Inclusion Quality Mark
Alexander McLeod is a Centre of Excellence for Inclusion.
At Alexander McLeod we work tirelessly to ensure that all children have access to high-quality learning opportunities and that any barriers to learning they may have are addressed and appropriate adjustments are made to ensure they are making expected progress. In April 2019, Alexander McLeod was awarded the Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM) and recognised as a Centre of Excellence award after undergoing a two-day assessment.
Understanding IQM
The Inclusion Quality Mark is a nationally recognised framework designed to guide and acknowledge their inclusion journey. The IQM team help schools evaluate and measure how effectively schools are performing; empowering them to improve and grow.
Inclusion promotes equal opportunities for all pupils, whatever their age, gender, ethnicity, attainment, and background. It pays particular attention to the provision made for, and the achievement of, different groups of pupils within a school.
“Inclusion is not giving everyone the same thing. Inclusion is giving each person what they need to succeed.”
The Inclusion mark assessor noted:
“Alexander McLeod Primary School is a highly inclusive school with a strong focus on treating each child as an individual…
…Parents are particularly appreciative of all that the school has to offer, saying that all the teaching and support staff are very approachable, and that staff treat barriers to learning as a challenge to overcome rather than an obstacle….
…The Inclusion Consultant leads a skilled and experienced team who make sure that all interventions, strategies used are carefully considered, communicated to all relevant people and involve parents. No special educational needs are a barrier to the child being able to make good progress…” (Inclusion Quality Mark Report)
What is a Centre of Excellence?
There are approximately 240 schools in the UK that have met the standard required to become an IQM Centre of Excellence for outstanding levels of inclusion best practice and Alexander McLeod is one of them!
“One of the Local Authority Speech and Language Therapists commented on the excellent skills of the team of support staff in particular. She described the inclusion team and all teachers as being very collaborative and willing to try new strategies as well as feeling confident about giving their own ideas. This is a common theme from all outside professionals who feel included within the school environment and that their work is valued by the school.”
“Teaching is of a very high quality and entirely inclusive. Displays are excellent and all have a very clear focus. The use of symbols and differentiation techniques used ensure good progress.”
Becoming a Centre of Excellence is an opportunity for schools to build on the success of being one of the very special schools which holds the Inclusion Quality Mark award. A Centre of Excellence brings schools together to share and build on their existing good practice in inclusion best practice.
What next?
At Alexander McLeod we are always keen to develop and strive for excellence. Our target is to achieve the IQM Flagship School Award which is only awarded to around 100 UK schools. This is only achieved after a school has held their IQM Centre of Excellence status for at least three years. We will continue to develop our inclusive practice and hope to become an IQM flagship school in the future.
Inclusion Quality Mark report 2022-2023