FLAGSHIP INCLUSION QUALITY MARK 

The school prides itself on developing strong, positive relationships between adults and students. This is credited to the school’s inclusive ethos and shared belief that the school’s virtues are there to influence everyday practice and behaviour hence the culture of mutual respect of people and property. At The Highcrest Academy, the leaders make sure that inclusion pervades every aspect of school strategic planning …” IQM Flagship Assessor

The Flagship Inclusion Quality Mark, is only achieved, if all students, of all abilities, are stretched to perform to their maximum. Schools who achieve this award are inclusive schools that monitor, develop and devise strategies to improve the effectiveness of their provision to meet the needs of all students. You can only imagine how proud this award we are! 

We received our most recent reaccreditation of this award in November 2025 and have now held flagship status for an incredible 12 years! The external assessor examined the school as an inclusive environment, meeting with students, teaching staff and keystakeholders. The Inclusion Quality Mark covers absolutely everything in school, from students with special learning needs to the most able and those needing more help with literacy and numeracy. The IQM award certifies that both the curriculum and extra-curricular activities are accessible to all at The Highcrest Academy.  

The assessor's key findings were as follows: 

• 'The Academy prides itself on its community ethos and positive relationships between staff and students that underpins everything they do'. Highcrest Academy sees itself as an educational establishment to serve its community by providing the best possible education for all, 'Inclusive practice is at the very heart of teaching and learning at the school'. The Highcrest Academy achieves these goals by constantly reviewing and improving on its offer.
• The school prides itself on developing strong, positive relationships between adults and students, 'staff pride themselves on knowing their students, and families very well not just from an academic stance'. Where it has been noted that there is some passivity towards learning leaders have responded swiftly. 'The adapted curriculum for different groups means that a lot of very vulnerable students are in school rather than being sat at home' . This is credited to the school’s inclusive ethos with robust monitoring systems in palce to ensure student needs are quickly identified and the correct support is swiftly in place. 
• At The Highcrest Academy, 'students are very proud of their school'  the leaders make sure that inclusion pervades every aspect of school strategic planning, e.g., School Development Plan (SDP) and operational practice. This attitude translates to the school  creating a physical environment and atmosphere where staff and pupils feel valued and want to do their best. It is noted that staff well-bing also sits highly on the agengda of Senior Leaders. 
• In line with the national trend, the school is obliged to admit each year more students with complex needs, consequently, they must expand their current Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision. To address these demands and cope with pressure in the right way, the school uses IQM projects as an opportunity to marry the emerging needs with the established good educational practice. 
• The Highcrest Academy has been creative, e.g., to set up a new provision for an identified group with an alternative curriculum that follows a primary model of teaching the core subjects by one teacher. This experiment has been successful and increased the students’ motivation and attendance because they felt safe in a small space and were able to access the curriculum at their pace and level. This model has been created on the advice of a local special school enabling the students to continue education without the need to be moved to an  alternative provision. The parents of those students are delighted with the service and are supportive of their children's education and their personal social and emotional development. The SENCo and leaders of the Academy have professional knowledge and experience to know what the students need to succeed and they have the courage to take risks and implement drastic changes like the one described above; this makes the school effective. The assessor noted, 'The alternative provision areas are incredibly well resourced and overseen by passionate highly trained staff'.
• During the visit, an IQM Assessor was presented with tangible evidence of the school making life-changing differences to its student such as; monitoring systems and an expanding  team of staff with direct responsibilities for attendance, Inclusion, Challenge for all and SEND. On a tour of the inclusion provision, the assessor noted 'attitudes to learning are good and the support to different groups of students is outstanding'. A lot of work has been done already (workshops for parents, intense communication, making students aware of the impact on their learning) to change the culture of acceptance of minor illnesses as reasons for missing school. The school has identified small groups of students (evidenced by data) as vulnerable and has planned relevant action to combat this weakness.
• Students of The Highcrest Academy are the best ambassadors for the schoo. In a conversation with the IQM Assessor, they felt free to speak their mind with the assessor noting 'Students are very proud of their school and feel their voice is both heard and valued'. They echoed a central message related to attendance noting their efforts are recognised and rewarded. Students displayed mature attitudes and a good understanding of rules and procedures with which they are comfortable. They acknoweldge that others need different levels of support and focus on their learning allowing interventions to seamlessly take place. 

We are delighted to have maintained our Flagship status. The IQM assessor concluded his visit stating, 'The school continues to move from strength to strength in terms of its superb inclusive practice and I am firmly of the opinion that the school fully meets the standard required by the Inclusion Quality Mark to maintain its status as a Flagship School. ' 

Click here for the full Assessor’s Evaluation for the IQM Flagship Project - November 2025.