DET Ambassador Programme featured in PiXl Insights Publication

We are immensely proud to see our DET Ambassador programme featured in the latest PiXL Insights publication. Read the full featured article below:

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Title: Empowering the under-served: The DET Ambassador Programme

Context

The Danes Educational Trust (DET) Ambassador Programme was born not from an abstract policy, but from a deeply personal mission to rewrite the narrative of educational disadvantage. Kate Rayner, the DET Ambassador Lead and a Food Technician at Onslow St Audrey’s School, came up with the programme based on her own lived experiences. Having once been a pupil at the school where she now works, the initial school of the programme, Kate’s unique perspective lies at the heart of the programme’s success.

As Kate reflects: "I used to be a disadvantaged pupil, in the 1990s, standing in a separate line to others, waiting for my free school meal ticket. I was told I was a plodder and would never succeed in life. I want to close the gap in attainment, and I want to offer a sense of belonging. I want to inspire ambition, to build on resilience, the grit and the growth mindset of our children. I want to grow a community based on tools and support. I want to grow this programme for children to achieve better than I did, believe in themselves, and not to feel any different from anyone else."

Kate’s past shouldn’t be a child’s present. Her perspective helped shape this programme to close the persistent attainment gap by nurturing a deep sense of belonging, inspiring ambition and cultivating grit, resilience and a growth mindset. Kate has taken her dream of a mentoring scheme with a few volunteers from her school and grown it into a powerful, trust-wide initiative that is changing the lives of children across Hertfordshire and now Buckinghamshire. To date, the programme has achieved significant scale, successfully engaging all 13 schools within the Trust.

Through the programme, we are able to learn more about our pupils. We gain a holistic understanding of what is going on in their lives inside and outside of school, and we are then able to tailor our support accordingly.

Intent

The imperative for intervention: Targeting "The unseen child"

In every school, a specific demographic of pupils consistently slips through the net. This initiative was launched as a targeted 1-to-1 mentoring program specifically for "our under-served pupils," meaning those quiet, vulnerable children who are often overlooked because they lack significant behavioural flags, Special Educational Needs (SEN), or high-aspirational markers. They are, in essence, "the unseen children" who navigate their school experience in silence without getting the speed or notice of others.

This project is all about making sure no pupil slips through the net. By giving them a trusted adult they can talk to 1-to-1, we are creating a safe space where they truly feel they belong. When children feel safe and supported, the barriers to learning reduce, allowing them to improve in class and actually enjoy their time at school.

This face-to-face support targets:

• Socio-emotional barriers: Providing a dedicated, safe space to talk about problems and navigate personal worries regarding home or school life, thereby driving measurable gains in wellbeing, confidence and emotional resilience.

• Practical and academic barriers: Addressing minor, easily overlooked issues that derail learning, such as lacking basic equipment like pens and pencils, seating plan discomfort, or hidden anxieties about specific classroom content and teacher relationships.

By offering these under-served pupils a trusted adult and a dedicated space to navigate personal barriers, the programme empowers unseen children, giving them the tools to believe in themselves and engage with their education with newfound purpose.

Scaling the programme

The rollout of the DET Ambassador Programme has been a phased expansion across the Trust. While Kate was initially asked to bring two schools onboard within a year, she quickly realised the importance of the programme and wanted to support under-served pupils across the whole trust. With encouragement, Kate actively contacted schools within the Trust to accelerate the rollout.

The programme was originally established in 2018 at Onslow St Audrey’s School with an initial cohort of 12 pupils and 5 staff. The school now has 40 pupils and 35 staff members, forming the structural blueprint for other schools. The programme expanded into the primary phase in September 2023 at De Havilland Primary School, where 13 pupils and staff engaged as Learning Champions. The 2024 academic year saw Chancellor’s School, Roselands Primary School, and The Cranbourne Primary School join. By 2025 DET Ambassadors included Lanchester Primary School, The John Warner School, Ascot Road Primary School, Jupiter Primary School and The Beaconsfield School. Today, the DET Ambassador programme proudly supports 189 pupils 1-1 across the Trust, a number that continues to rise due to the onboarding of Elstree Screen Arts UTC, St Clement Danes and Croxley Danes in September 2026. 

Implementation

The programme includes individual sessions, group and whole year workshops. All pupils receive a 20 minute 1:1 mentoring session between themselves and a paired up staff member, this happens every two weeks. These sessions are supported by primary and secondary log books, which help guide the mentor. To establish a baseline each pupil completes a Google survey covering four areas of questioning based around grit, resilience, self-efficacy and growth mindset. These insights are shared with mentors to help them provide more targeted support and to identify exactly where pupils lack specific skills. 

