Literacy Game Engine for SEN audiences

According to the World Literacy Foundation (2021), illiteracy is costing the economy more than £80B/year. With reading attainment levels falling and some pupils reportedly reaching secondary school with a reading age of 6, current literacy programs are clearly ineffective. Initiatives to encourage reading are vital since illiterate teenagers are more likely to turn to crime. The government has raised primary school reading targets but children from low socioeconomic backgrounds and those with SEN are particularly vulnerable, especially after the disruption to education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Maneno is developing a first-of-its-kind app that aims to increase KS2 attainment for SEN children by gamifying the reading experience to increase reading for pleasure and overall literacy. Maneno is building a game engine that motivates SEN audiences to grow their literacy skills by offering literacy mini-games that can be played after reading or listening to stories. The games will serve as a way to engage with the story and provide context reflection before the child starts reading -- thereby increasing the overall comprehension of the story.

In the project, Maneno will build a game engine that will analyse the contents of stories (text, image and/or audio) using AI and create mini-games for the child to solve before or after reading. The games will be tailored to each story and target skills related to spelling, reflection, comprehension and improving vocabulary.