For many learners, the obstruction between them and a better education is not a lack of ambition, a difficult curriculum, or an under-resourced classroom it is something far simpler and far more fixable, they simply cannot see the board. At Diepsloot Combined School, that quiet, often-overlooked obstacle has now been addressed for over 1,000 children, thanks to the Visual Support Project, a partnership between Allen & Overy Shearman and the Adopt-a-School Foundation.
Good eyesight is something many people take for granted, but for a learner who cannot clearly read a textbook or copy notes from the front of the classroom, the impact on schoolwork can be severe. Undetected vision problems are linked to poor concentration, low confidence, absenteeism, and underperformance challenges that compound over years of schooling if left untreated.
Diepsloot Combined School serves a community facing significant socio-economic pressures, where specialised eye care is often out of reach for families. Recognising this gap, Allen & Overy Shearman partnered with Adopt-a-School Foundation to roll out the Visual Support Project through the Foundation’s Whole School Development model a holistic approach that tackles the everyday, practical barriers standing between learners and success.
The initiative kicked off with an advocacy meeting bringing together the school principal, School Management Team, School-Based Support Team, and representatives from Adopt-a-School Foundation and Premier Optical. This early engagement laid the groundwork for a coordinated rollout, with every stakeholder clear on their role.
In April, the real work began, comprehensive vision screening and eye examinations for 1,170 learners across Grades R to 7. The results told an important story. Of those screened, 132 learners (11% of the total) were found to need prescription spectacles, most commonly for hyperopia, astigmatism, myopia, and anisometropia. A further six learners required referral to local clinics in Diepsloot for specialised follow-up care.
The project reached its most visible milestone on 16 May 2026, when a Spectacle Handover Ceremony brought the community together to celebrate. All 132 learners identified through the screening process received their prescription spectacles that day, in an event attended by parents, educators, school leadership, the School Governing Body, the Department of Health’s local clinic, SADAG, and representatives from Premier Optical and Adopt-a-School Foundation.
It is easy to reduce a project like this to 1,170 learners screened and 132 pairs of spectacles distributed. But behind each of those figures is a child who can now see the board clearly for the first time, follow along in a lesson without straining, and participate in class with a confidence they may not have had before.