UNICEF Award for First Base Ipswich Academy
First Base Ipswich Academy has been awarded the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Rights Respecting Schools Bronze Award.
Gaining the award involved the whole school learning about children’s rights and putting them into practice every day. In rights respecting schools, children’s rights are promoted and realised, with adults and children shown to be working towards this goal together.
In order to receive the UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Bronze Award, First Base Ipswich had to first inform the school community that they were working on the award. Staff then learnt about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and introduced it to the children. Questionnaires were then put out to the school community to establish an understanding of the UNCRC, and to also find out how they felt about the school – particularly whether they felt safe and listened to.
Gaining the award also involved reviewing current school practice and making an action plan for becoming ‘rights aware’ – with deliberate decisions about daily interactions, explicit teaching and learning plans as well as involving and engaging the Raedwald Trust Student Committee.
All of the information was then collated and sent to a UNICEF Professional Adviser for review and approval.
Miss Stacey Laws, Head Teacher at First Base Ipswich Academy said: “We went for the Rights Respecting School Award for two reasons: Firstly, due to the proven impact that it has in schools. A UNICEF survey showed that child rights education plays a key role in developing children and young people as active, engaged local and global citizens. Children in rights respecting schools also feel safe in school, feel respected by and enjoy supportive relationships with the adults who care for them and are engaged with their local community, their education and the global agenda.
“Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, the award aligns with our core values as a school. The Rights Respecting School Award recognises and embeds these values in the context of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Everything that we do at First Base Ipswich helps to create a safe and inspiring place to learn, where children are respected, their talents are nurtured and they are able to thrive.
“When we designed our new curriculum we wanted to ensure that our children were learning about their rights as a way of increasing their cultural capital and preparing them for the next stages of their lives.
“We are now going for the UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Silver Award. This will consist of completing and building on all the actions on our Bronze award action plan and monitoring the impact that this is having on the whole school community. It is our aim that the children see themselves as rights respecting global citizens and able to talk about fairness and children’s rights, both locally and globally.”
For more information about First Base Ipswich Academy, please click here.
