The March C of E Primary School Achieves IQM Inclusive School Award

August 14, 2026

---

The March C of E Primary School has achieved the IQM Inclusive School Award in recognition of its strong culture of inclusion and its dedication to providing an educational experience that meets the diverse needs and aspirations of its children, families and wider community.

Warmth & Inclusion

The school is explicit about being a Christian School community, with the word ‘love’ being the first thing seen as you access its website, and the values of the school are communicated explicitly with the following strap line on the website: “With God’s help, we will live kindly, love each other, learn and laugh together.’ Personal development was judged as outstanding at the time of the Ofsted inspection in 2023, and the assessor found the provision for children to thrive at the school was clearly evident.

The Chair of Governors has articulated that inclusion means a “warm embrace in terms of the Christian ethos,” and how that ethos is synonymous with inclusion, because every individual matters.

The head of school, when speaking about the impact the school has on its pupils, spoke about the reputation that the ‘March pupil’ has in local secondary schools, where it is noticed that pupils from the March CE Primary School are, “respectful, kind and polite, and also understanding of differences.”

Inclusion as a Starting Point

The Community Governor, who oversees SEND and is a parent at the school, explained to the assessor that her perspective on how the March CE Primary School succeeds in its inclusive endeavour is that, “inclusion is not an add on…it is not something they do in retrospect, wondering what should we do from an inclusive point of view…instead, inclusion is a starting point at the school.” When data is interrogated by Governors, the interest is in all pupils, not just certain categories of pupils. As the Vice Chair reported to the assessor about the feedback she has received from prospective parents attending the school’s open meeting, saying, “they want their child to get into this oversubscribed school because they know that whoever their child is, the parents are confident that they will feel they belong in the school.”

The Governor also identified to the assessor a strength of the school is in the way it engages with parents in a subtle way, ensuring those who would be too humble to access support are finding their way to accept the support. The Executive Headteacher talked about the persistence there is at the school to push for resources for vulnerable families. The assessor commends the warrior-like attitude he saw in the school to go beyond in providing for its community and to remain dis-satisfied with the status quo when it means some pupils are marginalised and disadvantaged by the system.

Fitting the School Around the Individual

The assessor found a strong conviction, as expressed by the Head of School, to enable the school to “fit the child,” rather than the child having to fit into the school. The evidence for his finding includes the teacher who demonstrated how agile she is in adapting her classroom space, alongside the leadership being imaginative in how it continually seeks solutions to resolve difficulties for learners and overcome barriers for their growth.

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.