Mulberry Academy Hastings Achieves the IQM Centre of Excellence Award

September 14, 2026

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Mulberry Academy Hastings has achieved the IQM Centre of Excellence Award, recognising the academy’s total commitment to inclusion and the strength of its work to support students with diverse needs.

Inclusion as a Central Ethos

The total commitment to inclusion is evident in every aspect of the academy but particularly in the human element that has pushed forward its success. The academy has been innovative and creative in the way it supports its students with Special Educational Needs (SEN); their model of inclusion supports the flow between intervention hubs and classrooms to ensure their model works to the best advantage of their students.

Staff at Mulberry Academy Hastings recognise that inclusion is not a fixed state but an ever-evolving entity which needs adapting and refining constantly. Their inclusive practice is underpinned by their aphorism “Ambitious for All- every teacher, every lesson, every day”. Inclusion is articulated as a central ethos and has a strong foundation in all the staff booklets viewed during the assessment.

Mulberry Academy Hastings pride themselves on early identification of need, this very often begins at the transition stage. Pastoral teams weekly review data from a variety of sources including behaviour patterns to identify need. Those more complex cases are reviewed in weekly triangulation meetings, this consists of the SEND team, safeguarding and pastoral teams, for holistic action planning.

A Model of Support Around the Child

To support inclusion interventions are subtle and spread out around the academy as single hubs all working to common goals, this is a fantastic idea taking away the stigma that might be attached to attending. These ‘hubs’ include the Relationship hub, Recovery Learning hub, Reset hub, Regulation hub, Reconnect hub, Reflection hub, Ready for Secondary hub and Refine hub.

The academy have a dedicated team ‘around the child’ to support with attendance, pastoral care, adaptive teaching and learning interventions and robust tracking measures to inform practice. Staff receive an excellent Continuous Professional Development offer (CPD) which is robust and ensures staff receive SEND and Inclusion training. This ensures they are fully equipped to support and meet the diverse needs of the learners at the same time as upholding the academy’s inclusive values.

Pastoral care at the academy is a real strength, with Heads of Year having no teaching commitment, this allows them to concentrate wholly on the students they have in their care, this system underpins a number of factors across the academy including improved attendance, student engagement and relationships between staff and students which are vital in any academy setting.

Ambitious Teaching and Learning

At Mulberry Academy Hastings there is a real culture of high expectations, equality and academic excellence in all aspects of its academy life. The academy have developed the Hastings Teaching Principles that represent the areas they believe will provide the best teaching for their students: Clear modelling, Scaffolded support, Targeted questioning, Structured Practice and Consistent Routines.

Teachers are provided with a comprehensive Teaching and Learning Handbook and Guide, this is well presented and an excellent addition to the previous mentioned CPD, providing step by step support for all teachers at any stage of their career. The staff spoken to said it gave them ‘confidence in their ability to adapt their delivery to meet learners needs and improve their inclusive practices’.

Lessons observed during the visit were calm; students were on task and there were a variety of effective teaching and learning approaches being delivered across the year groups. The quality of the learning environments observed reflected the inclusive ethos of the academy. Ofsted (2026) noted that pupils feel ‘safe, valued and supported’ at Mulberry Academy Hastings.

Building Confidence, Aspirations and Belonging

Students are aware of inclusion values and how they can support these. Communication with students is excellent, there was genuine fondness between staff and student, this was seen during walking around the site. Students are encouraged to have a say in their academy through student focus groups, surveys and the chance to take on leadership activities, there is also a student council, their views help shape the ongoing development of Mulberry Academy Hastings.

Students I spoke to said they ‘feel safe’ in school and that they had no experience of bullying. Students at the academy exhibit a high level of acceptance and respect for each other, their environment and their staff. All students met on the visit were polite, confident and welcoming which contributed to their warm and inclusive academy culture.

Student’s aspirations are clearly growing and some of those spoken with had a clear idea of what they might like to do upon leaving school and some even had dreams of working abroad. The academy host a number of inspirational programmes, including The Oxford Inspire programme, which aims to empower the students to aim high and develop their talent in preparation for higher education.

Find Out More About IQM

If your school is interested in achieving the IQM Inclusive School Award, contact the IQM team on 028 7127 7857 or email admin@iqmaward.com.

To find out more about IQM and request a free information pack, visit www.iqmaward.com.