.

By fostering independence in practical tasks, SuperNova contributes to the development of self-reliance and personal responsibility.

"Being an independent learner happens through experience and being adaptable. Recognising your needs and sharing those with others is really important to being independent"
Maymunah, Psychology student speaking at the VIEW conference

7. Accessing Information

Information access is a core strength of SuperNova Education Kit! With this carefully curated package of assistive technology software, top of the range Windows hardware and helpful accessories, learners with vision impairment are able to:

View whiteboards in real time using Dolphin Whiteboard Assistant
Scan and read printed worksheets with the HoverCam
Access documents, emails, websites, PDFs and digital textbooks
Read with magnification or use speech output to listen to content
Customise reading settings to their own requirements

"I’ve done my coursework fully independently without any teaching assistants, because my computer’s been able to support me in all I need. Whether it’s magnification, spell check or reading."
Iona Wilkinson, college student and SuperNova Education Kit user

8. Technology

SuperNova Education Kit introduces learners to assistive technology in a practical and engaging way. It shows them what is possible with the right equipment and support. SuperNova Education Kit includes:

A Windows 11 laptop (or tablet
SuperNova Magnifier & Speech software
HoverCam document camera
Wireless mouse and earbuds
EasyReader Personal plan

Learners who gain hands-on experience with assistive technology build the digital literacy that prepares them for further education and meaningful employment.

C Thomas, a specialist teacher commented, “All the students love SuperNova Education Kit. It provides access to the curriculum and helps them develop the skills they need to move on to higher education and the workplace.”

SuperNova Education Kit encourages children and young people with vision impairments to embrace their independence and recognise their own capabilities.

9. Social, Emotional, Mental and Physical Wellbeing

When learners can access materials without waiting for large print outs or enlarged photocopies or a scribe, they feel more in control. This sense of autonomy can reduce anxiety and foster a stronger sense of belonging.

"When I started to not rely on a support worker quite so much, and was seen [by my peers] doing things independently, I feel like doing things with other people got less scary as they saw that I am independent and involved me more in group projects."
Al, psychology student, speaking at the VIEW conference

Students who have independent access to learning material are able to keep up in class, they can participate more in group discussions, and more confidently join in with classroom learning activities.

10. Social and Cultural Inclusion, Sports and Leisure

SuperNova Education Kit enables learners to engage with cultural content, from reading novels to exploring websites and multimedia.

With independent access to mainstream apps and platforms, students are empowered to further their own interests, join clubs and online groups, take part in group projects and explore interests beyond the curriculum.

The portability of the kit means learners can use it at home, in school or on trips. It supporting inclusion in a range of settings.

"A good learning environment helps give you the feeling that you're accepted in your learning environment." Maymunah, Psychology student speaking at the VIEW conference

11. Preparing for the Future

Beyond school, SuperNova equips learners with the skills they need for higher education and employment.

“All the students love SuperNova Education Kit. It provides access to the curriculum and helps them develop the skills they need to move on to higher education and the workplace.” – C. Thomas, Specialist Teacher for Children and Young People with Vision Impairments

Self-Advocacy

From writing CVs to attending virtual interviews, the kit supports real-world tasks and builds confidence.

Using SuperNova regularly helps learners understand and explain their needs. They learn to adjust settings, choose preferred access methods and communicate what works best for them.

“In our annual review, my student confidently explained why she prefers speech output for exams. That level of self-awareness is exactly what we want.” SENCO in secondary school.

For young people with vision impairments, the ability to advocate for themselves is essential throughout education, employment and in everyday life. Knowing what’s possible and what’s available means young people with vision impairments can gain the confidence and the knowledge of what they need to be their best selves in any environment.

Understanding My Vision Impairment

SuperNova encourages reflection and ownership. As learners explore different tools - whether magnification, screen reading or customising their own on-screen preferences such as colour schemes and contrast, they begin to understand how their vision impairment affects learning and how to make the assistive technology work for them.

Conclusion

The CFVI reminds us that education is about more than academic achievement. It’s about preparing vision impaired learners with skills for life. SuperNova Education Kit aligns closely with these values, offering tools that support every aspect of the framework.

From sensory development to self-belief, SuperNova Education Kit enables learners to access, participate and succeed independently, on their own terms. Students can then build a personal toolkit of strategies and gain more insights into their own strengths and requirements.

This supports the development of a positive identity and a sense of self advocacy they can carry into adulthood.

Ready to Empower Your Learners?

If you are a QTVI or educator of a child or young person with vision impairment, SuperNova Education Kit is ready to help. More than a piece of technology, it’s a gateway to independence, inclusion, and lifelong learning for your students.

Book a meeting today to request a demo or discuss how SuperNova Education Kit helps you meet the requirements set out in the CFVI and positively impact the educational outcomes of the children and young people you support.

References and useful links