Distinctive features of RRR
The programme is based firmly on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and reflects the precepts of the Children Act 2004, but goes far beyond traditional rights-awareness approaches.
Summary table about moving to a rights-respecting culture in school: From engagement to transformation – progress to a rights-respecting school 43kb.
The key principles of the programme are that:
- rights are universal – the Articles are for all children, regardless of background, ability and anything they may have done. The child in front of you, the child next to her, the children nearby and children elsewhere – they have an equal claim. They know this about each other. It puts children at the centre of a world that cares about them and appeals to their desire for agreed values
- rights are current – the Articles apply to all children now. They are not a future promise or reward
- rights have international authority – the Articles apply to all children now, because governments have established contractually that this should be so. Rather than being seen as an isolated code, the Convention is validated for every school and institution. Its principles and vocabulary are portable across places and settings
- rights express the value of every child – the Articles portray children as valued citizens. They encourage all adults to take children’s concerns seriously. They imply increasing empowerment, participation and responsibility for children themselves.
What is taught
The UN Convention is taught as a body of knowledge and is promoted as a framework for a school’s leadership, ethos, teaching and learning, and its relationships with the community and the wider world. Its vocabulary is practised and reinforced in a range of contexts in the classroom (lessons, child-led class charters) and around the school (displays, assemblies, visitors).
The universality and internationalism of the rights in the Convention provide a context for rights promotion and exploring rights violations both near and far. The Convention acts as a framework for a lot of schools’ citizenship work (Healthy Schools, relationships education, drugs education, emotional literacy, school councils) as these are all articles in the Convention.
However, as this primary curriculum file demonstrates, a rights perspective is integrated across the range of subjects, topics and studies (without necessarily disrupting existing planning).