Achieving the RRSA Outcomes

At Silver 

Many children and young people are familiar with a number of Articles of the CRC and can communicate the rights they enjoy. They know rights are universal and unconditional; the CRC applies to all children and young people everywhere, all the time. They demonstrate an awareness of where and why some children may not be able to access their rights. Adults and the wider school community know about and understand the CRC. 

At Gold

Most children and young people are familiar with a wide range of Articles of the CRC. They understand the concept of duty bearers and the concepts of rights being inherent, inalienable, indivisible, universal and unconditional. Most children and young people understand how local and global issues and sustainable development are linked to rights. Adults and the wider school community show a commitment to the CRC. 

• Ensure that pupils, parents, carers, staff and governors know about your Rights Respecting  journey. You can find PowerPoint presentations and letter templates to help launch the award  here.  Remember to inform new members of your school community about the RRSA each year!  

• Make the CRC visible in your school. You can purchase packs of A3 leaflets summarising the CRC. A free colourful version of the CRC using simple icons can be downloaded here or a summary version of the text in A4 format here (this is great for staff/governors). You can find alternative versions of the CRC here including in different languages and PowerPoint versions as well as communication friendly posters and cards of the UNCRC symbols. 

• Raise everyone’s awareness of the CRC. Our intro page should help. For a detailed exploration with staff, use some of the activities in the Understanding the CRC  or the Rights Refresher edition in our Spotlight CPD series.   

• Lots of schools have a “Right of the Month” theme, planned by the Steering Group. Each month there could be: an assembly, a newsletter item, a homework task, a display, a competition or a discussion in tutor time (run by pupils) relating to a specific article. You might like to use our new Rights Around the World resource.

• Link everything to rights!  Support your colleagues to make connections to relevant articles at every opportunity. For example: a briefing message about attendance (Article 28), CPD about safeguarding (Articles 3, 12 and 19) or a memo about vaccinations or a display about healthy eating (Article 24). This relates to other awards and programmes too, such as Eco Schools, Fairtrade and nurture schemes which can all be strengthened by linking them to rights.  

• Having a regular focus on children’s rights at assemblies provides a good opportunity to explore the CRC. Check out our ideas for primary and secondary assemblies, and our suggested planner for Article of the Week. Consider adding Picture News.

• Consider a visual way of celebrating and appreciating the role of duty bearers in your school, such as posters on doors such as Mx XXX (caretaker) is a duty bearer, helping us to access our right to a clean and healthy environment (Article 24) and to be safe (Article 19). 

• Use vocabulary and images to remind everyone how rights and the related concepts work. You could turn the ABCDE of rights resource into a display or create imagery to represent equity and inclusion. Our Glossary of RRSA terms and language may inspire other ideas too.

• Use your website, newsletters and digital platforms to share rights awareness with the wider community.  Be strong and proud in asserting your school’s ambition to make children’s rights the foundation of all that you do as a community. Use the article icons or #Article28 to make this explicit. 

• Take time to look at all curriculum content (perhaps one subject at a time) and look for topics and themes that can be linked to particular articles to enrich the learning. Think about engaging pupils in this process and build this into schemes of work and planning.  Read our case study on integrating children’s rights in learning at Craigdhu Primary and our case study on embedding rights in the curriculum at William Fletcher Primary and The Howard Secondary for more ideas. If you have CPD time with colleagues, use our Spotlight resource, Rights In the Curriculum to support with this.  

• Use external media resources such as Newsround to look at global issues and talk about them from the perspective of rights. For example, when looking at conflict or climate change, begin by exploring the injustice of the situation, especially for children, and the impact on their rights. Many schools subscribe to sources such as First News, Votes for Schools, Picture News, Coram and Lyfta, all of which refer directly to the CRC. 

• Consider how the books and literature used in your curriculum could prompt discussion about rights and/or be better understood or appreciated through the lens of child rights. This Spotlight resource has many ideas and George Green’s Secondary School shared their practice in this case study. 

• Use resources from the World’s Largest Lesson to link rights to the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development. 

At Silver

Many children and young people know and understand how school facilitates them in enjoying a range of their rights. Pupils and staff can share how they and others act to create a rights respecting environment. 

At Gold

Most children and young people are able to share how school, and duty bearers, facilitate them to enjoy a wide range of their rights. They understand the concepts of fairness and equity and can convey how their school promotes such principles and puts them into practice. Most children and young people know and trust that the school will act upon any concerns about their rights not being met. 

• Raise children and young people’s awareness of how life in school links to many children’s rights, for example, by highlighting the connection between school experiences, routines and systems and relevant Articles in the CRC. Some examples may include linking school trips to Article 29, lockdown drills to Article 19 or Zones of Regulation to Article 24.

• Provide training opportunities for staff to develop their own professional knowledge and understanding of key concepts such as fairness and equity.  

