Peterborough pupils celebrate as school wins inclusion award

St Michael’s Church School in Cardea was recently awarded the Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM).

The accolade is given to schools that demonstrate a commitment to ensuring they are fully inclusive and provide the best quality education to all of their pupils, regardless of their background, culture or learning need.

Head teacher Becky Smith said: “We are delighted to receive this award and it’s thanks to a real team effort - our pupils, staff, governors and parents have all worked hard to ensure that inclusion is a central value for the school and something we promote wholeheartedly.

“I would like to personally thank Stephanie Hibbitt, our Inclusion lead, who has been instrumental in bringing parents and external agencies, including local authority services together to promote best possible outcomes for pupils.”

Jonathan Lewis, director of education for Peterborough City Council, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and testament to a lot of hard work over recent months. Everyone at St Michael’s should rightly feel proud of themselves.

“Peterborough schools face many challenges, but we are working together to embrace these and deliver the best possible education for all school pupils.”

Officers from IQM visited the school earlier this year and said: “Inclusion is one of the school’s core values which are shared through assemblies, displays, focused work and celebration in classes.

“Staff are fully on board with the inclusive values of the school and have a good understanding of the needs of their pupils, both on an academic, social and emotional level.

“Staff who are working alongside pupils with SEND are offered appropriate training and support including working with outside agencies.

“The school has a number of initiatives in place to help build links with parents - the recent employment of a family support worker and parental workshops are very effective and led to the school being highly regarded by parents.

“The inclusion team have all accessed additional training to support pupils who speak English as an additional language.

“The diversity of cultures in the school is celebrated by everyone.”