Rights Respecting School Award (RRSA)

On 4th October 2012 St Joseph's was awarded the Rights Respecting School Award Level 1 of which we are immensely proud. We are currently the only Catholic School in Dudley and only the second school from all of the Dudley schools.

As a Catholic school we model and share with the children the teachings of Jesus (which is reflected in our mission statement) and therefore this underpins the foundations of the Rights Respecting Schools Award.

The Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at the heart of a school's planning, policies, practice and ethos. A rights-respecting school not only teaches about children's rights but also models rights and respect in all its relationships: between teachers/adults and pupils, between adults and between pupils.

Who is the Rights Respecting Schools Award (RRSA) for?

The RRSA is a UK-wide initiative for all children and all those working with or for children in formal education. It is being successfully implemented in all settings – Primary, Secondary, Special Needs and Pupil Referral Units – across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

How does the RRSA link with other school initiatives?

The initiative unifies a range of educational priorities in all UK jurisdictions; the global dimension, SEAL (social and emotional aspects of learning), community cohesion and sustainable development.

What impact does the RRSA have?

A three year qualitative study by researchers at the Universities of Sussex and Brighton found that 'The RRSA has had a profound effect on the majority of the schools involved in the programme.'

How is the RRSA funded?

As a registered charity we rely entirely on voluntary donations to fund our vital work for children and their rights. Therefore we charge for regional courses, school visits, local authority support, assessments and other activities. Our RRSA programme does not make a profit – it simply aims to cover our running costs.

RRSA and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC)

The universality of the CRC provides a clear link for pupils between building up their rights-respecting school, understanding their rights and the need for children's rights to be realised everywhere. Children and young people in rights-respecting schools develop a stronger sense of the need to act for global justice.

Read more at the Unicef website (external link).