SERVICES
Help lower-attaining readers move from decoding to ease, fluency and understanding.
Rhythm for Reading is a practical, energising 30-week CPD programme for teachers supporting children whose reading still feels fragile.
If you are a Reading Lead, SENDCo or Senior Leader in an inclusive primary school, and you want every child to access reading with greater fluency, comprehension and confidence, this programme was created for you.
Many children can decode words accurately, yet still read word by word, lose meaning across a sentence, or find it difficult to sustain attention and engagement. Rhythm for Reading works alongside your existing phonics provision, giving teachers a structured sequence of rhythm-based physical activities, set to music, that strengthen children's sensitivity to rhythm.
The flexible weekly sessions are designed to fit realistically within school life and minimise time out of class. Teachers monitor progress as it unfolds, with early changes in attention, participation and expression often becoming visible from about week three. This is highly worthwhile work that takes consistency, trust and effective teaching. It gives teachers a clear, research-based way to help children who have felt held back by reading begin to experience themselves as readers who can participate, understand and belong.
progress in reading feels calm, steady & more predictable.
Teachers notice the children's attention settling, their behaviour relaxing, and their confidence beginning to grow. They see progress becoming steady, more consistent and easier to sustain.
Rhythm for Reading is rooted in inclusion, not as an add-on, but as the starting point.
The programme was designed from the outset for lower-attaining learners: children with weaker control of attention and focus, who needed to build that control before fluency could follow. That's still exactly what it does. Rhythm is the modality — the thing that makes this different from other reading programmes — but inclusion has always been the driver, the purpose and the ethos that's underpinned the programme.
Lower-attaining learners aren't an afterthought here. Rhythm for Reading programme was built for them and this CPD programme gives teachers everything they need to deliver it well.
This programme gives teachers a manageable start with a settled group of children to ensure that confidence is built on strong and steady foundations. Once these are in place, teachers are ready to support more diverse groups of children in Terms 2 and 3 of the CPD programme.
During the training, teachers learn to stabilise children's attention and focus as the priority. Fluency follows, because the control that makes fluency possible is already in place.
And because supporting children begins with supporting the adults in the classroom, teachers are given ample time to assimilate the CPD programme without feeling rushed.
#1 Attention 'mode' moves from vigilant to rhythmic
Teachers notice children moving out of a tense state and into a rhythmic one. As attention stabilises, behaviour becomes more predictable & confidence begins to grow. Progress becomes steadier, more consistent and easier to sustain.
#2 Perception of phonemes becomes sharper
Rhythm sharpens phonemic awareness, so the sounds of language are considerably clearer, helping children process the language with greater ease.
#3 Decoding is no longer stuck at the word level
Rhythm releases decoding that's been stuck at the word-by-word level, once also known as 'barking at print'.
#4 Words and phrases are read in context, with expression & fluency.
Rhythm strengthens fluency, prosody and the expressive qualities of reading. Teachers, parents and children are delighted by this change.
#5 They read for enjoyment & comprehension.
Children understand what they are reading, and monitor the text for understanding. They correct themselves if something doesn't make complete sense.
A RHYTHM-BASED APPROACH
You may be wondering whether this could work in your school.
Yes! And one small detail can make or break it...
Rhythm for Reading works best when children aren’t immersed in fast, fragmented rhythms.
These digital patterns may seem harmless - even helpful - yet they can make it harder to attune to the subtle rhythms of human interaction.
This isn't a rule or a prescription - it's an observation many teachers already recognise. We share it because your pupils’ learning matters as much to us as it does to you.
Online teacher CPD that settles into the life of the school & transforms reading.
Many teachers already know that a child's struggle with reading is rarely just about phonics.
This programme offers a structure that helps children feel safer, more connected, and more ready to learn. It’s an engaging intervention, and a powerful one, especially for pupils in key stages one, two or three who are 'just coping' — or 'no longer coping' with the day-to-day of school life.
And for the teachers leading these children, the emphasis is on noticing more, and connecting with them through simple actions, chanting in time with musical notation and keeping time with carefully 'mixed' audio tracks.
The course gives teachers the option to co-teach with Marion using video in the classroom, or to use the video materials to prepare each session in depth. This isn't a silver bullet: it's a sustainable approach that can be woven into the long-term life of a school.
Interested? You can discover more here.
Find out if this is a good fit for your school.
For a lot of the children that we target, it is the fact that there’s a lot of movement involved as well. It’s not just about sitting down and concentrating on something. There’s a lot of concentration going on, but they are not really realising how much concentration they are putting into it, because they are moving as well.
Year Three Teacher
Teachers are supported step by step, week by week.
My promise to you is that no teacher is left to integrate this work on their own.
Each teacher receives a 15-minute 1:1 weekly coaching call. That’s expert support, baked into the programme. Teacher well-being is treated as essential - not optional.
One programme. less classroom strain. stronger Reading Foundations.
If you're curious whether this could be a good fit for your school -
Let's explore it together.
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