Rights and Respecting School Award

Over the course of the next academic year our school will be working towards achieving the Rights Respecting School Award (RRSA).

The RRSA is a UK programme that seeks to put the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child at the heart of the schools ethos. The award focuses on developing children’s understanding of their rights and rights respecting actions both in school and in within the wider community. It aims to improve the well-being and happiness of all children and to create an environment where the rights of the child are taught, protected and promoted.

There are 42 articles in the convention but they can be summed up as follows:

•  The right to a childhood - every child has the right to a safe childhood and the right to play;
• The right to an education - every child has the right to an education that develops their talents, personality and abilities so they can achieve their full potential;
• The right to be healthy - every child has the right to health care, clean water, nutritious food and a safe environment;
• The right to be treated fairly - all children have the same rights whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion or ability.

Rights and Respecting School Award Statement

We are very proud to be a UNICEF-accredited school and part of their ‘Rights Respecting Schools Award’ (RRSA) community. The children and staff see the importance of rights and understand that they are central to making our school a wonderful place to learn and grow.
A ‘rights-respecting’ school teaches children and young people that they have rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. James Watt has a group of UNICEF Ambassadors who meet weekly to discuss the workings of the school, and how things can be improved or run better. Additionally, we organise a number of themed days to bring together all the learning about children’s rights around the world.

What is a Class Charter?

All classes within our school will have a Class Charter displayed within their classroom which identifies rights and responsibilities that the children have chosen as most important to them.

These Class Charters will be referred to often within the classroom and they will help to promote the understanding that rights also come with responsibilities, for both children and adults.

For more information on the award visit Unicef’s website at: www.unicef.org.uk/rrsa