Rights Respecting School

A Rights Respecting School puts the rights of every child at the centre of school life. These rights come from the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which sets out what children need to grow, learn and be safe.

• Children learn about their rights and the rights of others.
• Adults and pupils use the language of rights when they talk and make decisions.
• Everyone works together to make sure school is safe, fair and welcoming.

There are three stages to the award: Bronze (planning), Silver (rights in action) and Gold (rights at the heart of school life). We are now at the Bronze stage and are already planning our journey to Silver.

Llanedeyrn Primary School is a diverse and welcoming community in Cardiff. We are already recognised as a School of Sanctuary, and we continue to learn how to support children and families who may be seeking safety.

In our School:

• Many pupils are eligible for free school meals and we work hard to support families.
• Pupils speak many different languages, and we celebrate this richness.
• We value every child’s language, culture and story.

Becoming a Rights Respecting School helps us to make sure that every child knows they belong, whoever they are and wherever they come from.

Bronze is a planning stage. To achieve it, we had to show that we are committed to becoming a Rights Respecting School and that we have a clear plan to reach Silver.

Some of the key things we have done include:

• Informing our whole community that we are on the Rights Respecting journey, through assemblies, newsletters, staff meetings and governor discussions.
• Learning about the UNCRC as staff, using training materials to build our understanding of children’s rights.
• Creating a pupil-led Rights Steering Group that meets to share ideas, plan actions and represent children’s voices across the School.
• Listening to pupils and staff through questionnaires so that we know what is working well and where we need to improve.
• Writing our Action Plan for Silver, identifying priorities in each strand of the award.
• Submitting our Bronze application and working with our UNICEF Professional Adviser to agree our next steps.

Our Rights Steering Group is made up of pupils from different year groups and classes. Their job is to:

• Help children learn about their rights in a fun and friendly way.
• Share ideas from their classes and bring pupil voice to meetings.
• Support whole school events that celebrate rights, respect and kindness.
• Check that our Action Plan for Silver is making a difference in classrooms and around the School.

The group works closely with staff and governors so that children are actively involved in leading change across the School.

Now that we have achieved Bronze, we are focusing on putting rights into action every day so that we can apply for Silver: Rights Aware.

Some of our next steps are to:

• Develop class charters with pupils, linking our classroom rules to specific children’s rights.
• Make rights more visible around the School through displays, assemblies and pupil projects.
• Continue to involve families and governors so that everyone understands the Rights Respecting work we are doing.
• Review our Action Plan regularly with staff and the Rights Steering Group to check our progress.

Our long term aim is to become a Gold Rights Respecting School, where rights and respect shape every part of school life.

Families are a very important part of our Rights Respecting journey. You can support by:

• Talking to your child about their rights and the rights of other children.
• Asking them which rights they have been learning about in class.
• Encouraging them to show respect, kindness and fairness at home and in the community.
• Reading school newsletters and information about Rights Respecting events.

Together, we can help every child at Llanedeyrn Primary School to feel safe, valued and heard.