Once this baseline is established, the programme introduces targeted workshops. These workshops are directly informed by the trends and insights gathered during individual 1:1 sessions, ensuring the collective curriculum addresses genuine pupil needs. Examples of these sessions include:

Stress management workshops that normalise anxiety and stress as a natural feeling and equip pupils with concrete coping strategies

Metacognitive habits workshops which include how to sustain continuity. These sessions are designed to help pupils convert positive learning behaviours into long-term, sustainable habits. As one participant reflected:

 “my mentor helped me with revision which I struggled with in the past so I’m thankful” 

The success of the DET Ambassador programme is its fluidity. It is designed as a flexible, non-prescriptive model that can be adapted to the context and needs of any school or pupil. Despite initial challenges around how staff manage giving up their time, the mentor pool remains intentionally diverse. Mentors are not limited to teaching staff but are drawn from all colleagues across the school community, including support staff, premises managers, office staff and IT support teams. There is a trust-wide belief that every staff member can create a positive connection.

Mentors are kept informed of pupils' vulnerabilities by the programme lead, allowing for productive meetings where current issues can be effectively addressed. To facilitate this, mentors are encouraged to have honest and relaxed conversations with their mentees.

Meetings can take place indoors, outdoors, or via "walk and talk" formats, the core principle is to hold the 1:1 wherever the pupil feels most comfortable. This relaxed environment creates a unique space for open communication, with pupils noting they value “talking about stuff that doesn’t normally come up in class.” However, if a conversation becomes difficult or concerning, safeguarding rules strictly apply; staff are fully trained to escalate issues immediately to the programme lead and the safeguarding team.

The continuity of this programme is built to directly transition pupils from primary to secondary education. Most primary schools within DET share a strong secondary link; for example, De Havilland Primary School DET Ambassadors can move seamlessly into Onslow St Audrey's, both located in Hatfield and continue the programme. 

Findings, evaluation and reflection

The success of the programme is anchored in the removal of previously unknown barriers to school, meaningful enrichment opportunities and the establishment of a structured mentor framework. By successfully bridging the gap between established school interventions, the programme is effectively laying the foundations for these pupils to establish long-term connections, a sense of belonging and improvement in academic and personal success.

Through the establishment of DET Ambassadors, we have successfully identified and supported under-served pupils.

The initial baseline data is reviewed alongside a concluding Google survey to track shifts in pupil grit, resilience, self-efficacy and growth mindset. This survey data is also evaluated alongside exam performance, assessment results and attendance records for both regular school days and the mentoring meetings themselves.

Initial feedback highlights a quantitative impact on participants. Mentors are already reporting notable, positive shifts in:

• Pupil confidence and engagement, where previously unseen pupils are finding their voices, building eye-to-eye contact skills, and participating more actively in school life. The profound personal effect of this individual attention is mirrored in the feedback from the children themselves: 

“Mentoring sessions has helped a lot, it gave me someone else to trust and talk to about things that affect my life which don't get spoken or asked about and sometimes a little talk goes a long way”

• Attendance and emotional resilience, with early indicators showing positive developments in attendance patterns alongside an increased ability to handle day-to-day school stressors

A core element of the programme's design is pupil accountability. Attendance at mentor meetings and workshops unlocks access to reward trips and incentives linked to the programme. These enrichment experiences encourage pupils to…

• Build upon resilience and teamwork, an example of this is using the high-ropes courses at Stanborough Lakes and climbing walls at the Hertfordshire Sports Village to physically test and build pupil’s grit and determination.

• Improve social value and agency by encouraging pupils to lead on community initiatives based on a goal they want to achieve, such as organising Easter egg and toy collections for the children's wards at Lister Hospital or coordinating food drives for local food banks, even creating the promotional posters themselves to encourage other children to donate.

• Opportunity for increasing cultural capital and community, driven by inter-school events like the De Havilland Primary School Rounders Day and picnic, alongside trips to Hatfield House and regional pantomimes to enrich pupil cultural experiences. 

Summarising the impact of this support, a pupil shared:

“It’s been really nice being in this programme, getting opportunities that others don't have like having trips and an adult that is just for you to talk to which makes you feel better about yourself”

The words of educator Rita Pierson perfectly capture the heartbeat of this project: "Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists they become the best they can possibly be."

Through this programme, Danes Educational Trust proves that it makes a difference to under-served pupils every single day. As one pupil eloquently put it: "Don't let your reputation take hold of you; let your personality guide you through."

Recommendations

Following a presentation at the Trust headteachers conference, the remaining schools in the Trust will join the programme from September 2026. 

Reflecting on the success of the programme, a key learning point for the future would be securing protected time for staff. In future frameworks, consideration on how  mentoring time could be  included on timetables would ensure more consistency for the pupils.

For other trusts looking to run a similar project, three recommendations stand out:

• Build the programme on a commitment to understand the whole child by learning about pupils' lives both inside and outside of school, which allows for tailored, effective support.

• Design the model to be adaptable rather than rigid so that it fits the context and specific needs of the individual school or pupil while maintaining the core principles of the programme.

• Ensure that staff have time for mentoring that is protected and prioritised, rather than relying on availability around other duties or risking the time being utilised for cover.