At Glenwood, we are committed to being a Rights Respecting Community to ensure all of our children are happy, healthy and safe. Children’s rights are embedded in our everyday practice and are at the heart of everything that we do.
We empower all of our children to learn about their rights, to enable them to become responsible citizens, effective contributors, successful learners and confident individuals.
The Rights Respecting Schools Award is based around the principles of equality, respect, dignity, non-discrimination and participation.
We currently hold an accreditation of Silver: Rights Aware.
You can read our Silver Accreditation report here:
We are now on our journey to achieve our accreditation of Gold: Rights Respecting.
Children’s rights are explained in the 54 articles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. You can read about them here:
UN Convention for the Rights of the Child
All children have rights. They are known as Rights Holders. Adults such as parents, teachers and local government are Duty Bearers who support children and young people to enjoy their rights. Rights should be upheld by Duty Bearers and accessible for all Rights Holders everywhere, all of the time.
Within our centre, we have increased our awareness of children’s rights through sharing stories and through activities and discussions. We often share the book ‘Let’s Explore Our Rights’ with the children:
We have also composed two Glenwood songs all about our rights that we enjoy singing:
Children are invited to become Rights Ambassadors and share their ideas, be heard and promote change, as part of our Rights Respecting Committee. We have created lots of displays throughout our centre to promote children’s rights .
We have enjoyed taking part in special events like Fairtrade Fortnight, Downs Syndrome Awareness Day and Children in Need, as well as a range of religious celebrations.
Staff involvement has been led by our Rights Respecting Working Party, as we have gathered resources, provided staff training and ensured children’s rights are consistently respected and promoted. We have also undertaken staff training provided by external agencies.
Every three weeks, we focus on a new article within our intentional planning which we introduce to the children through stories, songs and videos. Here you can see some of the different rights we have been focusing on and the different ways in which the children have been invited to learn about their rights:
Article 2 : All children have rights.
Article 31: You have the right to relax and play.
Article 24: You have the right to healthy food and clean water.
Article 16: You have the right to privacy.
Article 19: You have the right to be looked after and kept safe.
Article 29: You have the right to be the best you can be.
Article 12: You have the right to say what you think should happen and be listened to.
Article 7: You have the right to a name and nationality.
Article 13: You have the right to express yourself.
Article 27: You have the right to a good standard of living.
Article 14: You have the right to follow your own religion.
Article 30: You have the right to speak your own language and celebrate your culture.
Article 28: You have the right to learn and go to school.
Article 15: You have the right to meet with friends and join groups and clubs.
You can find further information about children’s rights here:
Children’s Rights Information for Parents
Here are the symbols that we share with our children to help them to learn about and understand their rights:
We also share The United Nation’s Global Goals with our children to encourage them to be active, global citizens.
