Is Poor Vision Affecting Your Child’s Performance?
Here’s What You Need to Know—and What to Do Next

At Care Optics, we often speak to parents who are concerned about their child’s learning, behaviour, or confidence at school—without realising that poor vision might be the cause. Good eyesight plays a vital role in a child’s development, especially when it comes to reading, writing, and engaging with the world around them. When a child can’t see clearly, it can impact everything from classroom performance to confidence on the playground.

How Poor Vision Affects Children

Children may not always realise they have a vision problem. They assume everyone sees the way they do, which is why early detection is key. Struggling to see clearly can cause:

• Difficulty reading from the board or books

• Poor concentration or avoiding schoolwork

• Frequent headaches or eye rubbing

• Squinting or sitting too close to screens

• Behavioural changes due to frustration

All of these can lead to a drop in academic performance, low self-esteem, and even social withdrawal if left unaddressed.

Could It Be Myopia?

One of the most common childhood vision issues we see at Care Optics is myopia, also known as short-sightedness. This means your child can see things up close, like a book or tablet, but struggles to see clearly at a distance—like the whiteboard at school or road signs.

Myopia is becoming more common in children, especially with increased screen time and less time spent outdoors. If left unmanaged, it can worsen as your child grows, potentially leading to higher levels of short-sightedness in their teenage years.

The good news is that there are effective ways to manage and slow the progression of myopia, including specialist lenses, myopia control glasses or contact lenses, and lifestyle adjustments. With both of our locations, Dagenham and Woodford in Essex, being able to help. 

Find out more about Myopia here

School Screenings & GP Checks vs. Professional Eye Exams

Many parents believe that if their child has had a quick check at school or with a GP or paediatrician, their eyes are fine. But here’s the key difference:

• School screenings and NHS checks are basic vision checks. They can identify obvious issues but may miss more subtle vision problems, eye muscle imbalances, or early signs of myopia.

• A full eye examination at Care Optics includes a much more detailed assessment of your child’s overall eye health, vision development, focusing ability, and binocular vision (how the eyes work together). It’s done by trained optometrists using specialised equipment—providing a deeper, more accurate picture of your child’s visual health.

In short: screenings are a great first step, but they’re not a substitute for a full professional eye test.

What Is Schoolvision?
Schoolvision is the study of how vision affects reading and learning. Reading is a visually demanding task that relies on accurate eye aiming—usually done by the dominant eye. If a child’s eye dominance is unstable, their focus can shift between eyes, making letters jump around or change order. This can lead to losing their place while reading or struggling with spelling.

Schoolvision assessments help identify these issues and stabilise the dominant eye using specially prescribed glasses. This often results in an instant improvement in letter recognition and reading speed. A full visual assessment allows the optometrist to create a tailored treatment plan to support your child’s learning.

Visit our page and use our checklist to see if your child needs help.

Find out more about Schoolvision here

What to Expect from a Children’s Eye Test at Care Optics

At Care Optics, our children's eye tests are designed to be gentle, friendly, and stress-free. Here's what you can expect:

- A warm welcome to help your child feel at ease

- A full assessment of their vision and eye health

- Age-appropriate tests using lights, shapes, or pictures

- Checking for common issues like short-sightedness (myopia), long-sightedness, astigmatism, or lazy eye

- A clear explanation of the results and next steps