Scottish Success: An international visit for RRSA
The RRSA team recently hosted a three-day international field visit in Scotland. Thirteen UNICEF colleagues from across Europe including Iceland, Denmark, France, Geneva, Finland, Germany and Norway attended with a focus on highlighting the success of RRSA and how this contributes to a children’s rights-based education.
The visit provided a useful opportunity to share highlights from rights respecting work, discuss challenges and discover opportunities for further development. The visit also consisted of a walking tour of Glasgow (the sun was shining) and a meal in a Scottish restaurant. A number of visitors enjoyed haggis for the first time!
Over 50% of schools in Scotland are currently involved in RRSA. A number of international colleagues are introducing RRSA as a pilot, or using it to adapt and develop their own programme.
The visit involved guests shadowing RRSA assessment and guests also attended a number of workshops delivered by the RRSA team, including:
- RRSA and the Scottish Context
- Child Rights Launchpad
- The role of the Local Authority Strategic Lead
- RRSA Training – taster sessions
- Assessment preparation, case studies, assessment visits and report writing
- Evaluation, sharing of practice and future developments in home countries
Gerry McMurtrie, Senior Professional Adviser for Scotland said: “It is a very exciting yet challenging time for children’s rights globally, but what came across clearly from our international colleagues was the continued need for children’s rights to be talked about, learned about and implemented if we want to make an impact.”
“The RRSA is having an impact not only on pupils, but also on staff, parents and carers. We are creating active global citizens who are getting key messages out into the wider community. It was so exciting to hear what other countries are doing in relation to promoting a rights-based education. We have a number of countries now involved in RRSA, and it will continue to grow, but we are leading the way!”
“A huge thank you to all of the schools, pupils, staff, parents, carers and community partners for allowing us to bring our visitors along to witness the assessment process and to talk to so many of you. We received wonderful feedback from our visitors about our processes, and we all shared some great ideas that we will use to help us continue to strengthen and grow the programme”.