A school has become only the sixth in the country to receive a special award from international children’s charity UNICEF.
Youngsters and staff at Weston Lullingfields Primary School received UNICEF’s Rights Respecting School Award (RRSA) last week.
The award is to recognise that pupils have been learning about their rights and responsibilities.
Unicef said the idea behind the scheme is to help give children a starting point for building self esteem so that youngsters can become empowered. It is hoped that by learning about their rights, children will be given ideas of their responsibilities. Staff at the school have been teaching these ideas to pupils over the last four years and last week pupils gave a presentation of their work and ideas to school members.
Head teacher Jackie Cutcliffe said: “The Unicef RRSA is to do with changing the way we approach every day life in the school.
“The children at Weston Lullingfields Primary School are aware of their rights and they know they have responsibilities.
“Even the youngest child can talk about their rights and responsibilities.
“We are the sixth school to achieve this level nationally. We are very proud of this award and it is a combination of four years’ work in the school and the children gave presentations of their work.”
Paul Johnson, UNICEF education officer, said: “We were extremely impressed with the work of Western Lullingfields Primary School. Both the teachers and the pupils are thoroughly committed to using the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child to underpin everything that happens in school life. It is clear that this is having a positive effect on teachers and pupils alike.”
UNICEF is a charity that works to help build a world where the rights of every child are realised.
