Reading, Writing and Maths Intervention

Intervention Programme

Intent

At Freshsteps Independent School, the intervention programme is a central component of our curriculum strategy and reflects our unwavering commitment to ensuring that all pupils, regardless of their starting points, are able to make accelerated and sustained progress in reading, writing, mathematics, phonics, and communication. Many of our pupils arrive with significant gaps in their learning, often linked to disrupted educational experiences or identified within their EHCPs. As such, our intent is to provide a highly structured, responsive, and personalised approach to intervention that systematically addresses these gaps while building confidence, resilience, and independence.

We place a strong emphasis on preparing pupils for life in modern Britain by ensuring they develop functional literacy and numeracy skills that can be applied in real-life contexts. This includes embedding practical applications such as handling money, telling the time, and measuring, which are essential for independent living. Alongside academic development, speech and language is prioritised as a key area, recognising that communication underpins all aspects of learning and social interaction. Our use of trained specialists and targeted resources ensures that pupils receive high-quality support to develop both expressive and receptive language skills.

Furthermore, we are committed to enhancing engagement and accessibility through the integration of innovative digital platforms, including Reading Eggs, Mathletics, and Prodigy. These tools are carefully selected to complement our teaching and provide pupils with motivating, interactive opportunities to practise and consolidate their skills both in school and at home.

Implementation

The intervention programme is implemented consistently across the whole school, with dedicated intervention sessions taking place every Monday and Wednesday. This whole-school approach ensures that intervention is prioritised and embedded within the timetable, rather than being an additional or peripheral activity. Pupils are grouped flexibly based on ongoing assessment, receiving support through 1:1, 1:2, or small group provision, allowing teaching to be highly targeted and responsive to individual needs.

Teaching within interventions is carefully structured to support pupils with a range of learning profiles. Concepts are broken down into small, manageable steps to support processing and understanding, and there is a strong focus on repetition and overlearning to secure foundational knowledge. Staff utilise a range of hands-on and practical resources to support engagement and deepen understanding, particularly for pupils who benefit from kinaesthetic learning approaches. This includes the use of manipulatives in mathematics, phonics-based resources in reading, and structured writing frameworks to support composition.

Speech and language interventions are delivered by trained staff using specialist resources, ensuring that pupils receive targeted support to develop communication skills. These interventions are closely aligned with pupils’ EHCP outcomes, ensuring consistency and a joined-up approach across all areas of provision.

Assessment is a key driver of implementation. Baseline assessments are used to identify gaps and inform planning, while ongoing formative assessment ensures that teaching is continually adapted to meet pupils’ needs. Summative assessments are used to track progress over time and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions.

Digital platforms are fully embedded within the programme. Reading Eggs supports phonics and early reading development through engaging, structured activities; Mathletics provides curriculum-aligned maths practice tailored to individual ability levels; and Prodigy offers an interactive approach to reinforcing mathematical concepts while providing real-time data for teachers. These tools extend learning beyond the classroom and support consistency between school and home.

Impact

The impact of the intervention programme is both measurable and observable across the school. Pupils demonstrate accelerated progress in key areas of learning, with reading and writing ages typically increasing by approximately six months within a single term. This rapid progress enables pupils to close gaps in learning and access the wider curriculum with increasing confidence and independence.

In literacy, pupils show improved phonics knowledge, reading fluency, comprehension, and written expression. In mathematics, there is clear development in number sense, place value understanding, and the ability to apply the four operations, as well as increased confidence in solving problems in real-life contexts. The focus on functional skills ensures that pupils are better prepared for Functional Skills qualifications and for everyday life.

Speech and language interventions lead to noticeable improvements in pupils’ ability to communicate effectively, engage in learning, and interact socially with peers and adults. This has a positive impact not only on academic outcomes but also on behaviour, wellbeing, and overall engagement.

Pupils are more motivated and engaged in their learning, supported by the use of interactive digital tools and practical, hands-on approaches. They demonstrate increased resilience, independence, and a willingness to take risks in their learning.

Importantly, the intervention programme ensures that pupils make meaningful progress towards their EHCP outcomes, both in the short and long term. As a result, pupils leave Freshsteps better equipped with the skills, knowledge, and confidence required for further education, employment, and independent living.