UNICEF - Rights Respecting School

St. Mary's First School is a UNICEF Rights Respecting School (RRS). The staff at St. Mary's are fully committed to the RRS principles and have created the conditions for a rights respecting culture.

A RRS is one in which there is a culture of mutual respect underpinning all of its work. Children learn about their rights as identified in the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child. They also learn that they have responsibilities – a responsibility to respect the rights of all others in their community. In a RRS, children learn to appreciate their role within a community – their school and local community as well as their global community.

The children at St. Mary's have all been taught about their rights and responsibilities. We have been looking at the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child and have discussed that these rights apply to all children everywhere.

In our work towards becoming a RRS we have done many things, including:-

• Given all our children the chance to exercise their right to have their opinions taken into account through developing a School Council who are involved in making real decisions about the running of the school.

• Developed the use of Class Charters – created with the children – which identify the rights and responsibilities particular to each classroom. The charter is agreed on at the beginning of the academic year and can be reviewed at any time. The children all sign their charter to show they are in agreement.

• Through the School Council, introduced a Playground Charter which identifies the rights and responsibilities for the use of the playground, a whole school charter and a lunchtime charter.
  

Visit the UNICEF Web site to find out more about the award.