Sir Jonathan North Girls' College awarded inclusive school award
A community news update from your area
Sir Jonathan North Girls' College in Knighton has once again secured the Inclusive School Award with flagship status from Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM). Established in 2004, IQM is an award provider that celebrates the work schools undertake to promote inclusion and share good practice.
Sir Jonathan North, one of 14 schools that make up the Lionheart Educational Trust, has been awarded by IQM for 20 years, 12 of those at flagship level. To maintain their status, schools are subjected to an annual review, and an IQM assessor visited Sir Jonathan North to complete its 2024 inspection. They were full of praise for the initiatives that have been introduced to promote inclusivity.
Leadership schemes like Student Voice, Student Council, Diversity Ambassadors and Sports Leaders ensure that young people are given ample opportunity to have their voice heard and shape changes. This was seen in the renaming of school facilities, decided by student vote. To reflect the school's diverse community, buildings and meeting rooms are now named after iconic women throughout history, including Alice Hawkins, Wilma Mankiller and Murasaki Shikibu.
Other initiatives acknowledged through the IQM assessment included the regular delivery of assemblies by students on a wide range of topics, such as World Hijab Day, Hidden Disabilities and Black History Month and the celebration of religious festivals, including Diwali, Eid, Guru Nanak Dev Ji Parkash Purab and Hanukkah.
"The college continues to keep inclusion at the heart of its practice. We are innovative in our approach to ensuring all students' needs are catered for and that all have equitable opportunity. As a flagship school, we share good practice within the Lionheart Educational Trust and more widely at local and national events," said Nicola Coton, the assistant principal.
In November 2023, Nicola Coton and Hannah Monk, the humanities leader, were from one of only 12 schools across the UK asked to speak at the IQM National Conference in Birmingham - where they led workshops about how the school embeds cultural diversity into both the formal and informal curriculum. Sir Jonathan North Girls' College now intends to apply for IQM National Champion status during the next selection period in 2024/25.
Location: Knighton
