Impact North West Schools:
A UNICEF UK Rights Respecting School
Impact North West Schools has been awarded the Silver Rights Respecting School Award (RRSA) by UNICEF UK. The award recognises how we put the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of our planning, policies and everyday practice.
What is the Rights Respecting Schools Award?
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 to encouraging adults, children and young people to respect the rights of others in school.
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The award has three stages:
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Bronze: Rights Committed
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Silver: Rights Aware
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Gold: Rights Respecting
Silver is given to schools that make excellent progress towards embedding the principles of the Convention into their ethos and curriculum. Over 1,300 schools across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales have achieved Silver, and over 600 have gone on to Gold, the highest accolade UNICEF UK grants.
What does it mean to be a Rights Respecting School?
A Rights Respecting School is a community where children's rights are learned, taught, practised, respected, protected and promoted. The rights in the Convention apply to every child and young person under 18, whatever their background, identity or circumstances, and they cannot be taken away. They include the right to be safe, to be healthy, to learn, to play and rest, to be treated fairly, and to have a say in decisions that affect them.
What this looks like at Impact North West Schools
Our approach is relationship-led and trauma-informed, and we believe education should fit the child, not the other way around. Children's rights are a natural fit with that. For our students, being a Rights Respecting School means:
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Having a voice. Students take part in student voice sessions across every year group. This year they focused on Article 12, the right to have their views listened to and taken seriously.
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Knowing their rights. Students learn about the articles of the Convention and how they apply to their own lives and to events in the wider world.
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Student-led action. Our work began with student questionnaires and a student-led steering group, and students continue to help shape what happens next.
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Rights in everyday life. Staff keep rights in view in daily school life, from lessons to conversations around the building.
Why it matters for families and professionals
For families, carers and the professionals who support them, the award is an independent sign of how we work: listening to students, treating them fairly and helping them understand their own rights. UNICEF UK reports that schools in the programme have seen a positive impact on behaviour, relationships and wellbeing, with improved self-esteem, less truancy and bullying, and better learning.
Find out more
Read more about the programme on the UNICEF UK Rights Respecting Schools website. If you would like to talk to us about how we support students at Impact North West Schools, please get in touch.
Thank you to every student and member of staff who helped us reach this stage.