• Ensure staff feel confident using rights respecting language and support them to develop their understanding of RRSA. Read our case study on rights respecting language at Meadows First for more ideas. 

• Consider introducing class, playground, ICT and/or school charters. You may find our Charter Guidance and Guide to a Rights Respecting Classroom helpful.  

• Make reference to articles in the CRC and the RRSA in school policies. Our Articles in Action resource might give you some ideas of which articles can be linked to different policies.  

• Use assemblies to focus on key rights vocabulary such as duty bearers, rights holders, dignity, equity and fairness. Read our case study on equity at Wingate Primary School for more ideas. 

At Silver

Many children and young people can communicate about how positive relationships are encouraged. Rights are used to explore moral dilemmas and rights respecting approaches are developed.  

At Gold

Relationships are identified by most children, young people and adults as mutually respectful. There is evidence that respectful relationships are strengthening over time. Many children and young people understand the concept of dignity through their lived experience. They can express how dignity and rights explicitly inform life in school. School systems to address disagreements, conflict and prejudicial attitudes and actions are perceived as transparent, fair and effective by children and adults. 

• Use circle time, assemblies, PSHE or RE lessons to explore dignity, ethical dilemmas and fairness.

• Read our case study on dignity at Martin Primary School, our case study on relationships at Grange School (SEND) and our case study at Bunbury and Nelson Mandela Primary Schools for more ideas. 

• Consider how to nurture and strengthen respectful relationships across your setting by encouraging the whole school community to use the language of rights. 

• Train staff and lunchtime supervisors to use rights to strengthen positive relationships using consistent, rights-based relational approaches. Involve pupils when training staff where possible.

• Provide training opportunities for staff to develop their own professional knowledge and understanding of dignity. 

• Consider introducing class, playground, ICT and/or school charters; you may find our Charter Guidance and Guide to a Rights Respecting Classroom helpful. 

• Introduce restorative conversations or conflict resolution techniques. When this is embedded, consider providing opportunities for pupils to become peer mediators or wellbeing ambassadors. If you already use a restorative approach, modify ‘scripts’ to bring in the language of rights and respect.  

• Audit your behaviour, relationships and anti-bullying policies through the lens of rights and dignity and consider how you can involve pupils in this process. 

• Update policies so the language of rights and dignity is explicitly reflected and consider developing child-friendly versions. Include reference to relevant articles, for example Articles 2, 19 and 28.  

• Encourage families to reinforce these principles at home and in community interactions, offering workshops or communications to support this. 

• Develop staff confidence in their role of having to limit and/or balance rights for children and young people.  

At Silver

Many children and young people share that they feel in a safe environment at school and can describe how their actions and those of others contribute to this. They can show what they would do and who they would speak to if, for any reason, they did not feel safe. 

At Gold

Nearly all children and young people share that they feel safe at school and can describe how becoming rights respecting contributes to this. The school can show that bullying, violent and discriminatory behaviour is rare (or steadily declining). Most children and young people have trust in the school systems that enable them to report any sense of not feeling safe both within and beyond school. 

• Link learning, assemblies, whole-school events such as Anti-Bullying Week or Safer Internet Day or themed days about keeping safe to Article 19 and other relevant articles in the Convention.

• Ensure that children and young people know how the school supports their right to be safe, linked to Article 19.

• Use rights to strengthen current safeguarding practices.

• Create pupil-friendly safeguarding displays. You could include terminology such as ‘duty bearers’ for the adults.

• Use worry boxes, discreet check-ins, website reporting buttons or wellbeing boards to give pupils regular opportunities to raise concerns.

• Use pupil surveys or focus groups to gather feedback on safety and follow-up with visible actions.

• Introduce peer support systems such as playground buddies.

• Involve children and young people in evaluating or co-writing policies such as safeguarding or online safety policies, linking them to relevant articles. They could develop pupil friendly versions.

• Ensure that all safeguarding training links to relevant children’s rights.

• Invite external visitors to speak about safety within school and beyond, ensuring that they link presentations to rights.

• Read our case study on safeguarding at Eastbury Community School or our case study at Longstone Special School for more ideas.

At Silver

Many children know how the school supports them with their physical and mental health, social and emotional needs. 

At Gold

Most children and young people know how the school provides information and support for a range of physical, mental, social and emotional needs. 

• Use rights to strengthen your current work on health and wellbeing, making explicit links to relevant articles in the CRC.

• Ensure that children and young people know how the school supports their right to physical and mental health and wellbeing.
• Link learning, assemblies, whole-school events or themed days about health and wellbeing to Article 24 and other relevant articles, for example during, Children’s Mental Health Week. 

• Offering targeted support through initiatives, programmes, counselling or partnerships with health/mental health services. 

• Promoting whole-school wellbeing, ensuring staff wellbeing is also prioritised.

