Pupil Parliament & UNICEF Rights Respecting Ambassadors
Pupil Parliament
At Durham Gilesgate, we have a pupil parliament, who were elected by their peers to help us to collect the ideas of all the children in school, ensuring that their voices and opinions are heard. Through our pupil leadership team, we strive to create confident and articulate leaders who feel empowered to help make decisions that will have a positive impact on the school and their community.
Rights Respecting Award
Durham Gilesgate Primary School is in the process of becoming a Rights Respecting School! We have recently been awarded the UNICEF UK Rights Respecting School’s Bronze Award: Rights Committed. We are now working toward achieving the Silver Award.
The Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the heart of a school’s planning, policies, practice and ethos. The UNCRC is a list of rights that all children, everywhere in the world, have. The rights on this list are all the things that children and young people need to make sure they are healthy, happy and safe.
A rights-respecting school not only teaches about children’s rights, but also models rights and respect in all its relationships: between adults and children, between children themselves, and between adults themselves.
Our Rights Respecting Steering Group also known as RRSA Ambassadors are a group of children from across the school who work to ensure that all members of our school community are made aware of the rights afforded to them through the UNCRC. They also help ensure that Durham Gilesgate Primary School respect the rights of others, making our school a happier, safer and more respectful place to learn and work.
Rights Respecting Ambassadors
Our Rights Respecting Ambassadors are children from each class (Year 1 to Year 6), who were chosen by their peers to ensure Durham Gilesgate is a Rights Respecting school. They have helped us to recently achieve the UNICEF UK Rights Respecting School’s Bronze Award and will assist us with implementing our silver action plan.
Our Rights Respecting Ambassadors represent their classes at meetings throughout the year and hold a number of responsibilities:
- Developing children’s awareness of the articles within UN Convention on the Rights of a Child
- Helping to develop class charters focussed on respecting children’s right
- Selecting a ‘Right of the Week’ to focus on in class each week
- Delivering assemblies on children’s rights to their classes
- Creating posters/flyers to inform pupils and parents about the rights of a child