Abacus Belsize Primary School on getting started on RRSA

Abacus Belsize Primary School is a small one-form primary school in Camden, London. The school has recently started embedding children’s rights in school life and is currently at Bronze.

Headteacher, Melissa Chandler, is passionate about their RRSA work and looks forward to helping more schools come onboard.  

“We heard about the Award during a Camden Headteachers meeting and on hearing the presentation RRSA seemed to fit with the values and direction of our school; ultimately teaching the children that they have a voice and how to use it. Our children had presented us with their own charters, for example, their ideas about school buses and lunchtime provision and our work in the wider curriculum already addressed social issues, for example, migrants fleeing conflict in guided reading lessons.

“Our school is currently (April 2025) Bronze: Rights Committed and we are working towards Silver: Rights Aware. So far we have ​​launched the Award with a staff inset day and year groups choosing a key right that they would explore with their class as part of PSHE lessons in the first term of the year. We’ve dedicated specific lessons, like PSHE or circle times, to learn more about a chosen right and used displays and floor books to record this work. We’ve raised awareness amougst children about a specific right and what it means, and some children have presented about rights at a parents evening. Our governing body is also engaged through governor meetings and we’ve shared through our newsletter with the whole Abacus community.

“Finding time to lead the Award has been a challenge. Having an assembly with a weekly RRSA focus has helped to support understanding of rights beyond the key focus each class chose for the initial launch. Post-launch it has also been important to find the right pace for implementation as we have such a busy school schedule and limited INSET days. 

“I would recommend that other schools have a lead who is able to dedicate time to rolling the Award out, PHSE lead was a good fit for us. Gradually adopt child rights principles and practices and find how it works for your children and your school – initial plans might need to change due to needs of the school.”