Pupil Premium
Pupil premium strategy statement - Ashcroft Technology Academy
Ashcroft Technology Academy (the Academy) receives a proportion of its overall annual funding in the form of a Pupil Premium Grant (PPG). The PPG is provided for children from low-income families who are, or who have been within the last six years, eligible for free school meals (FSM). The grant is also provided for children of service personnel and children who are looked after by the local authority (LAC).
This statement details the Academy’s use of the PPG to help secure the very best attainment for its disadvantaged students. To this end, it outlines its pupil premium strategy; how it intends to spend the PPG in this academic year and the outcomes for disadvantaged students last academic year.
School overview
|
Detail |
Data |
|
Number of students in school (year 7 to 11) |
1,200 |
|
Proportion (%) of pupil premium eligible students |
383 – 32% |
|
Academic year/years that our current pupil premium strategy plan covers (3-year plans are recommended – you must still publish an updated statement each academic year) |
2024 to 2025, 2025 to 2026, 2026 to 2027 |
|
Date this statement was published |
December 2025 |
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Date on which it will be reviewed |
December 2026 |
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Statement authorised by |
Mr D. Mitchell |
|
Pupil premium lead |
Mr D. Mitchell |
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Governor / Trustee lead |
Dr R. Whitcutt |
Funding overview
|
Detail |
Amount |
|
Pupil premium funding allocation this academic year |
£393,568 |
|
Pupil premium funding carried forward from previous years (enter £0 if not applicable) |
£52,000 |
|
Total budget for this academic year If your school is an academy in a trust that pools this funding, state the amount available to your school this academic year |
£445,568 |
Statement of intent
Our aims for the PPG are to identify, develop, and implement strategies that engage our most vulnerable students in all aspects of Academy life and narrow any attainment gaps between those eligible for the PPG and their peers. To achieve this, we spend the PPG as a part of our Academy-wide attendance, teaching and learning and behaviour strategy, and the Academy draws on research and evidence to identify activities that are most likely to maximise achievement.
We prioritise exceptional attendance, behaviour and teaching, with access to a broad, academic curriculum, and high-quality mentoring or SEN support, when required. The Academy places particular emphasis on establishing positive routines, a strong sense of ambition and secure foundations in literacy and numeracy, all the while recognising that disadvantaged students often require the greatest support in these areas. We believe that daily attendance, robust literacy and numeracy skills, courteous behaviour, strong work ethic, and individual ambition are essential for preparing all students for life beyond the Academy, regardless of background or ability. Performance data from 2024 (progress) and 2025 (attainment) demonstrate that the Academy has been highly successful in achieving these aims because all students achieve exceptional results.
What are our priorities?
1. Excellent attendance
At the Academy, we believe that excellent attendance is fundamental to success. Attending school every day builds the habits and character traits essential for life beyond the classroom — punctuality, reliability, self-discipline, and resilience. Attending every day allows students to nurture friendships and strengthen their sense of belonging.
Students who attend the Academy every day are more likely to secure excellent academic progress and achieve outstanding grades. Each lesson builds upon the last, so even short absences can create gaps in understanding that hinder long-term progress. To prevent this, we operate a robust attendance system that identifies emerging, negative patterns early and enables swift, effective intervention.
Our commitment to attendance extends to staff as well. A dedicated incentive scheme supports high levels of staff attendance, ensuring continuity of learning for students. This shared focus has produced exceptional outcomes: the Academy was ranked the number one school in England for student attendance in the academic year 2023 to 2024, and attendance rose even higher in the academic year 2024 to 2025 to 98.1%.
When time is missed, it is recovered through mandatory catch-up sessions at the end of the school day. We recognise that students with identified Special Educational Needs (SEN) or those considered vulnerable may face additional barriers to attendance, sometimes related to physical or mental health. Our approach is proactive and compassionate — we support these students to restore full attendance as quickly as possible, combining high expectations with personalised care. Prolonged absence can erode a student’s connection to learning; by ensuring lost learning is recovered, we protect every student’s opportunity to thrive both academically and personally.
