Alt text image 1: a teenager plays cards using Braille playing cards in a restaurant, looking competitive
Meet Daniel, a pupil with a passion for maths and a desire to engage with the subject beyond the classroom. He began his Axiom Maths journey in 2021 and graduated this year. Over five years, Daniel tackled more than 700 complex problems, growing into an adventurous, articulate and accepting mathematician.
Despite complete sight loss, Daniel excelled on the programme, reminding us of what’s possible when determination meets thoughtful support.
Breaking down barriers
Daniel took part in our online programme, delivered via the interactive digital platform Vedamo. Online geometry sessions are often highly visual, which can present real challenges for someone who is visually impaired. However, Daniel was driven to learn the visual parts of maths and so together, we figured out a way.
This meant providing adapted resources that read problems aloud and described any diagrams ahead of each maths circle session. Daniel then took the time to understand the intricate shapes and prepare before each session so he could engage just as meaningfully as his peers.
David, Daniel’s dad, shared:
“Axiom’s accessibility approach has been of the very highest level. The content has been adapted helpfully. Specific attention was given to the precise need in Daniel’s case (complete sight loss). Despite the inherent lack of accessibility in the source format (PowerPoint), an effective use of output to PDF has given Daniel access via his screen reader to all visual materials. If this is not best-in-class accessibility, it is hard to imagine what would be.”
Daniel added:
“I felt supported – I’ve been given resources every week. The mentor tends to describe the images and questions to illustrate them so that I might perform the relevant calculations.”
Working together
The Curriculum and Delivery team worked closely with Daniel and his parents to understand what would be most useful. Where possible, Daniel’s parents created tactile resources to support independent exploration.
Pegboard and string resources, later adapted using Bananagrams Braille to represent nodes and pegs to represent directed edges.
We collaborated with Daniel’s mentors, flagging potential challenges in advance and ensuring they understood what resources were already in place. His mentors were with him every step of the way, helping him contribute confidently.
“The mentors in the sessions were inclusive and offered excellent descriptions of heavily visual content. Daniel felt included at all times.” David shared.
Looking back – and forward
Daniel’s journey has been powerful.
His proudest moment was ”getting through the entire course relatively successfully and finishing my GCSE mocks”, and he thoroughly enjoyed ”pondering over complicated questions in the class.”
Daniel’s collaborative spirit and ability to articulate his thinking have strengthened significantly. He is now taking Further Maths GCSE and plans to continue with A level.
“Daniel has become an even more effective maths communicator. He has always been fairly confident but his experience of explaining his mathematical thinking and his working to peers in maths circles was clearly helpful. I often see him teaching his younger brothers about maths and other subjects, and I’m certain these skills were honed in part due to Axiom.”
When asked what he’d tell other pupils considering maths circles, Daniel’s advice is clear:
“I would say you’ll be informed to a great degree. It will be friendly and inclusive. You’ll probably get better at maths and even if not, you’ll have fun!”
Every child
Each child’s experience is unique and so is every solution.
Daniel is an inspiring example of what perseverance can achieve. Stories like his make clear why we build inclusion into the heart of our programme, so that every child with the heart and head for maths can realise the potential of their power.