We are a Rights Respecting School

What is a Rights Respecting School?

A Rights Respecting School puts the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) at the heart of a school’s culture and ethos. This helps support our work on improving  pupil wellbeing and enabling  every child to reach their full potential.

There are more than 40 articles related to children's rights in the UNCRC, so our journey began by the school community identifying six articles we felt were the most important for our school:

In April 2022 we achieved the Schools Silver Award, recognizing that our children and the community are Rights Aware. We are now aiming to achieve the Schools Gold award in 2023.

Why are children learning about their rights?

A Rights Respecting School has a positive impact in four key areas of a child's social and emotional development:

       Wellbeing          Relationships         Participation                Self -esteem

We find that through a strong rights respecting culture our children:

• Are healthier and happier
• Feel safe and cared for
• Have better relationships with each other and adults
• Take their right to a good education seriously
• Develop self-esteem and value themselves
• Become active and involved in school life and the wider world

Adults in school, parents and the whole school community also benefit.

How can parents/carers support their child to learn about the Convention at home?

1. Ask your child what they have learnt recently about children’s rights.
2. Think of examples from your own experiences, or the media, of rights being respected or denied.
3. Complete the Article of the Month activities with your child.
4. Model using rights and responsibility language with your children.
5. Discuss how your child or your family can promote respect for rights, including those whose rights have been violated