Vaughan Primary School Reaccredited with IQM Inclusive School Award

August 17, 2026

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Vaughan Primary School has been reaccredited with the IQM Inclusive School Award, recognising its ongoing dedication to providing a supportive and inclusive educational experience that enables all pupils to develop confidence, resilience and success. 

A Rich Curriculum Full of Opportunity 

The school offers a comprehensive extra curriculum programme including lunch and after school activities led by school staff and external coaches. The school develops cultural capital opportunities with visits out of school and includes visitors into school to enhance learning; for example, visits to places of worship encouraging pupils to learn about different cultural practices and embrace diversity.  

Pupil Voice Shaping School Life 

Teachers embrace new initiatives and trust in leaders’ research and well thought out rational for decisions. As a result, new ideas are successfully embedded within the school and staff engagement is high. An example of this is the roll out of the pupil one-page profile. This initiative is well valued not only by staff but by pupils and their parents. Pupil voice helped develop the proforma and in turn they value its usage. Pupils and parents are confident their child’s individual likes and needs are known to all those they come across in their daily life at school.  

Leaders and Governors take time to learn what it is like to be a pupil at the school, listening to the School Council and talking with pupils during learning walks. An example of change led by pupil voice is the adaption of Talk-O-Meters within the classrooms. Pupil voice helped shape the language and three steps of talk used in lessons. 

Supporting Every Learner to Succeed 

Pupils are guided and coached to support their own learning needs with the systems put in place for them. Where it has been identified as appropriate, pupils enter into a ‘fidget’ contract. Parents praised this approach as their children understood why and when to use different strategies.  

Attendance is a priority; across the school there is a focus on ensuring pupils attend school with various rewards systems in place, including vouchers. Monday Morning Sanctuary, led by the pastoral team, is used to support attendance for targeted pupils. 

There is a carefully curated selection of wider support and pastoral opportunities for pupils, including sensory circuits used in each year group, bucket time, SALT, Lego therapy and a CBT trained counsellor, who runs individual, group and lunch activities.  The pastoral team pick up any talk requests raised by pupils in their post box and allocate the appropriate team members to meet with the pupils. Pupils commented that this system works well and is helpful. 

There is consistency of expectation across all classrooms. Classroom displays have pastel background shades to support a calm and ordered classroom environment and to reduce anxiety within classrooms. The same format of visual timetable and regulation reminders are used supporting consistency for pupils. Reading areas are being developed to include sensory support and support calm spaces for pupils.  

Working in Partnership with Families 

Transitions are a priority at Vaughan. Parents praise yearly social story booklets given to pupils as they transition into the school and then from one year group to the next. Parents value the time staff take to meet with them and talk through learning and support plans. Parents engage in assemblies, workshops and coffee mornings and there are a variety of wider community support options for parents including: Young Carers, Early Help, MHST and areas of Neurodiversity. 

Pupils describe their school as: a family, safe, organised and eccentric! They talk about enjoying all aspects of the curriculum, trips, talk systems, volunteer roles such as School Council, House Captains and Bistro Buddies and events such as the Spelling Bee. Pupils know what to do if they are worried about something and feel secure that they are looked after in all aspects of school life. In an Autumn pupil feedback survey one pupil shared, “teachers explain things in different ways so I can understand better”. 

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.