United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child Committees (UNCRC)

As a Federation we are proud of our pupils and actively encourage them to use their voice to create positive change for themselves and their peers.  Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) states that ‘children and young people should have a say in decisions that affect their lives.’ Our UNCRC Committee provide a meaningful way in which our pupils can voice their opinions and have their views considered in decisions that impact upon them. We believe it is an important and useful way for us as a Federation to provide leadership and development opportunities for our pupils.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) applies to everyone under the age of 18. Its aim is ensure that children grow up in a spirit of peace, dignity, tolerance, freedom, equality and solidarity. The UNCRC was drafted in 1989 and is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. 196 countries have ratified it, including the United Kingdom on 16th December 1991. The USA is the only country that has not ratified the Convention.

Every child has 42 substantive rights under the Convention. These rights can be divided into categories:

 

• General Principles

• Basic health and welfare.

• Civil rights and freedoms.

• Children’s rights and the environment.

• Violence against children.

• Education, leisure, and cultural activities.

• Family environment and alternative care.

• Special protection measures.

 

Pupils help to make decisions about how the school/Federation is run and take on projects that support the pupils’ learning and development, such as learning all about their rights as children, how we can empower our pupils through pupil voice groups and supporting our peers in other countries such as Uganda.

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Pupils are given the opportunity to feedback their plans and impact evaluations to a wide range of stakeholders including the Executive Headteacher, Heads of School, Senior Leaders, staff members, Governing Body (GB) peers, ITE students, CSC partners, Estyn etc.

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Our UNCRC Committees are usually elected annually by the other pupils and/or selected by staff members due to the pupil’s skills, knowledge, and attributes.

In the 23-24 academic year our UNCRC Committees are currently:

• Forging stronger links with PONT

• Fundraising and supporting our link school in Uganda.

• Working towards achieving the Rights Respecting Schools Award.

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