Rights Respecting School

What is a Unicef Rights Respecting School?

In 1989, governments around the globe adopted the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) which recognised that all children have the right to be protected and to have their voices heard.

There are four key areas of impact for children at a Rights Respecting School: wellbeing, participation, relationships and self-esteem.

The difference that a Rights Respecting School makes goes beyond the school gates, making a positive impact on the whole community.

children are happier and healthier
children feel safe
children have better relationships
children become active and involved in school life and the wider world

What does it mean to be a Rights Respecting School?

There are three stages to the Rights Respecting Schools Award. Its transformative and rigourous approach means the journey to the highest stage can take up to four years.

Together, young people and the school community learn about children's rights, putting them into practice every day. The Award is not just about what children do but also, importantly, what adults do. In Rights Respecting Schools, children's rights are promoted and realised, adults and children work towards this goal together. The Award recognises a school's achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into practice within the school community and beyond.

At Gatley Primary School, we are committed to promoting a Rights Respecting ethos throughout our school where the children are at the heart of everything we do. We aim to ensure that the Convention on the Rights of the Child, along with our school values of independence, social responsibility, choice, life skills and achieve underpin all that we do and we are committed to creating a safe and inspiring place to learn, where children are respected, their talents are nurtured and they are able to thrive.

We advocate pupil voice and involve the children in their own learning and social and emotional well-being. We have high expectations and we value the investment in our children as innovators who have the ability to have an impact and make a change. As a Rights Respecting School, we aim to further develop these high expectations through the children's work, behaviour, relationships and aspirations. The rights also develop resilience as they teach our pupils key life skills and broaden their knowledge of relevant global issues.

Local and global responsibility is also a fundamental part of our school. The Rights Respecting School Award enables the children to contribute to changing and improving not only our school, but also our local community and the wider world.

What are children's rights?

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 articled 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. Every child has rights, whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion, language, abilities or any other status.

Please see the rights overview below for a summary of Articles 1-42.