UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Award
The Bridge School – A Rights Respecting School
We are proud to be a Bronze Award School!
At The Bridge School, we are delighted to have achieved the UNICEF UK Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) Bronze: Rights Committed.
This award recognises our commitment to placing children’s rights at the heart of our school community, ensuring that every pupil feels valued, respected, included and listened to.
As a specialist school, we recognise that every child is unique. We are passionate about creating an environment where all pupils, regardless of their needs or abilities, are supported to understand and experience their rights in ways that are meaningful and accessible to them.
What is the Rights Respecting Schools Award?
The Rights Respecting Schools Award is a UNICEF UK initiative that supports schools to embed children’s rights into their ethos, culture and everyday practice.
The award is based on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), which sets out the rights that every child is entitled to, including:
- Article 12: The right to express their views and be listened to.
- Article 23: Children with disabilities have the right to live a full and decent life, with dignity and independence.
- Article 24: The right to the best possible health and healthcare.
- Article 28: The right to an education.
- Article 29: Education should develop every child’s abilities, personality and talents to the full.
- Article 31: The right to play, rest and take part in recreational activities.
These rights are particularly important to us at The Bridge, where inclusion, communication, independence and providing meaningful experiences are central to everything we do.
What Does Being a Rights Respecting School Look Like at The Bridge?
We believe that every child has a voice, even when they do not communicate through spoken language.
We work hard to ensure that all pupils have opportunities to express their views, make choices and participate in decisions that affect them.
Across our school, we promote children’s rights through:
- Pupil voice and leadership: Providing opportunities for pupils to share their views, influence school life and take on leadership responsibilities, including our elected Head Boy, Head Girl and deputies.
- Total Communication: Using symbols, signing, objects of reference, AAC and other personalised communication approaches to ensure every pupil has a voice.
- An inclusive curriculum: Providing personalised learning opportunities that celebrate individuality, develop independence and enable pupils to reach their potential.
- Positive relationships: Promoting kindness, respect, dignity and an understanding of others.
- Enrichment and experiences: Ensuring pupils have opportunities to participate in sports, music, educational visits, residential experiences and wider school activities.
- Working together: Building strong partnerships with parents, carers and our wider community to promote children’s wellbeing and rights.
We understand that being a Rights Respecting School is about much more than displaying articles around the building. It is about ensuring that children’s rights are reflected in the decisions we make, the relationships we build and the experiences we provide every day.
Our Journey to Silver – Rights Aware
Our next step is to achieve the UNICEF UK Silver: Rights Aware Award.
We are excited to continue developing our Rights Respecting approach and embedding children’s rights even further into everyday school life.
As we work towards Silver, our priorities include:
- Developing pupils’ understanding of their rights through accessible, meaningful and practical experiences.
- Increasing opportunities for pupil voice, choice and participation across all three of our curriculum pathways.
- Supporting staff to confidently promote and reference children’s rights throughout the school day.
- Helping pupils understand the importance of respecting the rights of others.
- Involving parents, carers and the wider school community in our Rights Respecting journey.
- Celebrating and sharing the positive impact of our work.
Most importantly, we want our pupils to know that their views matter, their choices matter and their rights matter.
Every Child. Every Voice. Every Right.
At The Bridge School, we believe that all children deserve to feel safe, respected, included and empowered.
Our journey towards Silver is an opportunity to build on the inclusive practice already embedded within our school and continue strengthening a culture where children’s rights are understood, respected and celebrated.
We look forward to sharing our progress and achievements with our families and wider school community as we continue our Rights Respecting journey.
Bridge is the Place to Be!
For more information about the award, visit UNICEF UK’s Rights Respecting Schools programme.