TACPAC and Sensology are sensory-based interventions that support students with SEND by developing early communication, attention, and engagement—key foundations for early reading and literacy.

• TACPAC uses touch and music to build body awareness, turn-taking, and anticipation, helping students link sensation to meaning, an essential pre-literacy skill.
• Sensology sessions stimulate the seven senses (including proprioception and vestibular) to help ‘wake up’ the brain and prepare students for learning. 

These structured, repetitive sessions enhance listening, sequencing, and memory—critical skills for phonological awareness and early reading. By improving readiness to learn and strengthening the building blocks of communication, both interventions support access to phonics, vocabulary development, and literacy progression.

Both approaches are integral to individualised sensory diets and form part of our inclusive practice, promoting wellbeing and active participation in learning.

'Let’s Listen' is a pre-phonics programme designed to bridge the gap between Sensology and Read Write Inc. Phonics, preparing pupils for the increased structure of ReadWrite Inc. It supports the development of key early reading skills, including:

• Listening.
• Attention.
• Vocabulary.
• Expressive language.

Activities are accessible, engaging, and tailored to individual communication needs, including AAC users. The programme promotes core pre-phonics skills such as sound discrimination and initial sound recognition.

Delivered through small groups, multisensory learning, and adult modelling, 'Let’s Listen' builds the foundations for confident readers. Regular assessment ensures progress and supports a structured, inclusive approach to early literacy.

Read Write Inc. is a structured phonics programme designed to teach students to read, write, and spell with confidence. It focusses on systematic phonics, enabling children to quickly learn letter sounds and blend them to read words fluently.

Students have reading books that are matched to their phonics ability. The programme includes daily lessons in:

• Phonics.
• Reading comprehension.
• Vocabulary.
• Handwriting.

Children are grouped by ability and assessed regularly to ensure targeted support and progress. Read Write Inc. also promotes a love of reading through engaging, age-appropriate texts. At Daventry Hill School, Read Write Inc. plays a key role in developing strong literacy foundations.

Fresh Start is a phonics-based intervention programme from Read Write Inc. designed for older pupils in Key Stage 2 and beyond. It uses a structured, systematic approach to teaching phonics, reading fluency, comprehension, and spelling.

Students begin with learning or revisiting sounds and then progress through age-appropriate, decodable texts that build confidence and reading stamina.

Fresh Start is delivered in small groups, allowing targeted teaching and regular assessment to ensure progress. The programme is particularly effective at supporting our students to develop essential literacy skills.

Students are assessed to ensure their reading age aligns with an appropriate book band, supporting both progress and engagement. Students read books that match their decoding and comprehension levels, ensuring challenge without frustration - this is taken from a reading age baseline and/or their Phonics (RWI) assessment.

For some learners, targeted texts such as Barrington Stoke books or the Toe by Toe programme are used to build confidence and fluency. These resources offer accessible formats, clear structure, and age-appropriate content.

Regular reading practice, both in school and at home, helps develop reading stamina, vocabulary, and a love of reading across the curriculum.

Students access a range of reading materials and strategies tailored to their needs to support reading comprehension. The development of comprehension skills is supported through the teaching of Fresh Start, Blanks Level questioning, and comprehension boxes (The Reading Box). 

The focus is on key comprehension skills of:

• Retrieval.
• Inference.
• Prediction.
• Summarising.
• Understanding vocabulary.

Progress is monitored through the York Assessment of Reading for Comprehension (YARC) baseline assessments and ongoing checks via Fresh Start and Reading Box assessments. Texts are carefully matched to ability, ensuring challenge and engagement. All approaches aim to develop fluency, comprehension, and confidence. 

Functional reading is a vital part of our Foundations for the Future curriculum for Post-16 learners. Designed for students working cognitively between 5 and 18 years, our approach focusses on developing practical literacy skills that promote independence, communication, engagement, and functionality in everyday life.

Our curriculum is fully personalised and pathway-based, ensuring that each learner receives the support and challenge they need based on their developmental stage and individual goals.

Pathway 1 – Pre-Literacy Skills

For learners at earlier cognitive levels, reading focusses on:

• Recognising symbols and environmental print
• Matching pictures to words
• Understanding simple key vocabulary
• Using visual supports (e.g. symbols, signs, objects of reference)

A multi-sensory approach is used to promote engagement and build meaningful connections with text and symbols.

Pathway 2 – Early Functional Reading

Students develop foundational reading skills such as:

• Recognising high-frequency and familiar words
• Reading simple instructions, signs, and labels
• Applying reading to real-life tasks (e.g. shopping lists, personal safety messages, daily routines)

Reading is embedded into functional contexts to strengthen communication, comprehension, and confidence.

Pathways 3 and 4 – Reading for Independence

Learners working at higher cognitive levels engage with:

• Short texts, timetables, menus, forms, and digital content
• Practical reading tasks such as emails, job adverts, recipes, and travel information
• Applying phonics, sight vocabulary, and comprehension strategies in real-life situations

These skills are developed in alignment with students’ Educational Health Care Plans (EHCPs) and personalised learning targets.

Across all pathways, our goal is to make reading meaningful and empowering by connecting it to each learner’s world — their interests, experiences, and future aspirations. We aim to build literacy that lasts a lifetime.