We have been learning about Rights and Responsibilities.  Rights are  needs or the things that we should all have.  These are things like the right to learn by going to school, the right to a name, the right to have your say, the right to play or the right to be safe.  Rights protect you in every day life, regardless of who you are or where you come from.  Children’s rights help make sure they are safe, healthy, heard and can be themselves.

We also have responsibilities.  These are things we are expected to do, such as following rules, being kind and helpful to others.

What are some of your responsibilities?

Each of us has different responsibilities in our lives.  At home, you could be responsible for tidying your room or putting shopping away.  At school, you could help your teacher or be a buddy to someone who needs help.  In your community, you can help to protect the environment by putting rubbish in the bin.

Can your responsibilities change?

As we get older our responsibilities can change.  Your parent or carer looks after you at the moment, but when you grow up you will be more responsible for yourself.  For young children, responsibilities are simple and practical, such as putting away toys, feeding pets, or helping to set the table. 

A class charter is a contract that we have devised together as a class. We have specific rights and responsibilities that our class are focusing on and these are displayed on our class charter.  The charter is a reminder of how we should all behave and how we should treat each other in order to respect the rights of every single member of our class.

Our thoughts…

Amber – I have the right to have healthy food to eat and clean water to drink.  I have the right to have a name when I was born.  I have the right to go to school.  I have the right to play and rest.  I have the right to be heard.

Riley – We all have rights and responsibilities and as you get older you get more responsibilities.  I have a right to play and my responsibility would be to not play for too long on video games as it could give you a sore head.

Jorja – We made a class charter and we all signed it.  We agreed to make sure we are responsible with our actions and we should not take other people’s rights away from them.

Grace – The UNCRC has 54 articles and it tells us what the rights are.  Number 1 tells us that all children under (age) 18 have all the rights.  Rights are important as they keep us safe, healthy and happy.

Jude – We have the right to play and the responsibility is to be kind and share and show friendship.

Philip – Rights are important because they protect you.

Oonagh – We are learning about all of the rights and we have a class charter telling you more about it.  We all signed the charter.  My favourite right is the right to have your own religion and beliefs.