Rights Respecting School Award
St. Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School is very proud to be working towards the UNICEF Rights Respecting School Award. 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.
St. Ambrose Barlow is a Rights Respecting School and currently holds the Silver Rights Aware Award, which is the second stage of the Rights Respecting Schools programme, following on after ‘Bronze Rights Committed’. Silver level charts St. Ambrose Barlow’s progress through three strands:
- Teaching and Learning about rights – through training, curriculum, assemblies.
- Teaching and learning through rights – by modelling rights respecting language and attitudes.
- Being ambassadors for the rights of others – developing as rights respecting citizens.
We will now continue our journey towards Gold: Rights Respecting. This is granted by UNICEF UK to schools that have fully embedded children’s rights throughout the school, in its policies, practice and ethos. This will also prepare our children well in becoming informed and active citizens of the next generation to the benefit of their local community and the wider world.
We have been promoting the values and principles of the ‘United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child’ and using it to underpin our vision for school improvement. We have been developing this approach to build upon our values-based learning, continue positive cultural development and create an even better atmosphere where everyone in the school is respectful of each other.
The Award is not just about what children do, but also importantly what adults do – in Rights Respecting Schools, children’s rights are promoted with adults and children working together.
Our Playground Charter
Our Lunchtime Charter
Changes at our School
Changes that have occurred at St. Ambrose Barlow since participating in the award:
- Our class and key stage assemblies now relate to the articles in the Convention and Global Goals.
- The displays in our school show articles from the Convention and Global Goals.
- Each class has developed its own class charter based on the Convention and Global Goals.
- We have held Rights focus weeks.
- The school has a ‘half termly right and Global Goal’ which is displayed and linked to our half termly value and virtue.
- Each piece of work, where possible relates to articles from the Convention and Global Goal.
Steering Group
Each class has a Rights Respecting Representative and they form part of the Steering Group. Included in our team are some committed parent/governor representatives to help the children raise awareness of local and global issues the children should get involved in knowing, understanding and helping.
The Steering Group hold regular meetings to discuss our progress and decide on what to do next. They work with our rights governor and all members of staff.
In recent times, the Steering Group has worked hard to link Article 24, Global Goals 12, 13 and 15 to our daily lives by:
- Looking after our environment by clearing vegetable patches in our school prayer garden.
- Litter picking along the Shirley Road and surrounding local area.
- Designing posters reminding our community to recycle paper whenever possible.
- Leading whole school assemblies based on specific articles from the convention.
- Completing display evaluations around our school, ensuring that the UNICEF convention and global goals are widely publicised throughout our school community.
The Rights Respecting steering group is the voice of our children! Additionally, they help organise a number of themed weeks to help children develop a better understanding of children’s rights all around the world.
Our Steering Group children also help to:
- Promote children’s rights across the school.
- Create and follow a plan to achieve the Gold: Rights Respecting.
- Lead gatherings and assemblies which have a focus on children’s Rights and Global Goals.
- Monitor the progress of promoting children’s rights and Global Goals throughout the school.
Rights Respecting Champions
Each term, we celebrate KS1 and KS2 children who show particular awareness of their rights and others’ rights, both in school and at home.
These children help promote the fact we are a Rights Respecting School; this is a place where we can all feel confident with ourselves and it encourages children to use their voice.
This award helps children to build their confidence and encourages them raise awareness of injustice in the world, at a local and global level.
Learn More
The learning of rights, respect and responsibility begins at home. Children at St. Ambrose Barlow learn about children in the UK and other parts of the world whose rights may not be respected. This develops a stronger sense of empathy and an awareness of how their actions can impact others.
By showing an interest and becoming involved in your child’s learning, you help your child learn the importance of giving and sharing with others:
- Take time to ask your child what they have learned recently regarding children’s rights.
- Ask your child’s opinion on children’s rights.
- Read the Convention articles.
For further information:
- Visit the UNICEF website
- Read the UNICEF Convention on the Rights of the Child
If you would like to help us with our RRSA journey we would love to hear from you!
Global Citizenship
The pupils have become aware of their roles as global citizens. This involves not just teaching about rights, justice, equality, respect and sustainable development, but putting these into practice through being energy conscious, environmentally aware, sensitive to the sourcing of resources and materials, ethically conscious, respectful of all people and the environment.
Teachers address the misconception that the mere fact that we all live on the earth makes us global citizens but active global citizenship involves a sense of global solidarity with our brothers and sisters across the world.
A global citizen actively participates to work for global justice. We are working together to achieve the 17 global goals before 2030.
For more information visit the World’s Largest Lesson website