About the CFVI
The Curriculum Framework for Children and Young People with Vision Impairment (CFVI) is a high-level UK wide resource which details the key areas in which Children and young people with vision impairment (CYPVI) and their families require specialist support. It clarifies and defines the elements of specialist skill development, interventions and best practice support that are essential for children and young people with vision impairment.
The framework has been developed to help improve the outcomes for CYPVI across the whole range of abilities and needs. It can make a positive contribution to their long-term emotional wellbeing by helping to ensure that they progress into adulthood with the appropriate skills and that they achieve in line with their underlying cognitive ability and fulfil their potential.
The development of the framework has been informed by a large-scale consultation process (using the Delphi method). This process has involved three rounds of consultations with a range of stakeholders including CYPVI, parents and carers, QTVIs, RQHSs as well as other specialists involved in the education and support of CYPVI, using focus groups and questionnaires.
The framework sits alongside and can be integrated with the academic curriculum to which all children are entitled. It has been informed by existing frameworks including, the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) in North America, National Sensory Impairment Partnership (NatSIP) Learner Outcomes and Quality Standards for Habilitation. The framework is non-statutory at this time although we will be striving to change this through our policy and campaign work to ensure that the core areas identified are recognised as essential (not optional) skills that children and young people with a vision impairment must be taught in order to thrive, thus supporting the need for specialist provision to be provided.
The framework covers 11 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; and Preparing for Adulthood.
Three fundamental aims are at the heart of the framework:
- To help clarify and define the elements of specialist skill development, interventions and best practice support that are considered to be essential for children and young people with vision impairment;
- To assist qualified specialist practitioners in raising the awareness among other professionals and parents of the need for children and young people with vision impairment to be taught skills that enable them to access the curriculum and the wider world as independently as possible;
- To aid discussions and understanding among all involved in a child/young person’s education of how and when these skills should be taught by suitably qualified specialists and reinforced by non-specialists.
Frequently asked questions
We have developed a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) guide where you will find the answers to your questions, including:
- Why have we developed a new framework?
- How will the framework help children and young people, parents and those specialists working in education?
- What steps can I begin to take to implement the framework?
