“Children have the right to be loved. Children have the right to make mistakes. With rights come responsibilities.”

We are a Unicef UK Rights Respecting School!

At Wallacewell Primary, we aim to be a school where children’s rights are at the heart of our ethos and culture, to improve well-being and to develop every child’s talents and abilities to their full potential. As part of this plan, we are very proud to have achieved the Unicef Rights Respecting Schools Bronze: Rights Committed Award on behalf of Unicef UK and are currently working towards achieving Silver: Rights Aware. This Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of a school’s planning, policies and practice. A Rights Respecting School is a community where children’s rights are learned, taught, practised, respected, protected and promoted.

Unicef is the world’s leading organisation working for children and young people and their rights. In 1989, governments across the world agreed that all children have the same rights by adopting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). These rights are based on what a child needs to survive, grow, participate and fulfil their potential.

Wallacewell pupils are learning about their rights and will continue to do so through the Rights Respecting School Programme by putting them into practice every day. A Rights Respecting School models rights and respect in all its relationships.

We really hope that you will be able to support our school on our journey towards becoming a Unicef UK Rights Respecting School. You can find out more about the Convention on the Rights of the Child by visiting https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/ 

ABCDE of Rights Guide

For further information about Rights Respecting Schools please visit:  www.unicef.org.uk/rrsa

Please support us on our continued RRSA journey!

What does RRSA look like in Wallacewell and how are the levels of the award different?

Achieving Bronze: Rights Committed means there is evidence that:

• We have introduced the RRSA Three Strands into our school community.
• The school’s senior leadership team (SLT) understands what is involved in the Award and is committed to embarking on the UNICEF UK Rights Respecting journey.
• The right foundations are in place for our school’s journey to the second stage of the Award.

Achieving Silver: Rights Aware means there is evidence that:

• Our school is explicitly embedding the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in its policy, practice and culture.
• We promote knowledge and understanding of the Convention throughout our school community.
• We put into action and develop the plans outlined on our Action Plan for Silver.
• We see the positive impact of these actions on children and young people, staff, and on the school’s ethos, practice and environment.
• Children and young people see themselves as rights respecting global citizens and advocates for fairness and children’s rights, both locally and globally.

Achieving Gold: Rights Respecting means there is evidence that:

• Our school has explicitly adopted a child rights approach based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and has embedded it in school policy, practice and culture.
• Children, young people and adults in our school have a thorough understanding of child rights, and rights respecting attitudes and language are embedded across the school.
• RRSA has had a positive impact on children and young people’s learning and wellbeing.
• Pupils see themselves as rights respecting global citizens and are advocates for social justice, fairness and children’s rights at home and abroad.

Children and young people play an increasingly leading role in driving progress.

What is the pupils’ role in the award?

Over the school year, our Rights Respecting Committee (made up of pupils from different classes and stages) have displayed their rights in appropriate places around the school to help to develop their understanding of what the articles mean. They are in charge (with the support of their class teacher) of ensuring that their classroom environment supports the different Rights. They have organised a whole-school fundraising event to fund toilets for people in Nigeria, Pakistan and Cote d’Ivoire. Their role is to ensure that the whole school is aware of the Rights Respecting Schools Award. As ‘Rights Detectives’ they provide a link between the pupils, all staff members, and the wider community and to plan and deliver events to help our children become Rights Respecting Global Citizens.

Our next step is to work with other pupil committees, such as Pupil Council, Fairtrade, Eco and the Community Development Student as well as another local school to jointly work on reducing litter and dog waste in our local community.

What is a class charter?

Every class in school has discussed, agreed on and designed their own class charters. These refer to articles that the whole class agree to focus on and incorporate into their day to day lives. The children have discussed what both the adults (Duty Bearers) and the children (Rights holders) have to do to ensure the rights are met and have included these on their charters. Rights Respecting Committee have also agreed the dinner hall charter.

How do the pupils learn about the rights of the child?

In weekly assemblies the SLT refer to the articles in specific contexts. The children really enjoy these assemblies as they get the chance to discuss and explore new articles in relation to their life and see how the convention is followed in countries around the world. In class, the teachers also actively plan lessons that are linked to the articles. The Rights Respecting Schools Newsletter is shared with staff to keep abreast of new/continuing initiatives etc.

The Rights Respecting Committee have termly slots (6 sessions) in their class timetable to meet together with Mrs Wightman and then report back to their class from their weekly meetings. They also invite pupils to a ‘drop-in’ session once a month where pupils can discuss the UNCRC and how they are affected by these in school. This was in acknowledgement of the pupil questionnaire responses.

Our next step is to introduce an Article of the Week during assembly, where pupils have the opportunity to discuss and share this article and complete related activities. A family task will then be sent home for pupils to work together with family members. When this is in place the Rights Respecting Committee will complete the Right’s Respecting Article of the Week Book that will be kept in the school library.

How can parents and carers help their child to know their rights?

• Spend time talking about the articles at home. https://www.unicef.org/rightsite/files/uncrcchilldfriendlylanguage.pdf
• Look at children’s (Newsround), local and worldwide news. These will often link with rights learning.
• Discuss learning about rights and encourage pupils to relate rights to current issues.
• Join in with local charity events and school charity days.
• Find out about global issues and the sustainable development mission (By 2030). Talk about how these link to the 17 Global Goals. https://www.globalgoals.org/
• Take action for positive change in the local community e.g. litter pick, recycle; plastic, metal, clothing, raise awareness.
• Give an hour of your time to charity e.g. the homeless, elderly, a hospice.
• Encourage your child to take action for positive change in their local and global community., e.g. clear the plastics from our seas and oceans.
• Get involved to make a difference, e.g. https://Woodland trust.org.uk100k-plant a tree to save the world.
• Talk about and work together on the ‘Article of the week’ family task.

https://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools/about-us-new/

Please support us on our continued RRSA journey!