UNICEF – Rights Respecting Schools
Holy Cross is working with UNICEF on their Rights Respecting Schools programme. The Rights Respecting Schools Award puts children’s rights at the heart of schools in the UK.
UNICEF works with schools to create safe and inspiring places to learn, where children are respected, their talents are nurtured and they are able to thrive. The Rights Respecting Schools Award embeds these values in daily school life and gives children the best chance to lead happy, healthy lives and to be responsible, active citizens.
UNICEF Ambassadors
As part of our Rights Respecting Schools programme we have established a team of ambassadors
to help Miss Baptiste and Miss Panchoo guide us on our journey. We look forward to the programme and these children playing their important role in this.
We are delighted to announce that we are now officially a Silver School! We had a meeting on Wednesday morning with an assessor and she was extremely impressed with the work that we have done here at Holy Cross. It is so important that our lovely children have the rights that they entitled to and that they know about these rights. My thanks to Miss Baptiste, Miss Panchoo and Mr Foster for spending a considerable amount of time working on this application and with the children.
We are continuing our work on the Rights Respecting Schools programme along with our fabulous team of UNICEF Ambassadors. Each week the programme focuses on some of the articles from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). We will share these with you each week through the newsletter and discuss them with children in School. We want our children to understand their rights and to be aware of the importance of them in our lives. The website is full of interesting information, please do take a look.
This week we are looking at:
This week, our UNICEF focus was on Article 2, which emphasises that all children have rights without discrimination, regardless of their ethnicity, gender, religion, language, abilities, or background. Year 4 chose this article to advocate for and led the UNICEF assembly, linking it to the celebration of Martin Luther King Day, which also took place this week. They highlighted Dr King’s legacy of fighting for equality and how his message of fairness and inclusion aligns with the principles of Article 2. Year 4 inspired us all to reflect on the importance of treating everyone with respect and ensuring that no one is left out.
For homework, children are encouraged to learn about other figures who have fought for equality and share their findings with their classes during our oracy sessions next week. We look forward to hearing about their inspiring examples!
Using the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) UNICEF works with schools across the country. The Award recognises a school’s achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into practice within the school and beyond