This section outlines the choices available to you when finding a school for your child. If your child is younger than five, see early years choosing a setting for your child
Finding a suitable school
Most children with sight problems are successful in mainstream schools. Our research shows that 64 per cent of children with sight problems between 5-16 years are educated in mainstream schools or academies, or mainstream schools which are additionally resourced for blind and partially sighted pupils.
Some children, however, require a specialist placement for some or all of their education. If your child has a severe sight problem or additional needs, your child may get the best support in this setting.
Support from the local authority
For support in finding a school, we strongly advise that you contact your local authority's visual impairment teaching service for information and advice about your local provision. You will be allocated a teacher trained to support children with sight loss who can offer invaluable guidance from infancy through to your child going on to further education and employment.
To get in touch with a specialist teacher, contact our Helpline (0303 123 9999 / helpline@rnib.org.uk) and we can give you the name and contact details of someone in your area.
How schools meet your child's needs
Depending on the severity of your child's SEN, the school will provide varying levels of support.
Your child should have a joint assessment of their needs so that:
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Your child's teacher understands the implications of the vision impairment for
the way the child can learn best
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The support your child needs can be put in place, such as any special resources, extra staff support or adaptations to make the school easier to move around.
Statements of Special Education Needs
Depending on how much support your child will need, your child may have a Statement of Special Educational Needs which sets out all the help needed, and who will deliver it. It is likely that Statements for special educational needs will be replaced with a new system called Education, Health and Care Plans. The principle of setting out what a child needs remains the same.
Your child may have a Statement before starting statutory education, but this is not always the case. A Statement may name the method of access (e.g. braille, large print) and should outline how the objectives in the Statement should be met, e.g. through provision of alternative formats, teaching assistant support, mobility training, equipment and adaptations. It should also include your child's views and aspirations and any cultural needs, inclusive of home language requirements also, if English is an additional language.
If your child has a statement of special educational needs (SEN), they will receive a substantial amount of help from:
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a teaching assistant working with them
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a qualified teacher of visually impaired children (QTVI)
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outreach teachers from special schools or other outside professionals
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or a combination of the above.
For more about statements, see special educational needs and inclusion
Individual plans - School Action Plus and School Action
Your child may not have a Statement but can still receive support to meet their special educational needs through an individual plan. This is currently part of School Action Plus which means that the school will co-ordinate meeting your child's needs with the involvement of specialist services from outside the school, such as the Local Authority Visual Impairment Service which employs qualified teachers of visual impairment.
School Action means that the child's needs are met from within the staff and resources of the school, rather than involving specialist services from outside the school. Some partially sighted children are supported effectively at this level.
There is more information about how children with Special Educational Needs are supported at school at the Department for Education website.
Teaching assistants
Sometimes a teaching assistant is employed by the school to help ensure that your child has appropriately adapted materials, and/or to spend time alongside your child in the classroom to help them take a full part in learning experiences. The teaching assistant will work closely with the class teacher, inclusion manager (sometimes called the SENCO or special educational needs co-ordinator) and QTVI to ensure your child can take part in all subjects. A school or play provision might also have amongst their staff team an equalities named coordinator (ENCO) who will work with the SENCO and other staff to support your child's holistic equalities needs and inclusion.
Sometimes a Teaching Assistant works directly with a child to ensure they understand the lesson, but at other times the teaching assistant spends time adapting materials for future lessons or supporting others. The aim is to enable your child to access the curriculum as independently as possible.
For further information, you can download the Department for
Education's (DfE) 'Special Educational Needs (SEN): A guide for parents and carers' from the DfE website.
Types of school
Mainstream schools
Mainstream schools are controlled by a governing body, funded by the local authority (LA) or in the case of academies, for example, are funded directly by central government through the Department for Education (DfE). They have access to the full range of LA support services.
Where the LA issues a statement of special educational needs (SEN), it is required by law to name a mainstream school on it. However, if doing so would prevent other children from being educated efficiently, or you request a special school, a special school would be named instead.
If you choose a school outside your local area, you may want to consider your child's social needs. For example you may feel your child would be happier attending the same school as their brothers or sisters, or friends in the local community.
Resourced schools
Some schools have "resource bases" for pupils with sight problems. In these schools, there may be a base for the local visual impairment service. Other schools will have no additional unit, and focus on total inclusion. See our list of schools with a resource-base for blind or partially sighted pupils.
Special schools
Special schools cater for pupils who have special educational needs. These needs may relate to physical, learning, hearing or visual difficulties; to social emotional and behavioural difficulties; or to autistic spectrum disorders.
Some special schools are very specific about the needs for which they cater. Others are more generic and have pupils with a range of diverse needs.
Your child must have a statement of SEN to attend a special school, but could be assessed at one before their statement is finalised.
Residential or day schools
Many non-maintained or independent special schools have residential provision. Pupils can still attend on a daily basis if they live close enough to make daily travelling possible.
Most special schools that are maintained by local authorities only have day provision. However, some, especially those serving a large catchment area, may have some residential accommodation.
Finding the right special school
Approximately two per cent of pupils with sight problems up to the age of 16 attend special schools specifically for blind and partially sighted pupils. A larger group, 32 per cent, attend other types of special schools - for example, ones that are especially equipped to support children with learning or physical difficulties.
Finding the right special school may be daunting, so gather information on all the possible schools and make sure you visit them. Make sure you talk to your local authority for support.
For what to look out for, see complex needs - visiting a school.
References
All statistics are taken from the national questionnaire survey of local education authority visual impairment advisory services (including numbers of blind and partially sighted children and their educational placements), by RNIB Research Officer, Sue Keil.