From 2026 NCW will be welcoming a small and carefully considered group of non‑vision impaired students to our day provision only, whose secondary and tertiary needs closely mirror those of our current blind and vision‑impaired students. This decision reflects our expertise as a specialist school in supporting complex learning, communication, independence and additional needs and ensures that all students educated at NCW continue to benefit from the same highly specialist, personalised and residential provision that defines our community.
The Curriculum Framework for Vision Impairment (CFVI)
Our teaching is VI-specialist and led by Qualified Teachers of Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (QTVI’s). We do not want to jeopardise that, the expansion does not involve reducing or diluting NCW’s delivery of the Curriculum Framework for Vision Impairment (CFVI).
Integrating sighted students into our community
A fundamental guiding principle is that students admitted to the school will be integrating into our environment, and not the other way around. Our teaching methods, classroom practice, routines and curriculum are designed around the VI world, and this will remain the case.
Sighted students are taught using VI friendly approaches and will learn within a culture shaped by inclusion, accessibility and understanding of vision impairment. We believe this “reverse inclusion” model strengthens our specialist ethos.
While vision impairment continues to sit at the heart of our provision, our staffing expertise, our culture and our educational approach we believe our provision is highly beneficial to sighted students who will benefit from our small class sizes, supportive environment and calm spaces.
The Specialist VI Curriculum
The Specialist VI Curriculum is used to define concepts and skills that require specialised instruction with students who are blind or vision impaired in order to compensate for decreased opportunities to learn incidentally by observing others.
Learning and practising these skills enables learners to live as independently as possible in their communities, and participate and contribute to those communities.
It has been evidenced that without these skills students with a visual impairment can find it impossible to learn the Core Curriculum subjects such as Maths, English and Science.
This is one of the things that makes NCW such a special place for learners with or without a vision impairment.
"I just wanted to say again how amazing the teachers are whenever we talk to them. It is still a revelation the level of enthusiasm, commitment, the energy and that we feel as if we have been in a meeting with people who are treating us all with respect."
Curriculum Framework for Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (CFVI)
We work towards the Curriculum Framework for Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (CFVI, 2022). The framework presents outcomes within 11 teaching areas:
- Facilitating an Inclusive World
- Sensory Development
- Communication
- Literacy
- Habilitation: Orientation and Mobility
- Habilitation: Independent Living Skills
- Accessing information
- Technology
- Health: Social, Emotional, Mental and Physical Wellbeing
- Social, Sports and Leisure
- Preparing for Adulthood
At NCW we plan these skills lessons within the timetable.
The skills taught at NCW are:
- Independent Living Skills
- Braille (if appropriate)
- Mobility and Orientation
- IT and the use of Assistive Technology
- Careers Education
- Social Interaction
Learn to Access & Access to Learn
