What does it mean to be a Rights Respecting School?

A Rights Respecting School, is a school that embeds the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC or CRC) in their practices to improve well-being and help all children to realise their potential.

What is the UNCRC?

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, or UNCRC, is the basis of all of Unicef’s work. It is the most complete statement of children’s rights ever produced and is the most widely-ratified international human rights treaty in history.

The Convention has 54 articles that cover all aspects of a child’s life and set out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children everywhere are entitled to. It also explains how adults and governments must work together to make sure all children can enjoy all their rights.  See here for a list of all the articles.

In 1989, governments worldwide promised all children the same rights by adopting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, also known as the CRC or UNCRC. The Convention changed the way children are viewed and treated – in other words, as human beings with a distinct set of rights instead of as passive objects of care and charity.

These rights describe what a child needs to survive, grow, and live up to their potential in the world. They apply equally to every child, no matter who they are or where they come from.

What do we need to do to become a Rights Respecting School?

To become a Rights Respecting School The Bay CE Primary School have worked incredibly hard and are delighted to have been awarded the silver award in summer 2018.  

The Rights Respecting School Award (RRSA) is an initiative run by UNICEF UK, which encourages schools to place the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the heart of its ethos and curriculum. A Rights Respecting School not only teaches about children’s rights; it also models rights and respect in all its relationships, whether between children or between children and adults.