Our extended school day further reflects this commitment. From 7:30am, students have open access to the gym and fitness suite, the Learning Resource Centre (LRC), and the restaurant for breakfast and enrichment. After-school sessions — including Study Hall, Power Hour, and catch-up provision — ensure that every student has the time and space to consolidate learning in a supportive environment, which for many students extends to 5.30pm three, or even four days per week.
2. Excellent behaviour
Every moment in the classroom matters, and excellent behaviour is the foundation of our students’ success. At the Academy, we are very explicit in our teaching of personal responsibility, self-control, and kindness — skills that serve our students well both now and in the future. When behaviour is exemplary, teachers can teach, students can learn, and the Academy remains a calm, focused, and positive environment.
We believe that when expectations are high, routines are consistent, and relationships are respectful, every student can succeed. To minimise distractions further, mobile phones are not permitted within the Academy for those below sixth form.
A calm and structured environment benefits all students, but it is particularly vital for our most vulnerable learners. Predictability allows these students to flourish. Through clear routines and consistent habits for learning, we reduce cognitive load in the classroom and maximise the time spent on meaningful learning.
Central to our approach is ICAS (Inclusive Care and Support). ICAS ensures lessons remain calm and disruption-free, while providing targeted mentoring and guidance for students who need additional help. Mentors build strong, trusting relationships that help young people in difficulty reflect, reset, and re-engage with their learning.
We also recognise that behaviour and well-being extend beyond the classroom. Challenges in the community or online are addressed swiftly and sensitively to ensure they do not undermine the positive culture within the Academy. By working in partnership with families and external agencies, we ensure that every student feels safe, supported, and able to succeed.
3. Excellent teaching
Our curriculum is ambitious, academic, and inclusive by design. It is rooted in the belief that every student — regardless of background, ability, or circumstance — deserves access to a challenging and enriching education. All students, including those with SEN and those from disadvantaged backgrounds, study the same rigorous curriculum as their peers. We do not narrow opportunity; instead, we raise aspirations and provide the right support and adaptations to remove barriers so that every learner can achieve success through hard work.
At the Academy, we emphasise knowledge and mastery. Our goal is for every student to leave school equipped with the understanding and confidence to build meaningful, successful lives. We invest heavily in ensuring teaching meets the needs of all learners — focusing on excellence in the classroom rather than relying on additional interventions to fill gaps. Our funds are directed toward our exceptional ‘core offer,’ which is carefully designed to support our most vulnerable students, with additional support where necessary.
Teacher development is central to our approach. We invest in weekly professional learning, deliberate practice, and coaching to ensure consistently high-quality teaching. We recruit only the very best teachers and provide them with research-informed professional development. This cycle of regular training, practice, instructional coaching, and collaborative curriculum planning ensure that every lesson is ambitious, adaptive, and inclusive. Lessons are coherently sequenced and built around clear instruction, retrieval practice, and formative assessment.
This commitment to excellence is reflected in our outcomes. the Academy ranked among the top 15 schools nationally for progress in 2024 and within the top 5 non-selective schools for attainment in 2025. With over 30% of our students classified as ‘disadvantaged’ and over 25% identified as having Special Educational Needs, it is particularly significant that both groups perform above national averages for their peers. These outcomes demonstrate that our curriculum and approach prepare all students not only for examination success but for life beyond school.