• Involve pupils in planning wellbeing activities, clubs or support groups. 

• Consider introducing wellbeing ambassadors or mental health champions to promote healthy habits.

• Use pupil feedback tools to evaluate the effectiveness of support and act on the results.  

• Read our case study on wellbeing at Pantysgallog Primary School for more ideas.  

• Have a look at our archived OutRight Resources on health systems (2022/23) and mental health and wellbeing (2021/22) for more inspiration.   

• Consider how the following initiatives in school can be explicitly linked to rights: 

Delivering lessons on emotional literacy, resilience and healthy lifestyles through PSHE or wellbeing curriculums.

Using emotion check-ins, worry boxes or mental health journals to give children and young people safe, discreet and dignified ways to express feelings.

Displaying and discussing coping strategies and self-care techniques using child-friendly and age-appropriate visuals. Consider giving pupils access to calm boxes, regulation spaces or resources to support with self-regulation.

Inviting external visitors to speak about healthy habits and wellbeing. 

At Silver

Many children and young people can share how they are included and valued at school and understand how their actions and those of others contribute to this. 

At Gold

Nearly all children and young people interviewed describe how everyone is included and valued and acknowledge how becoming rights respecting contributes to this. The school is actively working towards (or is sustaining) a strong culture of inclusion and can show how this is underpinned by non-discrimination. 

• Look at global calendars to see what national/international days/weeks/months you might mark/celebrate.
• Ensure that non-discrimination and Article 2 is actively promoted (for example in displays, assemblies, choice of literature, curriculum and PSHE topics and resources, engagement with outside organisations).
  
  
• Ensure that CPD opportunities develop staff ‘s knowledge and understanding of EDI principles, inclusive practices and anti-racism. Consider inviting external providers to lead training and develop whole-school policies to actively promote anti-discrimination.
• Think about holding a culture day/week that your pupils can help to plan. Ask pupils and their families to share aspects of their cultures regularly in sessions which might include sharing/cooking food, wearing clothing that represents different cultures and/or teaching languages, linking all activities to relevant articles such as Articles 7, 14 or 30.  

• Get pupils to work with the school canteen to regularly feature some dishes from around the world.

• Consider setting up a separate Equities or Article 2 group, if your setting is large enough, and perhaps have a parallel group of duty bearers that meet with the student group regularly. 

• Consider how you can develop understanding of Article 2, non-discrimination, across your school community. Think about displays, curriculum content and restorative justice conversations.

• Consider explicitly teaching about the protected characteristics under the 2010 Equality Act. 

• Do an audit of all books in the school (perhaps get your pupils in to help) to ensure you have a range of languages, cultures, and positive representation of all the protected characteristics.

• Consider how your curriculum, school communications and displays reflect global diversity and the diversity of your community.

• Consider looking at your schemes of work with a view to decolonising the curriculum and ensuring that all protected characteristics are represented.  

• Consider how you include different kinds of families and teach and celebrate LGBTQIA+ pupils. Look at LGBT History Month and PopnOlly, especially for younger children. 

• Think about Poverty Proofing to reduce the cost of your school day to ensure that everyone, regardless of their socio-economic background can access the best of school. 

• Read our case study on promoting equality and inclusion at Maryland School or our case study on creating an inclusive community at Newman Catholic College for more ideas.  

At Silver

Many children and young people are positive about their school and their learning. They understand and can communicate about the role they play in their learning. Many adults explain how rights respecting language shapes a positive learning environment.

At Gold

Most children and young people demonstrate their commitment to the right of others to learn and can describe how they actively respect this right. Nearly all children and young people express how they play an active role in their learning.

• Support pupils to help shape how they learn by giving them choices, for example, projects, presentations or digital tools.

• Encourage pupils to reflect on their own learning and set goals. Involve children and young people in regular and meaningful progress reviews including SMART target setting, reminding them of the right to education and to have a say in all matters that affect them.

• Discuss and agree with adults, children and young people what a rights respecting classroom looks and feels like. There are some examples in our resource: features of a Rights Respecting classroom

• Consciously discuss and develop attributes (such as resilience) and strategies (for example, Growth Mindset) to support pupils in sustained and life-long learning. Relate this to rights-linked ideas such as empowerment and agency.

• Develop meaningful pupil engagement in topic planning (including opportunities for pupils to work with teachers in planning learning); self-determined or autonomous learning and structured feedback about lessons to staff.

• Look at our CPD resource that will support you to explore outcome 7 and the right to education.

• Consider involving pupils in learning walks, book looks and curriculum co-planning or other ways of contributing to the school’s evaluation of learning and teaching.

• Involve children and young people in evaluating or co-writing the teaching and learning and marking policies linking to relevant articles. They could develop pupil friendly versions.

