Curriculum Enhancements

Story Massage	The Story Massage Programme combines the benefits of positive, respectful touch with the creativity of storytelling, songs, or poems. It utilizes 10 basic massage strokes—each with a name and visual symbol—to illustrate the words of a story, and is designed to improve well-being, communication, and relaxation for all.
Attention Autism	Attention Autism was developed by Gina Davies, a speech and language therapist in the UK. The approach uses highly motivating, visually engaging activities to capture and sustain children’s attention in a group setting.
Winnie – school therapy dog	Winnie our Therapy Dog provides comfort, reassurance and emotional support for pupils. Her calm presence helps reduce anxiety, promotes positive wellbeing and encourages communication and social interaction. Winnie also supports engagement in learning, builds confidence and helps pupils develop trusting relationships, creating a happy and nurturing school environment.
Zones of regulation	The Zones of Regulation is an evidence-informed framework developed by occupational therapist Leah Kuypers to help children and young people recognise, understand and regulate their emotions, energy levels and behaviours. By using a simple colour-coded system, it supports pupils in identifying how they are feeling, developing emotional vocabulary and learning practical strategies to self-regulate. At Hope School and College, the Zones of Regulation approach encourages greater self-awareness, independence and positive wellbeing, enabling pupils to engage more successfully in learning and everyday interactions.
Charanga	Charanga Music is a comprehensive online music education programme used by many schools to deliver a broad, progressive and inclusive music curriculum. It provides teachers with structured lesson plans, interactive resources, songs and activities that develop pupils’ understanding of pulse, rhythm, pitch, singing, listening, composing and performing. The platform is designed to support learners of all abilities and can be adapted to meet individual needs, making it particularly valuable in inclusive and SEND settings. Through engaging, practical experiences, pupils build musical confidence and creativity while developing communication, collaboration and self-expression. Charanga also aligns with the National Curriculum for Music and helps schools provide a sequenced programme of learning from early years through to secondary education.
Dough Disco	Dough Disco is a fine motor intervention that combines playdough manipulation with music, creating an engaging daily routine that develops the hand strength and finger control children need for writing. The approach was developed by Shonette Bason, who used her experience as an early year’s teacher. This is an evidence-based approach and has shown to support strength and dexterity in hands and in the development of body and arm coordination and control. Movements target specific muscle groups and coordination patterns which help build body autonomy and awareness. Children learn more complex movements as they improve. The musical accompaniment adds rhythm and enjoyment, transforming what could be tedious exercises into an anticipated daily activity.
Project Core	Project Core is an educational framework designed to support communication for individuals with complex communication needs and those with significant speech, language, and communication difficulties. The approach focuses on teaching and modelling the use of core vocabulary—a small set of high-frequency words that make up a large proportion of everyday communication. These words are often represented using symbols on communication boards or AAC (Augmentative and Alternative Communication) systems.
Intensive interaction	Intensive Interaction is an educational and communication approach designed to support people who have significant communication difficulties, particularly those with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD), autism, or severe developmental differences. It focuses on developing the fundamental skills needed for social communication rather than teaching language directly. The approach is based on the idea that early communication develops through enjoyable, responsive interactions between people. Instead of directing the learner, the adult follows the learner’s lead by observing and responding to their movements, sounds, facial expressions, or gestures. This might include mirroring actions, matching vocalisations, or taking turns in a simple shared activity.
Squiggle Whilst You Wiggle	Squiggle Whilst You Wiggle is a fun, kinaesthetic early writing program to help children develop the motor control they need for writing. Instead of sitting at a desk and gripping a pencil, children use large, whole-body movements (dancing and wiggling) to build muscle strength and a mind-body connection. Whilst traditional methods of pre-writing skills focus mostly on pencil grip, Squiggle focuses on shoulder, arm, and core control. The movements directly map to future letter formation. For example, up-and-down motions translate to letters like ‘l’ or ‘t’. Circular dances prepare children to write ‘o’, ‘a’, or ‘c’. It bridges the gap between abstract mark making and formal handwriting.
