OA Portland Earns National Inclusivity Award

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

Outwood Academy Portland, based on Netherton Road, has received 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 after which the IQM team noted the academy was a place where ‘high standards and expectations are insisted upon.’

Mr Godsway Dzoboku, Principal at the Ofsted-rated Outstanding school, said:

“We are proud and delighted to have been accredited with the IQM Award, highlighting that inclusion at all levels is of paramount importance to us.

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

During self-evaluation, the criteria for Outwood Academy Portland was broken down into eight sections, focusing on inclusion values and practice of the school.

The report highlighted the high-quality work the academy does regarding inclusion, with assessors noting they were ‘confident that the Senior Leaders have the drive, vision and passion to lead the staff effectively to provide consistently outstanding inclusive provision.’

The school’s ‘embedded praise culture’ was only spoken of positively in the report:

“All positives are celebrated with parents and carers using the school’s messaging system, social media, letters, and postcards home. During the assessment process, the prevalence of praise and rewards were mentioned by everyone spoken to and it is clearly an area of strength. The students, families and staff value the praise culture.”

Mr Dzoboku added:

“This award is not the end of our inclusion journey, and we will continue to promote the inclusion quality principles of promoting access and diversity, raising achievement for all and creating an environment for all to succeed, as we work towards achieving IQM Centre of Excellence status.”