British Values; Global Schools; Race & Social Justice & Rights Respecting

We are delighted to share that Hunters Hall primary school is working with the UK Committee for UNICEF (UNICEF UK) to work towards the Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA). This initiative places children’s rights at the very core of our school’s ethos and culture, aiming to enhance wellbeing and help every child realise their full potential.

UNICEF is the world’s leading organisation for children, and in the UK, it supports thousands of schools to become safe, inspiring, and rights respecting learning environments.

The foundation of this award is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), adopted by governments worldwide in 1989. The Convention sets out the rights every child needs to survive, grow, participate, and thrive.

By working towards the Rights Respecting Schools Award, pupils will learn about their rights as outlined in the Convention and how to put them into practice every day. They will learn both about rights and through rights, developing as rights-respecting citizens locally and globally. Schools that achieve the Gold Rights Respecting School Award demonstrate that children’s rights are embedded in school life and that mutual respect is modelled in all relationships and interactions.

I hope you will support us on our journey to becoming a UNICEF UK Rights Respecting School. Please take a few moments to read the questions and answers below. To learn more about the Convention on the Rights of the Child, visit https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention.

You may also find our CRC summary helpful: https://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools/the-rrsa/introducing-the-crc/.

For further information, please visit: https://www.unicef.org.uk/rrsa.

Yours respectfully, Mr Kaitell (Headteacher)

Q1: What is the Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA)? A: The RRSA is an initiative run by UNICEF UK that helps schools embed children’s rights in their daily school life. RRSA helps give children the best chance to lead happy, healthy lives and to be responsible, active citizens.	Q2: Why is our school working towards this award? A: By working towards the RRSA, our school is committed to placing children’s rights at the heart of everything we do. This helps improve wellbeing, supports every child to reach their potential, and encourages a culture of mutual respect.	Q3: What are children’s rights? A: Children’s rights are the basic things every child needs to survive, grow, participate, and reach their potential. These rights are set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which the UK government has agreed to uphold.
Q4: How will this benefit my child? A: Children in Rights Respecting Schools feel safer, happier, and more included. They learn about their rights and how to respect the rights of others, which helps them become confident, active citizens both in school and in the wider world.	Q5: What will my child learn? A: Pupils will learn about their rights as set out in the CRC and how to put them into practice every day. They will also learn about being rights-respecting citizens locally and globally.	Q6: How can parents and carers get involved? A: We encourage you to talk with your child about what they are learning and to read the information we send home. You can find more about the Convention on the Rights of the Child at https://www.unicef.org/child-rights-convention and our school’s RRSA journey at https://www.unicef.org.uk/rrsa
	Q7: Where can I find more information? A: For further details, please contact our Rights Respecting Schools Coordinator (insert name here) or visit the UNICEF UK RRSA website: https://www.unicef.org.uk/rrsa

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EaB_yIgJBDSMdUNaGKvELt83IgJ49wxO/preview

Furthermore, our school has signed up to and are embedding the key aspects within the Race & Social Justice Charter:

At Hunters Hall these fundamental values are woven into our school ethos.

Democracy

• We have an elected School Council. This is used as an opportunity to promote and teach about democracy and the electoral process.
• We encourage children to express their views through “Pupil Voice” surveys and ensure they are listened to in school and see evidence of what they have suggested in place.
• We organise visits to the local council as well as visits from local councillors.
• We participate in Junior Citizen Programmes.
• We teach children how to present their views logically through persuasive writing.
• Philosophy for Children (P4C) lessons are taught throughout the school
• Participation in the “Dialogic Teaching Project”
• Democracy is also promoted through additional PSHE lessons and assemblies.
• Look at examples in History and encourage the children to draw their own conclusions about how Democracy works e.g. Ancient Greece.

Rule of law

• We have high expectations about pupil conduct and this is reflected in our behaviour policy.
• Children are encouraged to understand what we mean by “good “ behaviour from an early age.
• We have clear rewards and sanctions.
• Positive behaviour is celebrated across the school in assemblies, Green Time and with parents/carers.
• The children are taught that they earn their rewards through behaving well.
• All staff committed to promoting good behaviour and visiting staff are given information about how we want the children to behave and how they are to be treated.
• We use restorative justice approaches to resolve conflicts.
• We include visits from the local police and fire service to reinforce the rule of law as part of our curriculum.

Individual Liberty

• We support pupils to develop their self-awareness, self-confidence and self-esteem.
• We encourage children to develop their talents and individual skills across the curriculum and value all their achievements.
• We encourage pupils to take responsibility for their behaviour as well as knowing their rights.
• All staff follow safeguarding policies in order to provide a safe supportive environment to protect individuals.
• The children are expected to behave in a safe responsible way in order to protect each other and not to infringe on another child’s personal liberty.
• We encourage children to express their opinions whilst learning to respect the opinions of others.
• Children are taught that personal freedom must be exercised safely, with regard to others through regular safeguarding talks regarding safety, cyber-bullying and inappropriate use of electronic games.
• We challenge stereotypes.
• We implement a strong anti-bullying culture.

Respect and Tolerance

• We promote respect for individual differences.
• We help pupils to acquire an understanding of, and respect for, their own and other cultures and ways of life.
• We challenge discriminatory or prejudicial behaviour.
• We encourage and try to develop critical personal thinking skills.
• We participate in campaigns such as “Show Racism the Red Card” and “Hands are not for Hurting”
• We discuss differences between people such as faith ethnicity, disability, gender sexuality and differences of family such as looked –after children or young carers.
• We organise visits to places of worship.
• We celebrate different festivals.
• We adopt a multicultural approach to the curriculum and include elements such as stories, food, music, dancing etc.
• We involve parents in sharing their languages and cultural experience in our curriculum.