4. Excellent support to minimise potential or actual barriers
We make sure that all students receive an exceptional core offer. We only add additional intervention if it is clearly identified and time limited. These fundamental principles have served the Academy and its students very well thus far, and we will seek to continue to deliver for all students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Through the expertise and diligence of our SEN, ICAS and Safeguarding teams, early identification guarantees that students receive the correct support at the correct time. The Academy invests in bespoke training for these teams to provide appropriate, targeted support and this underpins our commitment to ensuring that every student, regardless of background or academic start point, can be included and can achieve their full potential. In a climate of reduced Local Authority provision, our in-house expertise is vital. When we identify a barrier to a student’s ability to engage or achieve their potential—whether its source lies within the Academy or beyond—ICAS mentors will begin a formal, structured, and time-limited programme of mentoring.
This targeted support equips the student with the skills and strategies needed to effectively manage challenges they face. Where appropriate, this work is complemented by tailored input from the SEN and Safeguarding teams. Each of the SEN and ICAS teams play an invaluable role, providing both formal and informal support to help students engage fully in their education.
Challenges
This details the key challenges to achievement that we have identified among our disadvantaged students.
The barriers and challenges disadvantaged students face are complex, varied and characteristic of our context: there is no single difficulty faced by all. However, from experience, we have identified a number of barriers that we believe are particularly relevant to our disadvantaged children.
|
Challenge number |
Detail of challenge |
|
1 |
Potential to be absent more regularly
|
|
2 |
Potential for a less structured learning environment at home, which would lead to more difficulty in complying with the Academy’s expectations for behaviour |
|
3 |
Potential to be less aspirational and, in many cases, will not yet have learnt about possible futures |
|
4 |
Potential to have lower confidence and self-esteem than their peers, with weaker skills or confidence in literacy and numeracy |
|
5 |
Potential for limited access to support for learning beyond the classroom |
Intended outcomes
This explains the outcomes we are aiming for by the end of our current strategy plan, and how we will measure whether they have been achieved.
|
Intended outcome |
Success criteria |
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Achieve exceptional attainment and progress scores among disadvantaged students across the curriculum at the end of KS4. |
100% of disadvantaged students will continue to be entered for the English Baccalaureate (EBacc). This was achieved in 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25, and is the Academy’s intended vision year-on-year. In August 2024/5/6, KS4 outcomes will demonstrate that disadvantaged students achieve very well:
|
|
Improve reading comprehension among disadvantaged students across KS3 and KS4. |
Performance data will demonstrate improved comprehension skills among disadvantaged students and a smaller disparity between the scores of disadvantaged students and their non-disadvantaged peers. |
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Sustain excellent attendance for all students, particularly our disadvantaged students. |
Sustained high attendance annually demonstrated by:
|
|
Sustain excellent behaviour for all students, particularly our disadvantaged students. |
Maintain low suspension rates in the Academy and achieve a permanent exclusion rate of zero among PP students. |
|
Sustain high-quality wellbeing for all students, including those who are disadvantaged |
Participation in the Academy’s trips and visits programme, extra-curricular programme and careers programme. Qualitative data from student voice and student surveys. |
Activity in this academic year
This details how we intend to spend our pupil premium funding this academic year to address the challenges listed above.
