Christiana school for the Blind

1. CRITERIA FOR ADMISSION

Blind and partially sighted learners are adimitted to the school

Blind learners use Braille as medium of education and may fall within any o ne of the following categories as a result of their visual acuity;

not able to see light or differentiate between light and dark
not able to distinguish or recognise objects, but has light perception;
able to percieve objects as silhouettes or outlines
able to count fingers up to a distance of one miter or a visual acuity of 1/60 Snelle;
able to count fingers up to a distance of three meter or a visual acuity of 2/60 or 3/60 Snellen;
a visual acuity of 6/60 Snellen ( confi rmed by a near vision test) and anomalies of the eyes, or signs of progressive eye condition and prognosis that the visual acuity may decreace substantially duringn the school years

Partially sighted learners use large print and other visual aids may fall within the following categories:

visual acuity in the best eye after correction of no better than 6/18 Snellen;substantial central or peripheral loss;
additional impending factor for example nystagmus, deficient binocular vision, defective colour visionj high myopia: or
a progressive eye condition and a prognosis that the visual acuity will decrease during the years of schooling.
In the application of the criteria provision is made for the consideration of additional impactting factors, as following:

Previos scholastic history
Home situation
Socialisation
Emotional considerations
Medical requirements and hospitalisation
Additional imparements and / or disabilities
Level of independence

2. PROCEDURE FOR EVALUATION

- An appointment for the evaluation of a leaner for admission is made in advance.
- The prospective learner must be preferably accompanied by at least one biological parent or legal guardian on the day of evaluationj.
- The following documentation will be requested on the day of evaluation or as soon as possible thereafter:
Birth certificate of the child
Identity document of parent(s) or guardian(s)
Recent school report of the child(if applicable)
A report from an eye specialist containing a diagn osisi of the eye condition
Other relevant reports
A clinic card of the child

- In the evaluation the learner undergoes an optemetric test and additiopnal relevant testing procedures.
- The appropraite placement of the learner is discussed by transprofessional team.
- The proposed discussion is communicated to the parents/ guardians and further information is given.
- If the learner is admitted, further information regarding class and hostel arrangements are made, if the learner is denied admission, the procedure for appeal and the form C1 admission.05 appeal is provided.
- An application for LSEN number for new learner is submitted to the department.
- Application for admission to the school and hostel as well as medical forms must be compleated before the learner is admitted to the school.