Teaching and Learning Intervention
At our school, we are committed to ensuring that every pupil receives the support they need to achieve their full potential. We believe that high-quality, adaptive teaching is the foundation of effective intervention and that all teachers are responsible for meeting the needs of the pupils they teach, including those with SEND, disadvantaged pupils and EAL.
Where additional support is needed, targeted interventions are identified and delivered to address specific gaps in knowledge, skills or understanding. Class teachers provide personalised support within the classroom and take responsibility for adapting teaching to meet individual needs, supported by Heads of Department and Senior Leaders. The impact of intervention is closely monitored through regular assessment and pupil progress information, allowing support to be reviewed and refined to ensure it remains timely, effective and responsive to individual needs, enabling every pupil to make strong progress.
Intervention in Core Subjects
Heads of Department in the core subjects of English, Maths, RE and Science provide targeted intervention throughout the week, during tutor time. Pupils are identified for this support by the class teacher, based on their performance in formative and summative assessments, or based on their performance towards their targets. This intervention is specific to the needs of the pupils and targets the areas in which they require extra support. This intervention is aimed at pupils in Years 9,10 and 11, with a particular emphasis on exam technique at Key Stage 4.
Foundational Knowledge
Foundational knowledge is the essential building blocks that enable pupils to access, understand and succeed across the wider curriculum. These include key competencies such as: reading; writing; handwriting; numeracy and communication and language (oracy). At Holy Cross, we place a strong emphasis on ensuring any gaps in foundational knowledge are quickly identified and addressed through quality first teaching and rapid intervention when necessary allowing pupils to build confidence, quickly achieve in line with expected progress and thrive both in school and beyond. You can find out more about our intervention in Foundational Knowledge here
Saturday Intervention Sessions
Our school holds highly successful and well-attended Saturday intervention sessions in the core subjects of English, maths, RE and science, providing additional support for pupils as they prepare for their GCSE examinations. Over 100 pupils attended these sessions in March 2026, with a range of pupils from different cohorts benefiting from focused teaching, targeted revision and opportunities to strengthen their knowledge and confidence.
Pupils are selected for targeted intervention following thorough analysis of mock examination data and internal assessments, ensuring that support is directed towards those who will benefit most. These sessions help to address gaps in learning, reinforce key knowledge and skills, and contribute towards improved outcomes for pupils in their GCSE examinations.
Reading Intervention
Our Teacher of Reading Intervention, Miss Leeming, provides one-to-one and small group tuition for our weakest readers to ensure they make accelerated progress and can meet curriculum related expectations across subject areas. Pupils are categorised as red (significantly below the age related expectations – SAS of 85 or below), amber (below age related expectations – SAS between 86 and 99), green (in line with age related expectations – SAS between 100 and 110) or blue readers (above age related expectations – SAS 111 and above).
Miss Leeming delivers a bespoke reading curriculum which focuses on phonics, fluency, prosody and comprehension. The texts pupils encounter during reading intervention are carefully selected to enhance learning across all areas of the curriculum which complements our interdisciplinary learning approach. Pupils complete pre-reading on topics they will study in their wider lessons and read texts which help to consolidate their knowledge of the KS3 National Curriculum.
As a result of our reading intervention programme, pupils make accelerated progress and graduate from the programme able to read fluently and access the wider curriculum fully. Data from the reading intervention programme clearly demonstrates the impressive progress pupils make.
Curriculum Plan Reading Intervention 2024For information on SEND Intervention, please click here
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