At Silver

Many children, young people and adults know how young people can express their opinions and have been involved in decisions about their life in school. 

At Gold

Most children and young people know how their participation has a significant impact on school improvement. 

• Help the school council, the RRSA Steering Group and other child and young person led groups to understand their role in light of Article 12, considering the actions they take and the impact that it has. Support the groups to evaluate their impact.
  
  
• It’s important that members of your pupil-led Steering Group feel confident and empowered to drive RRSA forward in your school, so consider whether training for the group would be valuable. Our Steering Group Guidance should help.
  
  
• Consider how the school ensures that they are listening to the views of all pupils, not only the children and young people involved in Steering Groups and leadership positions.
• Think about other pupil voice initiatives and activities happening across school and find ways to link them explicitly to Article 12 and other participation rights.  

• Consider enabling children and young people to write sections of the school improvement plan annually. 

• You might consider all pupils being involved in committees that meet at the same time regularly, each working on action plans on topics that they have chosen. 

• Formalise the way in which pupil opinion is gathered including suggestion boxes, surveys, focus groups and class meetings. 

• Ensure participation in school clubs, activities and pupil led roles is equitable and fair amongst pupil groups. 

• Strengthen the impact of pupil voice by closing the feedback circle; perhaps a ‘You said – We did together’ approach, showing how the voice of pupils has brought about meaningful change.   

• Book key staff onto RRSA’s strengthening pupil participation training. 

• For more ideas, read our case study on pupil voice at Treehouse Nursery, our case study on participation at Shenley Fields Daycare and Nursery, or our case study on decision-making at Knowetop Primary School.  

• Provide opportunities at different levels for pupil participation. Consider what opportunities there are within and beyond the school council for children and young people to express their views, be listened to and influence positive change in their school. For example: 

In strategic decision making (such as being involved in policy review, developing a ‘child friendly’ version of the school development plan and sitting on interview panels). 

In views about their wellbeing (such as behaviour and health, extracurricular activities). 

In general school improvement (such as the playground, school meals and routines). 

At Silver

Many children and young people have been involved in a range of activities to promote children and young people’s rights on a local and global scale. 

At Gold

Children and young people engage in action to campaign and/or advocate for the rights of children locally and globally. Most children and young people understand their role as global citizens. 

• Ensure that teaching about global issues challenges stereotypes and is centred around rights being an entitlement for all children and that campaigning mobilises the duty bearers whose role it is to uphold children’s rights. You might like to use our new Rights Around the World resource.

• Make explicit connections between charity action and support for the realisation of children’s rights. Develop campaigning and fundraising activities from the perspective of rights, justice and equity so all children are seen as rights holders rather than just recipients of charity. Ensure children understand the purpose of charities and how they connect to rights.

• Use structured and systemic access to appropriate media, news and current affairs to provide a stimulus for child and young people led action based around rights. You might find BBC Newsround, Picture News or First News helpful.

• Support children and young people to understand the difference between fundraising and campaigning, and provide opportunities for pupils to move beyond fundraising to campaigning and taking active part in social justice initiatives and challenging stereotypes.

• Explore what being a rights respecting global citizen means and how making small changes to daily decision making can have a positive impact on the planet and other people e.g. how we use resources, what we choose to buy, how we use energy, recycle, reuse etc. For more information see RRSA’s guide to global citizenship. 

• Focus on global themes, such as Fairtrade, climate change and sustainability, and identify how these impact upon children’s rights. Explore with children and young people how you might raise awareness of these issues to help bring about change.

• Consider using the World’s Largest Lesson to learn more about the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This may inspire pupils to take action.

• Develop children and young people’s involvement with charity events, for example choosing which charities to support, sharing information, organising fund-raising events and linking all activities to relevant articles in the CRC. Think about the value of raising awareness as well as, or instead of, collecting money or items to donate.

• Get involved in campaigns to raise awareness and pressure politicians to do more to protect children’s rights. Sign up for UNICEF UK’s OutRight campaign, join up with another international campaign such as Send my Friend to School or campaign on an issue your pupils feel strongly about using UNICEF UK’s Youth Advocacy Toolkit.

• Consider supporting other schools with their Rights Respecting journey by visiting them (virtually or in-person) or hosting a visit. You could organise a joint steering group event, offer to share planning or collaborate on a local campaign or project. A list of RRSA Silver and Gold schools is on our website.

• Develop, with your steering group, a strategy to promote the CRC in your local community. Ideas may include, leafleting, posters in shops, a community event, engagement of politicians, or letters to newspapers and duty bearers.

• For more ideas, read Christ Church Primary’s case study on sustainability and being advocates for change, Troon Primary School’s case study on global citizenship or Duncow Primary School’s case study on campaigning to make their school roads safer.

• If you host a national politician (MP, MSP, MS or MLA) in relation to your Rights Respecting work, please let us know: [email protected]