Warm water pool	Warm water therapy can play an important role in providing a supportive and calming environment that promotes movement and physical wellbeing. The warmth of the water helps to relax muscles, reduce stiffness and improve circulation, while the buoyancy lessens the effects of gravity, making it easier to practise movements that may be difficult on land. This can increase confidence, encourage participation and support the development of strength, balance, coordination and mobility. For children and young people with complex physical needs or SEND, warm water therapy can also enhance comfort, reduce anxiety around movement and provide enjoyable opportunities to work towards individual physiotherapy goals in a safe and motivating setting. Hydrotherapy is highly effective for rehabilitation following surgery, due to its ability to reduce joint stress whilst promoting muscle strength and flexibility. Therapy Staff at school deliver these sessions where there is a clinical need/ recommendation.
Outside Thinking/ Inside Learning	Taking ideas from Forest School ethos and applying them to the classroom environment. Helps to create hands-on, real-world learning experiences for students who struggle to engage in traditional learning. Can also, obviously, be applied outside. Outside it actively encourages outside learning when appropriate. The added benefit to taking the learning outside is that it helps certain students to regulate and still quicker than in a traditional classroom setting.
Sensory Stories	Sensory stories are structured narratives paired with carefully chosen sensory experiences, designed to make storytelling accessible and meaningful for all learners. Sensory stories are used to create rich, multisensory experiences that capture attention, spark curiosity and support a love of reading. By combining narrative with tactile, auditory, visual and olfactory stimuli, sensory stories build the foundations of literacy, including an appreciation of sequence, prediction and language. They also provide a powerful platform for developing communication skills, encouraging responses, choices and shared attention within a nurturing and enjoyable context.
Signalong	Signalong is a key-word sign-supported communication system designed to help children and adults with speech, language, and communication difficulties. It uses signs based on British Sign Language (BSL) alongside speech, facial expressions, and body language to support understanding and communication.
Funbox Jo	Funbox Jo sessions combine music, singing and movement Signalong to create engaging, interactive learning experiences that support communication, fitness and personal development. Through a variety of songs and activities, pupils are introduced to new Signalong signs, strengthening their understanding of language while encouraging meaningful social interaction and participation.
Curiosity Programme	The Curiosity Programme (created by Speech and Language Therapist Gina Davies) is an interactive, play-based intervention designed for children with autism, complex needs, or early social communication difficulties. It serves as a pre-session or foundation to the Attention Autism approach, helping children build shared attention and connection before joining group activities. The programme helps to develop early communication and engagement.
Music Therapy with Morvan	Music Therapy is a calming, therapeutic session delivered to suit students individual needs. Sessions may be fast and energetic or calm and relaxing, dependent on learners needs. It gives learners the opportunity to express themselves through music, listening to and joining in with songs, exploring different musical instruments and the sounds they make and using props alongside songs to further support engagement. Turn taking and social interactions are an essential part to this session, alongside the opportunity to learn and develop musical skills.
Messy Play	Messy play provides valuable opportunities for pupils to investigate and learn through their senses in a fun and engaging way. Activities such as painting, shaving foam mark making, sand, water and sensory trays help to develop hand strength, finger control and hand-eye coordination, which are all important foundations for writing. Messy play also encourages communication, creativity and confidence, allowing children to express themselves without the pressure of producing a written outcome. Through making marks in different materials and experimenting with movements and patterns, children begin to develop the early skills needed for writing, helping them to progress towards holding tools, forming shapes and eventually writing prewriting shapes.
Shopping Trips	Regular visits to local shops provide valuable real-life learning opportunities that support pupils’ development across a range of curriculum areas. Shopping activities help to develop mathematical skills by encouraging learners to recognise, count and use money, compare prices and understand the value of different items. Functional literacy skills are strengthened through reading shopping lists, signs, labels and packaging, while communication skills are promoted as pupils practise using polite manners, greetings and appropriate language when interacting with members of the public and shop staff. These visits also enhance social skills by helping learners build confidence and independence within the local community, understand expected behaviours in public places and engage positively with others. In addition, travelling to the shops and pushing a trolley supports physical development by encouraging mobility, coordination, strength and stamina, making shopping trips a meaningful and enjoyable way to develop essential life skills.
The Grange Cafe	Attending the school café provides our pupils with meaningful opportunities to develop essential life skills in a supportive and familiar environment. Pupils can practise communication by ordering food, using polite manners and interacting with staff and peers. The café also promotes mathematical understanding through handling money, making choices and recognising prices, while supporting independence, confidence and decision-making. In addition, pupils strengthen their social skills by waiting their turn, sharing spaces and engaging in conversations, helping them to prepare for similar experiences in the wider community.