Cleadon Church of England Academy - Rights Respecting Schools

Rights Respecting Schools

The Rights Respecting Schools Award puts children’s rights at the heart of schools in the UK.

Unicef works with schools in the UK to create safe and inspiring places to learn, where children are respected, their talents are nurtured and they are able to thrive. The Rights Respecting Schools Award embeds these values in daily school life and gives children the best chance to lead happy, healthy lives and to be responsible, active citizens. To read more about this award you can click the link below.

In June 2020, we were delighted to receive our Bronze: Rights Committed Award.

Currently, we are working towards earning our Silver: Rights Aware Award.

We will be spending time exploring the articles set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Here is some information about Unicef and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is a universally agreed set of non-negotiable standards and obligations, built on varied legal systems and cultural traditions.

These basic standards – also called human rights – set minimum entitlements and freedoms that should be respected and put into effect by governments. They are founded on respect for the dignity and worth of each individual, regardless of ethnicity, gender, language, religion, opinions, origins, wealth, ability or any other status and, therefore, apply to every human being everywhere.

There are 54 articles in total.

The general principles of the Convention are found in articles 2, 3, 6 and 12:

Non-discrimination
Best interests of the child

Life, survival and development

participation

Articles 43 – 54 are about how adults and governments work together to make sure that all children get all their rights.

The UK ratified the CRC on 16 December 1991. This means our government has to make sure that every child in the UK has all the rights in the Convention.

Click the picture below which summarises the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

World Children's Day

On Friday 20th November we celebrated World Children’s Day. All the children were invited to come to school in clothes that chose instead of their uniform. This formed the basis of class discussions about children’s likes linked to the concept of their right to share opinions and feelings. We explored the concept of "what makes us unique". Year 2 did some work on what makes them special and unique.

Dress to Impress Day

Everyone has the human right to express themselves, and Article 13 of the UNCRC makes it clear that this includes children and young people. Part of this right of freedom of expression involves being able to find out information for yourself— so you're able to share it in the way you want.

On Friday 12th February we celebrated our own 'Dress to Express' day. Children were asked to wear bright colours, their favourite colour or a favourite item of clothing to express themselves.

Rights Respecting School Mascot

We ran a competition in school for the children to design a Rights Respecting Schools mascot. Eliza from Year 4 won the competition. Her mascot is called Rolo the Rights Respecting Mascot. The features on Rolo's body represents different rights of the child.

May be a cartoon of text that says "Rolo our Rights Respecting Mascot My ears show the right to be listened to. My house represents the right to shelter. My water bottle signifies the right to clean water. My pencil shaped body is to signify the right to education My apples and carrot signify the right to healthy and nutritious food. My ball isa symbol of the right to relax and play. My microphone shows the right to speak and have opinions."

In each of hubs the children have worked together to create a Right Respecting School display.