St Margaret’s Achieves Flagship

June 16, 2026

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St Margaret’s Primary Academy is a two-form primary school in Lowestoft which supports a high level of specialist need pupils, with 27% of pupils on the SEND register. St Margaret’s also works to include pupils at risk of exclusion from other schools, a clear indicator of their highly inclusive ethos.The school works with intention to ensure that all pupils from all backgrounds feel welcomed, valued and celebrated. St Margaret’s recently held an “Express Yourself Week” where pupils and staff were encouraged to share aspects of their lives, interests and cultural identities which might not be known. Muslim pupils felt comfortable wearing traditional cultural dress and explaining the origins and customs of their faith.

Classroom books captured thoughtful, respectful, kind and curious discussions, demonstrating a respect for everyone. Pupils have been supported to observe Ramadan and have been provided with prayer rooms, even having only joined the school recently. Pupils with English as an additional language are respected and treated with dignity and care.

Inclusivity was consistently evident throughout the assessment day. Sensitive support was offered to pupils fasting during Ramadan and the school has also made proactive adjustments made to enable pupils with worsening physical conditions to remain in education. Sustainability and social justice are integral to the school’s ethos.

This is evident in the strong focus on supporting families facing hardship. The school’s active participation in the Field to Fork charity, through which families and staff received ‘Grow It Packs’ of vegetable seeds, was a tangible example of this commitment. One parent described their experience of the school as transformative for their autistic child. They spoke movingly about the warmth, understanding, and communication shown by staff. They described the school as, “a village of support”.

Enthusiasm and ambition

St Margaret’s has shown a strong commitment to high quality professional development, strengthening curriculum, enhancing leadership, and encouraging reflective teaching practices. CPD sessions are held weekly, hosted jointly by Middle Leaders and the Senior Leadership Team. These sessions have fostered a positive culture of professional dialogue, reflection, and shared expertise, ensuring professional learning is consistent, meaningful, and firmly embedded within the school’s culture.

The school has significantly enhanced its engagement with parents and the wider community by developing a strong, well-established framework of communication and support. These systems are embedded effectively and ensure families feel informed, welcomed, and valued as partners in school life. Regular coffee mornings plays a valuable role in sharing clear and accessible information with parents.

Throughout the year, the school has delivered a diverse and well attended programme of parental engagement events, including forest school sessions, Easter activities, termly learning cafés, craft events, and information sharing opportunities. These activities have been warmly received and have led to increased parental involvement in school life.

St Margaret’s strives to provide adaptive teaching throughout the curriculum, with effective scaffolding and training to grow staff confidence. Teachers routinely adapt instructions and respond thoughtfully to pupils’ needs. Monitoring and evaluation confirm that adaptive teaching is becoming firmly embedded across the core curriculum. Teachers continue to show increasing confidence and skill in adjusting their teaching in response to pupils’ needs.

The school has also made very strong progress in implementing a behaviour policy underpinned by values of Respect, Resilience and Repair, which they should be proud of. Pupils are increasingly confident referencing and employing these values, leading to a culture of acceptance, support and readiness for learning.

Moving forward, St Margaret’s has ambitious plans to develop an enhanced mainstream provision. This will ensure that their mainstream provision is ambitious, sustainable and inclusive. It will involve a comprehensive review of the current provision, identifying barriers to learning and groups of pupils most affected, systematic gathering of feedback from stakeholders, The purpose of the provision will be clearly defined, alongside agreed entry criteria, staffing arrangements and an effective organisational structure. Curriculum adaptations will be planned to ensure accessibility, and personalised learning pathways will be developed to meet individual needs.

The provision will then be piloted with a small, carefully selected group of pupils. Baseline information will be collected at the outset, and ongoing progress data will be gathered throughout implementation.

St Margaret’s is a kind and supportive environment with an ongoing ambition to excellence. The school continues to move from strength to strength in terms of its superb inclusive practice. IQM is proud to award St Margaret’s Primary Academy the Flagship School Award.