A Gold Rights Respecting School
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Article 29
Education must develop every child’s personality, talents and abilities to the full. It must encourage the child’s respect for human rights, as well as respect for their parents, their own and other cultures, and the environment
What Is a Rights Respecting School?
At the end of March 2015, we were delighted to become one of only 228 schools to be awarded the Rights Respecting School Award at Level 2. This is the highest stage and is awarded to schools that have fully embedded the UN convention on the Rights of the Child in their practice and ethos. The award is granted by UNICEF UK. In June 2018 this was superseded by our now gold status!
See the Rights Respecting Schools Award website for more details:
http://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools/
Rights must be:
– Universal: all children, all the time
– Unconditional: not a reward….you don’t have to earn them
– Inherent: they are yours…you are born with them….because you are a human
– Indivisible: they come as a whole package. They are equal. A web. Interlinked. The web cannot be broken
– Inalienable: can’t be lost or given away
– They are NOT absolute…e.g. you can’t exercise your right to “play” when you are in the middle of a lesson. The only absolute right is your right not to be abused or tortured
– Limited: if you don’t respect the rights of others in your classroom you might have to work in a safe place elsewhere
– Prioritised: rights can be prioritised in certain situations (e.g disaster management) but also day to day at school.
– Qualified: must be used in a measured way…you have the right to a voice but without the use of discriminatory language; you have the right to play…but safely.
What Does This Mean?
The Rights Respecting Schools Award recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) at the heart of a school’s planning, policies, practice and ethos.
Children start to learn about their rights as soon as they enter the nursery. By Year One all children can explain what they know about rights. The SLD unit has a class charter using symbols.
The children know that they will be listened to and shown respect. In return they need to show respect to each other.
The children are active participants in school life and in decision making about matters that affect them.
Allenby’s children are aware of international issues and take action to make a positive change as they prepare to become global citizens.
The school is committed to global citizenship through global links to the curriculum and taking action to support the rights of children in poorer countries.
Here is one of our Rights Officers interviewing MP Virendra Kumar.
What Is a Rights Respecting School?
A rights respecting school puts the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child (CRC) at the heart of a school’s culture and ethos to improve well-being and develop every child's talents and abilities to their fullest potential.
Rights Respecting School
Following a rigorous assessment on March 2015 Allenby Primary School became the first school in Ealing to be granted the Level 2 award. The award is granted by UNICEF UK. In June 2019 this was superseded by our now gold status, again the first in Ealing!
Ofsted 2014 and 2018
In June 2014 Ofsted inspectors commented on the school’s ethos:
“Strong personal, spiritual, moral and cultural development is at the heart of the school’s success and underpins pupils’ good behaviour. Pupils feel safe at school.....The development of pupils’ social, moral, spiritual and cultural development is a strength of the school. Pupils celebrate the diversity of their cultures and learn about different faiths. Assemblies successfully promote pupils’ understanding of moral issues.”
In March 2018 Ofsted inspectors commented on the schools ethos:
"You, your staff, pupils and their parents and carers are rightly proud of the school’s accolade as a Unicef level 2 Rights Respecting School, which permeates the ethos of the community. Pupils were keen to explain what this means and the work they have been doing to raise funds to help build a school in India. Pupils and staff consistently treat each other with kindness and respect. Older pupils explained enthusiastically how they applied to become part of ‘team CRC’ (Convention on the Rights of the Child) which helps younger pupils. Other pupils have been elected as ‘rights respecting officers’ in order to represent pupils’ views and this group has recently updated the school’s anti-bullying policy."
As one parent commented: ‘The school is very good at celebrating diversity, values equality and has had an increased focus on inclusive practices this year.’
Nora Leonard, SACRE Consultant, June 2015
Nora Leonard, who recently visited Allenby, said:
“It is impossible to miss or minimise the importance that the staff, students and their parents give to Allenby’s status as a Rights Respecting School. The whole community was involved in the negotiation and the implementation of the school charter, which has been translated into many different languages by parents.”