St Margaret’s Primary Academy Achieves Flagship School Status

August 14, 2026

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Congratulations to St Margaret’s Primary Academy on achieving Flagship School status. An outstanding recognition of the school’s dedication to innovation, inclusion and excellence.

Partnership and Innovation

The school is part of the REAch2 Academy Trust, the UK’s largest primary-only academy trust, comprising sixty schools. While retaining a high level of autonomy to respond effectively to local needs, the school benefits greatly from the Trust’s extensive expertise and specialist support. The Trust’s strategic priorities include sustainability, social justice, and the effective use of technology to reduce teacher workload and enhance learning opportunities. These priorities were clearly reflected in practice at the school. Leaders spoke enthusiastically about embracing technological developments to create adapted resources that enable pupils with additional needs to learn alongside their peers without missing out on curriculum coverage.

Zoning in on Support

The Trust’s 11 before 11 programme, which promotes non-academic experiences and life skills, is viewed by leaders as a vital part of pupils’ broader development, encouraging curiosity, resilience, and a sense of adventure. SEND provision is a clear strength of the school. In the past year, the school has developed an impressive range of zoned support areas for pupils with SEMH needs. These include a dedicated Thrive room, therapeutic restorative spaces, a play therapy room, and a learning centre used for small-group or part-time provision. A soft start approach further supports pupils who need a gradual transition into the school day. Every classroom now includes a calm space, and well-resourced intervention areas are located between classrooms, also used as reward zones for excellent work. These provisions complement the school’s highly successful Forest School. Dual coding, using Widget symbols, is being thoughtfully introduced across the school, including on desks, timetables, and information displays, further supporting accessibility for all pupils.

Purposeful Development

Over the year, the school has shown a strong commitment to high quality professional development, embedding a purposeful and well-structured programme that has strengthened curriculum delivery, enhanced subject leadership, and refined adaptive teaching practices. PD days have been closely aligned to the CUSP curriculum, ensuring staff share a deep and secure understanding of curriculum intent, implementation, and impact, while confidently meeting the needs of all learners.

Adaptive teaching is now a well embedded strength within the school’s core subjects. This success has been underpinned by sustained, CUSP aligned professional development and carefully targeted in house training. Staff confidence has grown markedly, and evidence from learning walks, book scrutiny, and team teaching demonstrates that teachers routinely adapt instruction, provide effective scaffolding, and respond thoughtfully to pupils’ needs in English, Mathematics, and Science. The trust wide approach has been successfully tailored to the school’s context, supported by detailed CPD records and ongoing leadership guidance.

Family Connections

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. These sessions provide opportunities for open dialogue, enabling families to better understand school priorities, support available, and upcoming initiatives.

Find Out More About IQM

The Inclusion Quality Mark provides schools with a nationally recognised framework for developing and celebrating inclusive practice.

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.