Inclusion Quality Mark - Flagship Status
Our Lady Queen of Peace is incredibly proud to hold the Inclusion Quality Mark, Flagship Status. The school undergoes assessment for the award each September. The overarching aim of Flagship status is that an individual school which has achieved this status can further its work in Inclusion through internal research activities.
School-based Project
The project title for 2025-26 is “Removing Social & Emotional Barriers to Learning”.
The school has identified a cohort of learners for whom attendance at lessons is challenging due to issues relating to their social and emotional wellbeing. This results in significant internal truancy or non-attendance at school. Current provision within the school to provide safe and supportive spaces such as the Base and the library have already reduced internal truancy from this time last year. The aims of the project are to
- further reduce internal truancy,
- further reduce suspensions, and
- improve attendance.
As the IQM lead said, “the more children feel successful, the more they want to attend and learn.”
The project is based around the introduction of “Thrive” approaches.
This project is based around three actions for this year:
- “Thrive” training
- identification of pupils and needs (beginning with Years 7 & 8)
- provision of ongoing reactive support for pupils in distress
Summary of Report (September 2025)
This is the final year of this Flagship Project, and the school is to be commended on embedding a culture of literacy throughout the school. It is evident from the data presented that the actions that the school has taken have a significant impact on the literacy levels of its pupils. This was recognised by the most recent Ofsted report.
“The school has prioritised reading. Pupils who struggle with reading are supported well, for example through a tiered system of phonics and comprehension programmes and new online literacy programmes. Pupils enjoy their visits to the well-resourced library, where they have been instrumental in choosing books to stock.”
The literacy focus has achieved significant impact with reading ages and standardised scores showing significant increases in Years 7, 8 and 9. It is truly remarkable that in the case of disadvantaged students, and those with additional needs, their progress has been even faster than those without those disadvantages. This is clear evidence that it is provision in school, rather than at home, which is having the biggest impact in this case.
As the Deputy Headteacher put it, the school has “moved from reading being a bolt-on, to being integral.” The Headteacher commented that pupils are “more willing to sit with the written word.” The Deputy Headteacher remarked that “reading for meaning has become embedded.”
Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic High School continues to prioritise inclusion. As the Headteacher said, inclusion has to be a “given” in a Catholic school which serves a highly disadvantaged community. Inclusion is a significant element in the school’s current development plan which states that the strategic intent is that “All students feel welcome, valued and have a strong sense of belonging to their school community.”
This ethos underpinned everything that I witnessed during my visit.
