St. John’s Primary School is leading the way when it comes to inclusion. The Coleraine school recently received the Inclusive School Award with Centre of Excellence status.
The accolade, awarded by Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM), recognises the hard work and dedication of everyone at St. John’s to put inclusion at the centre of school life.
Principal Helen McDonnell was delighted to welcome IQM’s Joe and Eilish McCann to the school to present the award. The company’s CEO Joe McCann said, “It’s wonderful to be here to see first-hand what a warm and welcoming school St. John’s is. Our Assessor found it to be a school full of well-behaved, enquiring pupils who are enjoying a broad and outward looking education. They also identified that Mrs McDonnell ‘leads inclusion with an integrity of purpose’, and it is that leadership which drives St John’s to achieve this level of excellence in inclusion.”
Receiving the award Mrs McDonnell said, ‘St. John’s school community is truly deserving of this wonderful award. The entire team work together to provide the very best for our children. The vision and drive of the staff is clearly reflected within the report. Inclusion is at the heart of our practice. Our ethos is lived through the daily experiences of our children.”
During their visit to St. John’s, the IQM Assessor met with the Principal, Governors, Senior Leadership Team and staff, along with parents, outside agencies and pupils.
Alongside these meetings, the Assessor had the opportunity to meet with the School Council and discuss the St John’s Mission Statement created by pupils, along with other topics of discussion. The Assessor commented, “the School Council and their exemplary manners, behaviour and comments reflected their pride in belonging to the school.” Visits to each classroom allowed the Assessor to view “the outstanding quality of teaching and imaginative teaching methods modelled by adults, who foster a determination to succeed in their children.”
Mrs McDonnell explained, “The inclusive practice in St. John’s is not restricted to the typical school day (9am-3pm) as we provide wraparound care for our children using Breakfast Club and After School provision, as well as a comprehensive Extra-Curricular programme. This provision is fully committed to providing our children with additional learning opportunities to allow them to follow their interests and develop their skills in a range of areas using a structured and consistent approach.
“In St. John’s we are self-reflective practitioners continually seeking to improve our practice and provision in learning and teaching. Staff training is of a high quality, visionary and focused on better outcomes for our learners. Recent examples of staff training have included Sounds-Write Phonic training for Teaching and Non-Teaching Staff, Leadership Training for Coordinators, Dyslexia Awareness, Promotion of Positive Social, Emotional, Behavioural and Wellbeing for our children and staff and Learning Through Play Early Educational Consultancy. School improvement is a priority for everyone, including our Board of Governors who show ‘a commitment to the inclusive ethos’.”
The St John’s Principal concluded, “Our strong links with the community in which we serve have also been recognised by IQM, with the Assessor noting that, ‘another key to this success is the staff’s detailed knowledge of the needs of its community,’ and ‘communication with families is strong, frequent and effective.’ Our commitment to our Shared Education partnership and the support provided to us by Radius Housing has also been recognised.”
Find out more about the IQM Inclusive School Award
If your school is interested in obtaining the IQM Inclusive School Award or you wish to talk to a member of the IQM team please telephone:
028 7127 7857 (9.00 am to 5.00 pm)
or email: [email protected] for further details.
Want more information on the IQM Award? Click here to request your free IQM information pack