Ferryhill School receives historic Unicef UK Gold Award
09 March 2018
Ferryhill School today (Friday 9 March) celebrated a remarkable first in being awarded a Gold by Unicef UK’s Rights Respecting programme.
The school joins over 400 schools across the UK that have received Gold but becomes the first ever to receive the award under a new rating and assessment system.
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 the highest accolade given by Unicef UK and shows a deep and thorough commitment to children’s rights at all levels of school life.
Councillor John Wheeler, Education and Children’s Services Convener, said: “We are absolutely thrilled with Ferryhill School’s ground breaking achievement. Anyone reading the assessment report which led to the Gold award could not fail to have been impressed by the fact that the pupils are able to consistently apply the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) to their learning and that children in the P1 age group are able to grasp the concepts of fairness.”
The Award recognises achievement in putting the UNCRC 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.
Jeanette McPherson, Depute Head Teacher at Ferryhill said: “We are all absolutely delighted to achieve the new Gold Standard. This is testament to the pupils and staff who have worked hard to ensure the school community recognise and realise the rights of all children, and to make sure the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) lies at the heart of learning and teaching within Ferryhill School.
The rights respecting approach has helped us to develop a school ethos whereby children participate more actively in decisions surrounding them, have more access to information on how to feel safe and have their talents encouraged and developed to the full, whilst, in parallel, recognising and respecting the rights of others.
“We will now continue to build on this success and to guide and support our pupils to ensure that all children enjoy their rights.”