Rights Respecting School

RIGHTS RESPECTING SCHOOL

Aim

At Bursted Wood Primary School, we are proud to be a Rights Respecting School and of having achieved the

SILVER: Rights Respecting Award

Our whole school community - children, parents and staff - are committed to our journey to become a Gold Rights Respecting School.

We are very pleased to announce that Bursted Wood Primary School has been awarded the Silver Rights Respecting School Award by UNICEF UK.

UNICEF is the world’s leading organisation working for children and their rights. The Rights Respecting Schools Award is granted to schools that show commitment to promoting and realising children’s rights and encouraging adults, children, and young people to respect the rights of others in school. Silver is given to schools that make excellent progress towards embedding the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into its ethos and curriculum.

The Award recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of our school’s planning, policies and practice. A Rights Respecting School is a community where children’s rights are learned, taught, practised, respected, protected and promoted and we are very proud to be on the journey to becoming a Gold Rights Respecting School.

We believe that one of our key roles is to foster curious learners who know that they have a right to have their voice heard, which is why the Unicef Convention of the Rights of the Child sits at the heart of our curriculum and day-to-day life.

We are committed to making our pupils responsible and passionate advocates for their rights, and the rights of others, using the Unicef rights as a common thread throughout every aspect of our school life.

From our corridor displays, class charters to our assemblies and thought-provoking lessons, rights are at the heart of our school.

RRS - Word of the Week

At our school, we believe that the language we use matters. Using respectful, thoughtful words helps create a community where everyone feels valued, safe and included. To help us all develop a stronger understanding of rights and respect, the School Council introduced a Rights Respecting Word of the Week initiative during Summer 1. Each week, a new word was shared and displayed around the school to help everyone learn more about what it means to respect our own rights and the rights of others. By using rights-respecting language in our conversations and actions, we continue to build a positive and supportive school community for everyone.

Pupil voice carried out during Summer 1 demonstrated that the initiative had a significant impact on pupils’ understanding of rights-respecting language and key concepts. Pupils were able to discuss the weekly vocabulary confidently and explain how it linked to their rights and responsibilities within the school community.

This was further recognised by a Parent Trustee, who commented:

“Pupils’ understanding of vocabulary is impressive, including concepts such as dignity and the difference between equality and equity. They provide sensible examples of how these concepts are seen in practice, such as teachers making adaptations within the classroom to meet the varied needs of pupils.”

Vocabulary development will continue to be embedded throughout Summer 2 through regular vocabulary quizzes along with a continued focus on key concepts such as dignity.

Our Journey Towards Rights Respecting Gold

As a school, we are committed to ensuring that children’s rights are at the heart of everything we do. Having successfully achieved the UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Silver Award, we are now working towards Gold accreditation, with our assessment taking place in July. While Silver recognises that rights are embedded within school policy, practice and learning, Gold recognises schools where a rights-respecting ethos is fully embedded and lived by the entire school community. This means that children not only learn about their rights but actively use them to shape decision-making, relationships and the wider culture of the school.

Our commitment to this work has been recognised externally. In its recent report, IQM stated:

“BWPS is working towards the UNICEF Rights Respecting School Gold Award. The rights respecting articles are woven into curriculum planning and the School Council are an elected body of children whose work is centred on Rights Respecting. They eloquently explained that all of their work and decision making must be based on the UNICEF principles.”

This reflects the progress we have made in embedding children’s rights throughout the curriculum and empowering pupils to become active advocates for positive change. As one of our Parent Trustees commented, “Being a Rights Respecting School and striving for Gold involves the whole school community.” Staff, pupils, governors, parents and carers all play an important role in ensuring that rights are understood, respected and promoted both within school and beyond.

Pupil Voice

“Working towards Gold has helped us understand that rights are not just something we learn about in lessons – they help us make decisions every day."

"We think more carefully about how our actions affect other people, and we know that everyone has a responsibility to respect the rights of others."

"We are proud of how our school listens to pupils and gives us opportunities to make a difference.”

We are proud that:

Our Rights Respecting Steering Group, The School Council, are passionate about publicising and embedding the rights across all aspects of school life.

School Council Webpage

Unicef and the Child Rights Convention