Rights Respecting Schools Award

One of the greatest challenges that schools face is to define a clear set of values – not just rules – that has been developed with the full school community and is actively upheld by all.

UNICEF Rights Respecting School Award (RRSA) helps schools to use the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as the values framework that enables this to be achieved.

The UNCRC enhances pupils’ understanding of the consequences of individual and group actions on the rights of others locally and globally. The articles of the Convention are based on the recognition of every child’s basic needs in order to thrive. The UNCRC therefore sets out a child’s rights to:

• Survive and have good health
• Be protected from harm
• Develop their talents and skills
• Participate in the world to which they belong.  

On the 20th November 1989 the world made a set of promises for every child on earth. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international statement of all of those promises.

UNICEF protects and promotes those rights and the Rights Respecting Schools Award seeks to put the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of a school’s ethos and culture to make sure that every child is healthy, educated, treated fairly and listened to. They also make sure that all children are protected from violence, abuse and exploitation.

The Award recognises achievement in incorporating the Convention into a school’s planning, policies and practice. A Rights Respecting School teaches child rights and models rights and respect in all its relationships – between teacher / adults and pupils, between adults and between pupils.

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.

We want children at Hatton School to learn about their rights and feel empowered throughout their education. The teaching of rights lends itself incredibly well to many learning areas such as ‘PSHE’, ‘SMSC’ and School Assemblies’. All teaching staff and support staff, including the lunchtime staff have received training on the UNCRC.

Being a Rights Respecting school has become part of our everyday school life and we are proud to have achieved the award ‘Gold - Rights Respecting’.

To achieve the UNICEF Rights Respecting School Award, Hatton School must meet the required standards across four aspects of school life. These are:

• Leadership and management which promotes the values of the UNCRC in the life of the school
• Knowledge of the UNCRC including an understanding that with rights comes responsibilities
• Rights-respecting climate and culture in the classroom
• Active pupil participation in decision making.  

In line with the UNCRC, children understand that their rights are inherent, universal, unconditional, inalienable and indivisible. Here is a short summary of what these words mean:

• Inherent – Rights are inherent meaning they are yours because you are born a human.

• Indivisible – Rights are indivisible meaning no right is more important than another one. They are equal and linked.

• Inalienable – Rights are inalienable meaning you cannot give them away or sell them and no one can take them away from you.

• Universal – Rights are universal meaning they are for all children (under 18), everywhere, all the time.

• Unconditional – Rights are unconditional meaning they are not a reward and not dependent on a responsibility or performing an action to get them.