Photo: Facebook / Edmund Hillary School
Wearing glasses for the first time or getting their hearing problems treated had been life changing for students at Edmund Hillary School - both inside and outside the classroom, according to principal Kataraina Nock.
"[We're seeing] better achievement levels, happier children, happier and better engaged children. [It's been] transformation really, a significant transformation in the way they are."
The children at her school in Papakura were finally able to see and hear properly thanks to an initiative by the Painga Project, a charity working with schools in South Auckland.
The volunteer-run hearing and vision testing at three schools has found one in four children with problems affecting their learning and development.
It now plans to expand to other high-need areas.
Painga Project founder Sarah Corson said there was no hearing testing in schools. Vision testing was supposed to be done in year 7 - almost at the end of primary school - but had not happened in some schools since 2019 due to Covid-19.
"We had an inkling that something was wrong and that these students were missing out, and we've been following that inkling really."
Following a pilot of 170 Edmund Hillary students last year, they expanded to Papakura Intermediate and Kereru Park Campus this year, screening 400 students for vision in August using equipment borrowed from Auckland University.
"There were 25 percent [that] needed glasses and about the same had hearing problems... mostly they needed their ears cleaned out.
"But about nine percent needed further treatment, and they're now going to the Manukau SuperClinic that we've partnered with as well and who are amazing.
"We take responsibility for getting them to the SuperClinic for the support they need, if that's a challenge for them."
At a follow up visit to Edmund Hillary six months on, they found nine children already needed replacement glasses, including a nine-year-old whose older brother had taken his pair to use at high school.
He had a +7.5 prescription, i.e. he could barely see anything close up without them.
"That student has already got another pair of glasses coming, because we've just accepted his older brother now has that pair.... Obviously he also needs them."
The Painga Project partnered with Auckland University's Vision Bus - a mobile testing clinic - which also launched last year.
"We were able to borrow equipment from the university. The government's vision screening programme only uses old-fashioned flip-charts, which only pick up half the problems.
"Opticians tell us that's not really fit for purpose any more."
Children who failed the initial screening were referred to the Vision Bus team for more in-depth assessment.
The optometrist running the bus, Veeran Morar, a professional teaching fellow in Optometry and Vision Science, said as well as giving his students invaluable hands-on practice in doing physical examinations, it was an "eye-opening experience" for them in other ways.
"Just providing a pair of glasses to a kid can change their behaviour overnight, it's quite amazing."
Morar, who previously worked as a flying optometrist in Outback Australia, said the bus had done over 1000 consultations in the last year.
"It is quite shocking to see the unmet need, and it's not really getting any better."
A $1.8 million donation by the Fehl Family Trust got the Vision Bus on the road in the first place, while other funders - the George Cox Community Spectacle Fund and the optics company Essilor - help fund the glasses.
'Cascading effects'
Painga's hearing screening was done in association with The Hearing House, another charity.
Its clinical director, associate professor Holly Teagle from Auckland University, said the screening picked up a lot of temporary problems - kids who needed wax cleared or grommet operations - but worryingly, there were also some with permanent hearing loss.
While there was a new-born hearing screening programme and hearing was also part of the Before School check - some children were not getting picked up, she said.
"Part of it could be attributed to Covid, but there are older kids as well who should have been tested during that time, and for whatever reason, they weren't tested."
Hidden hearing problems affected every part of a child's life, she said.
"If you don't hear well, you're going to miss out and it has cascading effects on a child's development. If they don't hear well that affects their speech, which can lead to literacy issues, which become academic issues, which can lead to vocational issues, economic issues - that person's entire life trajectory."
Holly Teagle says untreated hearing problems affect every part of a child's life. Photo: Supplied / Matt Crawford
Sarah Corson said the Painga Projected was able to run the pilot programme out of its baseline funding, which mainly came from the government's Lunches in Schools programme.
They kept costs down by using volunteers.
However, now the screening programme had proven its worth, they invested $45,000 to buy their own vision-testing equipment to complement the work of the Vision Bus.
"The bus has allocated Painga Project eight days of work in 2023, which will cover 64 students and that's great. But we've got 100 who need help, so we've exceeded that capacity already."
Corson now plans to roll out the Painga model to other regions, and she was seeking grants for their own mobile unit.
"Our focus really is to go to the schools that are highest equity index and provide free hearing and vision support.
"Northland is a huge area, Tai Rāwhiti Gisborne, Wairoa - that will be the next area we move to."
Edmund Hillary School principal Kataraina Nock said whānau and the school community were "extremely grateful".
"One wonders what we would do without that level of support that we're receiving, because the gaps would remain, and most likely get bigger and bigger."
