Embedding rights throughout the curriculum
William Fletcher Primary and The Howard Secondary
These two examples illustrate the approaches taken in a primary and a secondary school to incorporating children’s rights in the curriculum.
William Fletcher Primary
William Fletcher Primary School is a Gold Reaccredited Primary School in Oxfordshire.
RRSA Lead, Amy Lancaster said, “We have been a Gold Rights Respecting School since 2018 and we have remained committed to ensuring that the CRC runs through all areas of school life and that children’s rights are at the forefront of our school community. We have focused on the teaching and learning of rights in many ways, including through assemblies and all areas of our curriculum and school life. To ensure that we are clear about what children are learning, we have created a progression map which outlines how our pupils’ knowledge, experiences and vocabulary of rights develops as they progress through the school.”
Amy added, “The CRC and children’s rights are present in all areas of the curriculum for all key stages. Our planning formats for lessons and units of work identify relevant links with the CRC and these are made explicit to children during lessons. We are in the process of implementing a new English scheme which we feel will really lend itself well to children’s rights, as it covers texts and stories from different cultures and will help us diversify the texts we use and stories we work with.”
We have had several staffing changes over the last few years and have supported new members of staff with learning about and promoting the CRC. As a result, all members of our community are aware of and committed to upholding the CRC. This means our school continues to be a happy, calm, respectful and nurturing place to be.”
The Howard Secondary School
The Howard School is an all-boys non-selective secondary school with over 1500 students and a sixth form with girls too. Based in Medway, a unitary authority in Kent, they are a RRSA Gold Reaccredited school.
RRSA Lead and Head of Religious Education, Catherine Cleall shares how the school has successfully linked articles and RRSA concepts throughout their curriculum.
She explains, “Staff have been trained on the breadth of the CRC and have had opportunities to discuss where our own lessons and practices can make links. Examples include Article 40 in RE when we learn about young offenders, Article 17 when students explore sources of information in English, Article 8 in history as they explore WW2. We also have specific opportunities to discuss articles in our personal development calendar, it’s delivered centrally which has many benefits, giving the same message to all students. “
We also asked Catherine to share how they ensure that there is progression in rights knowledge as students move through the school. She explains, “In our personal development calendar we have specifically plotted out the articles so they can be explored and addressed over the year with each year group, this is planned sequence of work starting in year 7 and moves through to year 13. Intentionally some articles are addressed when students are older or readdressed and framed for more nuanced discussions. Taking a mindful and flexible approach has meant that we can react to the current climate and student’s needs, ensuring the CRC is relevant and accessible.”