Rights Respecting Schools

Together young people and the school community learn about children’s rights, putting them into practice every day. The Award is not just about what children do but also, importantly, what adults do. In Rights Respecting Schools children’s rights are promoted and realised, adults and children work towards this goal together.

Julianne Gresty gave a talk to Rotary about Rights Respecting Schools. Julianne is a class teacher at Milesmark Primary School, Dunfermline and has taught for 15 years, starting at Milesmark before working at Saline, Blairhall and McLean primary schools, then taking secondments as principal teacher at Methilhill and Milesmark. She has remained at Milesmark as a class teacher since, currently teaching P4/5/6 in a small school of 93 pupils across four composite classes.

Julianne was originally asked to speak about Milesmark's silver accreditation, but the day before her talk the school learned it had achieved Gold - the top level of UNICEF's Rights Respecting Schools Award which embeds the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in school life. Over 1.5 million UK children attend a rights-respecting school, with around 5,000 schools working towards the award. UNICEF relies on grants and donations; Fife Council covers membership fees for participating schools, unlike some other authorities.

The award has three levels: Bronze (up to six months) involves committing to an action plan, assessed by a panel; Silver (six months to a year) involves acting on that plan and community awareness-raising, assessed via online interview; Gold (one to three years) is the most complex, focused on fundraising, campaigning and community-wide involvement, assessed through an in-person visit. There is no level beyond Gold - only re-accreditation every three years. Milesmark's journey to Gold took two years. Schools must evidence three strands: learning about, through, and for rights.

At Gold level, children are expected to understand rights as universal, inherent, inalienable, unconditional and indivisible. Milesmark uses the "ABCDE of rights" (All, Birth, Cannot be taken away, Do not have to be earned, Equal) to make this accessible. Children are called "right holders" and adults "duty bearers."

Each class creates a charter of agreed rights and responsibilities, displayed and referred back to all year. Parents are kept informed via newsletters, Facebook and Seesaw, including a parent guide written by pupils. A pupil-led Rights Respecting Schools team, chosen by application, leads the work and reports to assemblies. Pupils also redesigned the school's values into "SHINE" — Successful, Happy, Inclusive, Nurtured, Engaged.

Lessons are linked to relevant UN Convention articles, and pupil voice is encouraged through suggestion boxes and formal letters to management or councils. A visiting MP discussed dignity and voting; a survey found 83% of pupils felt listened to. An annual UNICEF questionnaire shapes yearly priorities - last year's focus was on reducing shouting by staff after pupil feedback.

Wellbeing initiatives include "movement moments" to counter excessive screen time, and sensory/regulation tools in classrooms to support additional needs. A pupil-created "right of the month" calendar links each month to a relevant right, shared via assemblies and newsletters.

Fundraising and campaigning are central to Gold status. Rather than asking families for money, pupils organised a harvest food donation drive, collecting 118kg for the local food bank - an eye-opening experience for children from a relatively affluent area unfamiliar with food insecurity. This led to a partnership with Fife Gingerbread's "Day to Play" campaign, raising £165 through a Dress Down Day and gingerbread-making. Pupils are now writing to local MP Graeme Downie about climate change and plastic pollution, and plan to choose a new charity to support with a more global focus.

Parent feedback praised the programme for helping children feel safe, valued and heard. Julianne noted pupils increasingly use the language of rights to resolve playground conflicts themselves, reducing the need for adult intervention

PP Douglas Scott thanked Julianne for delivering such an inspiring and information packed talk.