Colsterworth Church of England Primary school has been awarded the Gold Rights Respecting School Award by UNICEF UK.

UNICEF is the world’s leading organisation working for children and their rights. The Rights Respecting Schools Award is granted to schools that show commitment to promoting and realising children’s rights and encouraging adults, children and young people to respect the rights of others in school. Gold is given to schools that have fully embedded the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into its ethos and curriculum

The Award recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of a school’s planning, policies and practice. A Rights Respecting School is a community where children’s rights are learned, taught, practised, respected, protected and promoted. UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Adviser, Kathy Allan, said key strengths of the school include:

• “A strong commitment to children's rights and to RRSA from leaders at all levels tied into the vision and values of the school.
• A school with inclusion at its heart, where pupils feel safe and secure and can articulate about the importance of knowing about children's rights, the difference this makes to their lives, and their desire and determination to help realise these rights for others as ‘agents of change.’
• Relationships across the school are strong with a clear link to the school‘s ‘High Five‘ values. Children and staff are confident that everyone is respected and included.
• Strong pupil participation. There are several different mechanisms for children to feed into decision making and leadership in different areas of school life. Children feel listened to, that their views matter and that they can make a positive difference.”

Sarah Croxall, RRSA Lead added, “Since starting our UNICEF journey, the difference in the children is incredible.  They know that they can make a difference, how to make a difference and that they truly are ‘Agents of Change’.

The school has been on a journey of development since joining the Abbey Academies Trust in 2018. Personal development has been at the core and the Executive Headteacher, Sarah Moore, shared the importance of children‘s rights in this process, ” The Christian values of the school and Children’s rights are inextricably linked.” Through working collaboratively with the two other Gold: Rights Respecting schools in the Trust, Colsterworth have used a child rights-based approach to underpin their journey ensuring that, “Children live and breathe it. They quote rights to you and understand the rights of others.”