Teaching (for example, CPD, recruitment and retention)
Budgeted cost: £ 12,500
|
Activity |
Evidence that supports this approach |
Challenge number(s) addressed |
|
Teaching and learning – ensuring weekly Professional Development, with direct instruction and time to rehearse fundamental routines/structures/non-negotiables, with follow-up coaching and deliberate practice |
Ensuring an exceptional teacher offer, as noted by the definition of ‘exceptional’ quality of education in Ofsted EIF and EEF
The EEF are very clear that high-quality teaching is of paramount importance for any pupil premium strategy. We use CPD strategically and react to issues as they emerge. This helps consistency of teaching, with intelligent and secure curriculum implementation across all departments |
2,3,4 |
Targeted academic support (for example, tutoring, one-to-one support, structured interventions)
Budgeted cost: £ 70,000
|
Activity |
Evidence that supports this approach |
Challenge number(s) addressed |
|
Sustain of our staffing structure to ensure English and Mathematics departments have additional capacity to provide high-quality support for curriculum delivery and impact. The additional teachers will provide small group and individual support within English and Mathematics. Curriculum Leaders will ensure high-quality, subject-specific training in department time |
The EEF Teaching and learning toolkit makes clear that one to one tuition, and small group intervention has a high impact on pupil progress. Overstaffing also makes staff retention far more likely, which provides students with certainty. Indeed, more teachers results in more feedback for students |
2,3,4 |
Wider strategies (for example, related to attendance, behaviour, wellbeing)
Budgeted cost: £ 370,000
|
Activity |
Evidence that supports this approach |
Challenge number(s) addressed |
|
Excellent learning habits in students and access to spaces that encourage and support quiet study and homework completion |
A longer Academy Day with access to study areas and supported study and catch up. Hard work and endeavour will help students achieve academic success and consolidate the skills they will need for successful professional lives. |
2,3,5 |
|
Exceptional behaviour amongst all students supported by Inclusive Care and Support (ICAS) with mentoring programmes for disengaged learners or those who are experiencing barriers to their learning. Removal of disruptive behaviours provides a deterrent from other students engaging in similar behaviours and maintains the Academy’s calm and focused environment for all |
The EEF and best practice in the country supports the belief that a calm, ordered and warm yet disciplined environment maximises engagement and academic success. |
1,2,3,4 |
|
Counselling and external mentoring for students whose needs require therapeutic support |
|
1,3,4 |
|
Activity |
Evidence that supports this approach |
Challenge number(s) addressed |
|
Targeted work to ensure that all PP students achieve positive post 16 destinations |
Students meet professionals from 10 different career routes, which builds early awareness of diverse opportunities in Year 8. Year 9 students receive 1:1 Career Interviews from My Big Career. The focus is on aspirations, strengths, and initial guidance. DWP run Small Group Sessions (twice yearly) the focus for which is support for transition planning and life skills. In Year 10 the careers Adviser Interviews students three times with tailored advice on GCSE choices, pathways, and work experience. DWP Small Group Sessions with targeted students to support preparation for post-16 options. In Year 11, there is unlimited support from the Careers Advisor to help with next-stage decisions (college, ATA sixth form, apprenticeships). |
3,5 |
Budgeted cost: £ 15,000
Total budgeted cost: £467,500 mostly met from PPG
Part B: Review of the previous academic year
Outcomes for disadvantaged students
The outcomes are exceptional, and the approach the Academy has taken and the areas in which it has invested the PPG have enabled these outcomes. These outcomes suggest that the Academy is on track to achieve its aims.
GCSE performance – 2025
|
|
Academy |
England |
|
% 9 to 5 English and Maths |
84.5 |
45.2 |
|
% 9 to 5 English and Maths pp |
75.8 |
52.8 |
|
% 9 to 4 English and Maths |
90.4 |
59.1 |
|
% 9 to 4 English and Maths PP |
80.3 |
Non – disadvantaged 72.7 |
|
% 9 to 4 English and Maths EHCP |
70.0 |
|
|
% 9 to 4 English and Maths SEN K |
70.7 |
|
|
|
Academy |
England |
|
A8 |
66.3 |
45.9 |
|
A8 PP |
58 |
Non disadvantaged 50.3 |
|
A8 EHCP |
52.2 |
|
|
A8 SEN K |
53.5 |
|
Attendance – 2025
|
|
Academy |
England |
|
PP attendance |
97.9% |
88.3% |
|
Cohort attendance |
98.2% |
94.5% |
Further information
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Additional activity
Our PPG strategy will be supplemented by additional activities not funded by PPG. As an Academy, we have a wide range on offer ‘as default’ that disproportionately benefits our most disadvantaged students.
This includes:
Planning, implementation, and evaluation As an Academy, we prioritise the disadvantaged students in the way we design elements of the Academy. We are confident that the activities outlined above have a high impact on the progress and achievement of our disadvantaged students.
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