How a UNICEF initiative is bringing children’s
rights to life in UK schools
Every child has the right to an education
which should develop his or her personality and talents to the full.
Every child has the right to have his or her voice heard. These are just
two of the 42 articles which make up the UN Convention on the Rights of
the Child (UNCRC), which is at the heart of what UNICEF does.
Children’s rights are based on their needs to thrive as human
beings. These rights are therefore unconditional. It is up to adults to
ensure children learn about and understand their rights. Adults also
need to help children grow to understand what they and adults can do
that will best ensure these rights are enjoyed by all.
That’s where the Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) comes in. As
UNICEF UK’s Head of Education Edward Waller says, “This award aims to
help a school to bring the values and principles set out in the CRC into
the school’s ethos and its curriculum in a way that means something to
everybody.”
Rights and responsibilities
A Rights-Respecting school doesn’t just teach children to name their
rights; it gets them to relate the articles to their own lives and
experiences. Children also come to understand that, along with their
rights, are implied responsibilities. “All children have the right to an
education because if we don’t have an education we won’t be able to
read anything,” says Amani, a Year 6 pupil at Millfields Community
School in Hackney, “[But we have a responsibility] to respect the staff
and equipment.”
The idea that children can improve the quality of their own and their
families’ lives if they learn what their rights and responsibilities
are is central to the RRSA. This includes raising their achievement at
school in the broadest sense. “The way you engage children in
recognising their responsibilities is not to present them as negative,”
says Edward, “but as part of the empowerment that comes from having
their rights respected. When children learn about their rights they also
learn that they are universal. If every child is to enjoy their rights
then each needs to learn to respect each other’s rights.”
"All children have
the right to an education... but we have a responsibility to respect the
staff and equipment."
Amani, Year 6 pupil at Millfields
Community School
A values framework
Safak, also a pupil at Millfields Community
School, says that his favourite article is “drinking clean water because
we can’t live without water, but we’re not supposed to waste it for no
reason”. As Safak’s answer demonstrates, the RRSA sits well with other
Government-sponsored initiatives such as Eco Schools and Healthy
Schools. It acts as a ‘values wrapper’, as Edward puts it, bringing all
these different initiatives together. What’s more, as a values framework
for the whole school, the CRC is generally accepted by parents,
teachers and pupils because it is universal and not based on any
particular religion or culture.
Roz Wilson co-ordinates the RRSA at Millfields Community Primary
School in Hackney, east London. The 604 children on the school’s roll
speak over 40 languages between them. Over 74 per cent of pupils speak
English as a second or third language and around 20 per cent of the
school’s intake are refugees or asylum seekers. “The RRSA has
international credibility and suited our community of children and
parents who come from diverse cultures and backgrounds,” says Roz.
RRSA at Millfields School
So how does a school work towards becoming a Rights Respecting
school? Level 1 describes a school which has made good progress across
four key aspects of school life: leadership and management; pupils’
knowledge and understanding of the CRC; classroom climate and culture;
and pupils’ active participation in decision-making. A Level 2 is
awarded to schools which demonstrate that these principles are fully
embedded in the life of the school.
At Millfields, pupils have learned about their rights in PSHE and
even made films about children’s rights which you can view
online. Roz has produced resources linking rights to other areas so
that the Rights Respecting approach becomes embedded in pupils’
thinking. Issues such as trade and international boundaries, for
example, can be discussed when learning about perimeter in numeracy
lessons.
The language of children’s rights is used when learning about other
countries too. Pupils are encouraged to empathise with, not sympathise,
with their counterparts elsewhere. “We all have a right to learn,” says
Nikita, another pupil at the school, “That means people in other places,
and not just rich kids - poor kids too. We all need to be treated with
respect and have an education.”
To ensure that the RRSA ethos became embedded in the classroom, the
school drew up Class Charters which matched each right with a
responsibility and a reference to respecting the rights of others. “The
new three Rs - Rights, Respect and Responsibility - seemed to go down
well with all the adults,” comments Roz. “Previously they had only a
vague understanding of what children’s rights actually are and confused
them with wants.”
Empowering young people
At Rights Respecting schools, children and
young people are encouraged to input into what happens and have their
opinions taken into account, in line with article 12 of the CRC. This
aims to demonstrate, says UNICEF’s Edward Waller, that “putting children
at the centre of our thinking, the centre of policy making, actually
makes a change for the better”.
Something you hear a lot at Millfields is that everyone has a right
to speak but they must ensure that everyone else has a chance to make
their point too. At the school council, members raise issues which have
been highlighted by their classmates. If the council agrees to carry an
issue, such as a request for a new lunchtime activity, then the council
writes a letter to the staff member responsible for that area. A
girls-only day has been introduced for the football cage in the
playground following discussion with pupils.
Pupils actively participate in making the school a pleasanter and
more inclusive place in other ways too. Friendship Finders match up
younger pupils with someone to play with at break time, while Peer
Mediators are trained to resolve conflict between classmates. Millfield
School’s assessment, carried out in June 2008, states that
“relationships across all sections of the school community are very
positive. Children report a very low incidence of bullying and were
confident in asserting that Millfields is a school where everyone has
the opportunity to develop their talents and abilities to the full.”
Positive outcomes
Millfields is by no means unusual. Evidence from Hampshire (1) suggests
that when the values of the CRC underpin a school’s ethos and
curriculum, they have a positive impact on the school environment.
Teachers’ morale is boosted, children feel empowered and behaviour
improves. The initial findings of ongoing research by the University of
Sussex (2)
shows that every school surveyed reported improved behaviour,
particularly in the playground. Schools involved in the scheme for at
least one year have noticed improved behaviour in lessons too.
“It doesn’t matter where the information is coming from, there’s a
very consistent pattern,” says UNICEF’s Edward Waller, “And that pattern
is a positive response in young people.”
Mary Whittaker is Web Editor at UNICEF UK
Find out more
References
1. , Rights
Respect and Responsibility: Report on the Hampshire County Initiative,
September 2007.
2. ; Interim report at end of Year 1; J Sebba & C Robinson; 25
July 2008