Northgate High School in Ipswich wins ‘centre of excellence’ award

Image source, Northgate High School and Sixth Grade

Image caption, The school can help other schools with their inclusion

  • Author, Alice Cunningham
  • Role, BBC News, Suffolk

A school is recognized as a center of excellence because of its inclusivity.

Northgate High School and Sixth Form in Ipswich has been assessed by the Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM), which provides schools with a nationally recognised validation of inclusive practice.

After a two-day assessment and an extensive self-evaluation, the school received recognition that will enable it to support other schools in their inclusive work.

Dale Banham, deputy headteacher, and Bex Bothwell-O’Hearn, history teacher and head of diversity and inclusion at the school, expressed their delight at the award.

“It’s a great honour for us because when I asked the people at IQM where the nearest knowledge centre was, it turned out to be a school in Shoreditch in London,” said Mr Banham.

“For the whole school community this is a fantastic recognition of all the work we have done over the last three or four years to ensure that we are a truly inclusive school and that our curriculum is reflective of all the pupils, teachers and everyone who works in our school.”

Ms Bothwell-O’Hearn added: “It was a testament to how hard we have worked together across all levels, across departments, with our community stakeholders and organisations to whom we owe a great deal of gratitude.”

Image source, Northgate High School and Sixth Grade

Image caption, Members of the school community enjoy various events throughout the year to celebrate inclusivity

A highlight Mr Banham noted in the assessor’s report was the student’s understanding of inclusion.

“It’s all well and good that we as adults and teachers use the language and say that we are committed to this, but for me it’s only when you are at the level of the student that you can be sure that your work has an impact,” he said.

Image caption, Northgate High School & Sixth Form is located on Sidegate Lane West in Ipswich

Ms Bothwell-O’Hearn also said she felt the news helped to break the stereotype that Suffolk was not a diverse place to live.

“The level of support we have received from the community shows that this is not the case,” she continued.

“Suffolk is a really diverse place and there is fantastic community work going on by unsung heroes, and we are very grateful to them for that.”

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