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.
Webster’s High School is currently working towards the Silver Unicef Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA).
The award is based on the principles of equality, dignity, respect, non-discrimination and participation. A rights respecting school is a community where children’s rights are learned, taught, practised, respected, protected and promoted.
It is based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which sets out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that everyone under 18 is entitled to.
What impact could RRSA have?
On the school:
- RRSA is not an initiative, but instead provides an overarching set of values that improve the climate for learning within which other initiatives can sit.
- Improved relationships with pupils through the use of rights-respecting language. RRSA is about mutual respect as everyone has the same rights.
On children:
- Improved self-esteem and feelings of being valued and listened to.
- Increased levels of respect for each other, leading to improved relationships with other pupils and staff. More respect for each other’s rights, particularly in education (Article 28).
- A sense of security as rights-respecting language and behaviour is used consistently throughout the school.
- A wider and deeper understanding of the world in which they live.
The Awards
Bronze: Rights Committed is the first stage of the Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA).
Silver: Rights Aware is the second stage of the Rights Respecting Schools Award (after Bronze: Rights Committed).
Gold: Rights Respecting is the highest stage of the Rights Respecting Schools Award (after Bronze: Rights Committed and Silver: Rights Aware). It is granted by Unicef UK to schools that have fully embedded children’s rights throughout the school in its policies, practice and ethos, as outlined in the three RRSA Strands.
Our Progress so far:
Our Award Status
- We have been awarded the Bronze level RRSA Award (Recognition of Commitment).
- We have been awarded the Silver Level RRSA Award (Rights Aware).
- We are working towards the Gold Award!
What we are currently doing!
- We have a staff working group that meets regularly
- We have a pupil representative group that also meets regularly
- Both groups work together to write and review our action plan each year.
- The groups also helped contribute to the ‘Webster’s Standard’ which is our RRSA charter and the main focus of our Relationships policy and our school Ethos (You can see it in our about school section!)
- The Pupil Council and both Senior Pupil and Junior Pupil Leadership Teams have been working hard to promote the RRSA.
- Staff receive yearly training on what being a rights-respecting school means for their practice.
- All of our school policies, training, groups and, opportunities both curricular and non-curricular are linked to the UNCRC
- Each term we will focus on a different article and different events within the school that link with this.
- We hold assemblies and keep parents informed through our school app and school website home page of all news and encourage people to get involved.
