UNICEF Rights Respecting School

We are a UNICEF Rights Respecting School Gold: Rights Respecting Award holder

Rights Respecting information for parents, written by the Rights Knights.

Alexandra aims to be a school where children's rights are at the heart of our ethos and culture. We are always aiming to improve wellbeing and develop every child's talents and personalities, so that they can reach their full potential. We have now been recognised as a 'Rights Respecting School Gold' on behalf of UNICEF (July 2023) - the first school in the Borough of Richmond and Kingston to do so.

UNICEF works with UK schools to create safe, inspiring learning environments where children are respected, supported, and able to thrive. Its Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) embeds these values in daily school life, helping children lead happy, healthy lives and become responsible citizens.

The Award has three stages, and reaching Gold can take up to four years. Alexandra began its journey in November 2020 and achieved Gold in July 2023.

Through the RRSA, children and adults learn about and uphold the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), promoting children’s rights throughout the school community and beyond. UNICEF, the world’s leading organisation for children, introduced the CRC in 1989 to ensure all children can realise their potential.

At Alexandra, pupils learn about their rights through interactive lessons and everyday practice. These principles are embedded across the school, and the School Council - our “Rights Knights” - helps champion and develop children’s rights throughout Alexandra Primary School.

What does it mean to be a Gold Rights Respecting school?

The Rights Respecting Schools Award puts children’s rights at the heart of schools in the UK. Achieving GOLD means there is evidence that:

Children and the wider school community know about and understand the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and can describe how it impacts on their lives and on the lives of children everywhere.
Actions and decisions affecting children are rooted in, reviewed and resolved through rights. Children and adults collaborate to develop and maintain a school community based on equality, dignity, respect, non-discrimination and participation.
Children are empowered to enjoy and exercise their rights and to promote the rights of others locally and globally.

The ‘Rights Respecting School Award’ (RRSA) helps our children grow into thoughtful, respectful and responsible young members of the school and wider community. By learning about their rights, our children also learn about the importance of respecting the rights of others.

Please click here to see the full report.

What are the children’s rights?

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, or UNCRC, is the basis of all of Unicef’s work. It is the most complete statement of children’s rights ever produced and is the most widely-ratified international human rights treaty in history.

The Convention has 54 articles that cover all aspects of a child’s life and set out the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that all children everywhere are entitled to. It also explains how adults and governments must work together to make sure all children can enjoy all their rights. Every child has rights, whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion, language, abilities or any other status.

Rights Respecting

What is the impact of being a Rights Respecting school?

Gold is the highest level of the UNICEF UK Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA), signifying a deep and comprehensive cultural shift that delivers significant benefits across the whole school community:

Impact on Pupils and Wellbeing

Improved Self-Esteem and Wellbeing: Children feel valued, safe, and cared for, which directly contributes to better mental and emotional health.
Stronger Voice and Participation: Pupils are empowered to exercise their rights, participate in decision-making, and challenge standards when they are not met.
Enhanced Understanding of Rights: Children and young people have a thorough knowledge of the CRC and can articulate how it impacts their lives and the lives of others globally.

Impact on Learning and Behavior

Positive Learning Environment: The culture of respect and non-discrimination leads to improved relationships, better behavior, and a reduction in bullying.
Greater Engagement: Children take their right to education seriously, leading to improved engagement and, in many cases, better academic standards.
Global Citizenship: Pupils see themselves as rights respecting global citizens who are advocates for fairness and social justice, both locally and globally.

Impact on the Whole School Community

Unified Ethos: The CRC provides a shared language and framework for all adults (as "duty-bearers") and children (as "rights-holders"), ensuring actions and decisions are rooted in respect, equality, and dignity.
Stronger Relationships: There is a strong culture of inclusivity and respect understood and modeled by adults and children alike.
Policy and Practice: The child-rights approach is explicitly adopted and embedded in school policies, strategic planning, and the curriculum, ensuring sustainability of the positive changes.

To find out more about UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools, please visit their website.

Class Charters

All classes develop a charter at the start of the school term to promote a positive learning environment for everyone. Charters include the role of the rights holders. At Alexandra Primary School, the rights of the child underpin our school values and ethos of the school. Children are also taught about rights through weekly, themed assemblies and articles are linked to lessons throughout the day.

OutRight Campaign

In 2024, the Rights Knights decided to complete the OutRight campaign on mental health and wellbeing. Our Year 6 Mental Health ambassadors ran assemblies for the whole school, and the Rights Knights voted to create Nurture Club at lunchtime to give children who needed it a quiet space to play.

The Rights Knights also ran a non-uniform day to raise money for MIND Kingston, a local mental health charity. Thye raised £265, which they then presented in person to the charity.

In 2023, the OutRight campaign is exploring the impacts of climate change, its effects on children’s rights, and what’s being done around the world to help protect them. The Rights Knights voted to take part in the campaign and brainstormed for ideas of how best to support it. They decided to try and reduce the amount of plastic being used in school. The Rights Knights led assemblies across the school, highlighting the need to reduce the use of single use plastics, and plastic recycling bins were placed in all classrooms to monitor the amount of plastic being used. They also signed up to Plastic Free July.

In 2022, the Rights Knights took part in the OutRight campaign. Our Rights Knights voted to support Marcus Rashford’s #EndChildFoodPoverty campaign and decided to focus this year on looking at the right to health.

A few students wrote to the Rights Knights before Christmas and expressed their concern that people in the local area would not have their right to health met as they are homeless or needing to use a food bank. The Rights Knights sprang into action and, with the support of the whole school community, donated lots of food items at Christmas time to our local food bank. This was estimated to have fed over 150 people, ensuring they had nutritious, healthy food.

The Rights Knights took this a step further, and decided to campaign to end child food poverty, giving all children up to 16 and living in poverty free school meals (at the moment, this stops at 11 years old). The Rights Knights took ideas and concerns from their classmates and wrote letters to Sarah Olney (local MP). Sarah Olney was so touched by our campaign, she came to visit us.

Sarah Olney was so impressed with the letters after her visit to the school that she sent these to the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. We hope he will support our campaign!

Due to the hard work of all students supporting everyone’s right to health we were awarded a certificate by UNICEF OutRight!

Rights Knights Job Description (created by pupils)

The Rights Knights fosters the wider opinion of all students on the daily running of our school. The council regularly meets with senior leaders and school staff to discuss important issues such as ensuring rights are met across the school, campaigning for the rights of others outside of our school, recycling and the environment and any other issues raised. You will be an important part of the Rights Knights and must be able to represent your classmates.

Main Responsibilities

Represent the Rights Knights at meetings and other events such as MP visits and conferences in the community
Listen to your classmates and share their views at meetings
Contribute to planning for future campaigns
Have a passion for ensuring every child’s rights are met
Be a role model around the school
Attend regular meetings
Participate in assemblies and other meetings which share rights with our community
Attend training events when needed
Support school wide fundraising events
Contribute to the newsletter and school newspaper and update the school community on campaigns and progress with adult support

Personal Skills and Qualities

Leadership, Team Work, Time Management, Organisation, Communication, Resilience

Rights Respecting Events

November 2025

Diwali assembly (Article 30 - the right to practise your own culture, language and religion)

World Children's Day - For Every Child, Every Right

Proud to Be Day (Article 30 - the right to practise your own culture, language and religion)

October 2025

Black History Month (Article 2 - no discrimination)

September 2025

Rights Knights visit to Houses of Parliament - learning about democracy and how laws are made

International Day of Democracy assembly (Article 12 - the right to be heard)