A secondary academy based in Barnsley is celebrating after it was awarded a nationally recognised award for its work on inclusion.

Outwood Academy Carlton, based on Royston Lane, was awarded the Inclusion Quality Mark Award by IQM. The award provides UK schools with a nationally recognised validation of their inclusive practice and ongoing commitment to developing educational inclusion.

The academy’s success comes after a long assessment process, which was split into two phases beginning with a self-evaluation followed by a two-day assessment by the IQM team.

Paul Haynes, Principal at Ofsted Good-rated Outwood Academy Carlton, said:

“We are delighted to have been accredited with the IQM Award, which we believe highlights our commitment to inclusion at all levels. 

“At Outwood we believe that every child deserves the best education, no matter their start in life, and we work tirelessly to deliver on this belief.”

During self-evaluation, the criteria for Outwood Academy Carlton was broken down into five sections, focusing on inclusion values and practice of the school, the learning environment, resources and ICT, learner attitudes, values and personal development, learner progress and impact on learning, and learning and teaching.

The follow-up two-day inspection consisted of the academy being visited by Assessor Kelsey Clark-Davies, who also met virtually with members of staff, and went through the five self-evaluation topics in detail for a full formal assessment.

Regarding inclusion, the report spoke positively about the ethos around inclusion being ‘very strong’ at the academy outlining that the academy ‘works hard to ensure the individual needs of every learner are clearly understood in order that appropriate provision and support can be made, enabling all to make good progress.’

Focusing on the Inclusion Team, the report labelled the team as ‘a real strength of the school, that shows a real ‘ethos of care, going above and beyond for pupils.’

The positive findings led to the IQM team recommending Outwood Academy Carlton to apply for Centre of Excellence status, which it subsequently did and was successful in becoming a Centre of Excellence.

Only around 240 schools in the UK have currently achieved this status, and to do so schools have to successfully have demonstrable plans to sustain and develop internal inclusive practice, amongst other things.

Paul added:

“We were thrilled to have been recommended for IQM Centre of Excellence Status and are delighted to have achieved this status too. We are confident that if we continue with our hard work and maintain our determination to always be improving, we will be successful.”

The report also praised the academy’s journey since becoming part of the Outwood Family in 2014, noting it had shown ‘rapid and sustained improvement’ and highlighted the ‘exceptional culture of positivity’ that ran throughout the academy thanks to initiatives such as Proud Thursday. 

As part of this initiative, a panel of staff members are available for students who wish to present any piece learning they are proud to share. This is then celebrated with the students with the most impressive piece of learning in each year group being crowned that week’s ‘Proud Champion.’