Success Looks Different Awards

In recognition of how schools support and celebrate their pupils with additional support needs.

The Success Looks Different Awards are a chance for schools and early learning centres to celebrate how they are helping children with additional support needs to feel included, supported and celebrated. Launched in 2022, they aim to encourage schools to look beyond exam results and consider success as more than just attainment levels.

Created by the Inclusion Ambassadors, and managed by Children in Scotland and Enquire, the Success Looks Different Awards support the Scottish Government’s commitment to recognise and appreciate success for pupils with additional support needs, and the forms this takes, as outlined in their Additional Support for Learning Action Plan.

2024-25 Awards

This year, the awards look a little different. The Inclusion Ambassadors reflected on previous years’ awards and decided it was important to provide more opportunities to hear directly from children and young people.

To help achieve this, we have developed an engagement pack and application guide. We want to hear from children and young people, alongside insights provided by the adults supporting their learning.

Categories

The Success Looks Different Awards are open to education settings in four categories:

• Early learning and childcare / Nursery
• Primary school
• Secondary school
• Special school

Eligibility

The awards are open to all publicly funded schools, including secondary, primary and special schools. Local authority nurseries and partner nurseries are eligible for the early years category.

Entry to the awards is completely free.

Judging

All entries are judged by a panel, based on criteria set by the Inclusion Ambassadors. Once a shortlist has been determined, the Inclusion Ambassadors vote for their winner from the anonymised short list.

Shortlisting is decided using success criteria identified by the Inclusion Ambassadors. These include:

• Evidence of celebrating individual successes and positive relationships
• Evidence of creativity
• Evidence of sharing success with the wider community
• Evidence of respecting and promoting children's rights
• Recognition through awards or certificates.

Details of the 2023 Winners and Runners-Up can be found here.