Ashcroft School

Special Education Needs

Ashcroft School is one of the North West’s leading specialist education providers for students aged 8 to 18. We are a pioneering, life-changing school, supporting students with needs including social, emotional and mental health difficulties. Our students may have struggled to cope in other settings because of their individual barriers to learning. At Ashcroft School we pride ourselves in working with each student to offer a bespoke education package that meets their individual needs. Staff relight the spark in our young people and re-engage them with learning. We build confidence and self-esteem to change how students feel about themselves. Ashcroft staff are experienced and dedicated, and led by a national award-winning headteacher. We are committed to ensuring that every young person coming through our door reaches their potential - that means building trust with our students, providing intensive support and tailoring all we offer to their specific needs. We cater for pupils with complex emotional needs including ADHD, ASC and acquired brain injuries, working closely with local authorities to support looked-after children. Ashcroft School provides 25 hours of learning per week and offers a broad and balanced curriculum adapted to reflect individual needs. Every young person has a personalised education plan, with opportunities to gain nationally recognised qualifications to GCSE and beyond. Our curriculum is based on the national curriculum, and the delivery of core curriculum subjects gives our young people the opportunity to improve their skills particularly where they have gaps or difficulty with learning skills or concepts. Improvements in literacy and numeracy are crucial to the long-term success of our students. As a large number struggle with literacy skills, we provide the intensive one-to-one literacy and specialist support they need to progress. With this support, students often make significant improvements very quickly. This in turn engages and motivates students and so improves their learning and development. Ashcroft School focuses on curriculum themes that have a track record of engaging hard to reach young people. These include curriculum enrichment projects such as drama and music, cookery, outdoor pursuits, relaxation and vocational skills. All students are given the opportunity to work on a broad range of projects and our film-making projects are a particularly successful example of engaging young people and helping them to learn new skills. Our curriculum strives to be progressive with careful reference to both local and national research and development. It not only meets the immediate needs of our students, but also provides the necessary tools to access further education, training and employment in the future. We have high expectations of our students and are committed to raising achievement. Ashcroft School also has a range of specialist programmes available to its students which include: • The Nurture Group • Play Therapy • Access Group • Vocational training for 14 – 18 year-olds Further information regarding these can be found by searching ‘Ashcroft programmes’ at www.togethertrust.org.uk .