UNICEF Rights Respecting School

 Bordesley Green Girls’ School & Sixth Form is proud to be a Rights and Respecting School. 

 We have been designated Bronze Rights Respecting School status and are welcoming UNICEF for Silver accreditation this year. This is the second stage of the Rights Respecting Schools Award. It is granted by UNICEF to schools that show good progress towards embedding children’s rights in the school’s policy, practice and ethos.

In order to achieve Silver status, we are working towards meeting three key strands of the Rights Respecting Schools Award: 

>Teaching and Learning about rights: for the whole school community through training, curriculum, assemblies, topics, focus days/weeks, displays. 

>Teaching and Learning through rights: by modelling rights respecting language and attitudes and making strategic decisions that involve students. 

>Being ambassadors for the rights of others: developing as rights respecting citizens. 

 This means that we are on a journey to develop our ethos and values on the human rights of all children, as set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which was adopted in 1989. The UNCRC has 54 articles that cover all aspects of a child’s life and set out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children everywhere are entitled to, whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion, language, abilities or any other status. The UNCRC also explains how adults and governments must work together to make sure all children can enjoy all their rights. 

 UNICEF works with schools in the UK to create safe and inspiring places to learn, where children are respected, their talents are nurtured, and they can thrive. The Rights Respecting Schools Award embeds these values in daily school life and gives children the best chance to lead happy, healthy lives and to be responsible, active citizens. The Rights Respecting Schools Award recognises a school’s achievement in putting the UNCRC into practice within the school and beyond. 

 Rights and Respecting School is not "another award", it is a catalyst for further school improvement. It builds upon excellent practice and supports schools to move to a Rights Based Approach. The whole school community will learn about rights, through rights, and for rights.

Bordesley Green Girls’ School is working towards the recognition that we have embedded children’s and young people’s rights in our school’s practice and ethos, including assemblies and lessons, cultural capital activities, character education and student leadership.