In 2022, St John Plessington Catholic College was awarded the Bronze Rights Committed School Award as part of the wider UNICEF UK Rights Respecting Schools Award. The award recognises a school’s achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child into practice within the school and beyond. The Award is based on principles of equality, dignity, respect, non-discrimination and participation which are key values we uphold here at SJP. 

This means that SJP is committed to respecting and educating our young people about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child through the work of UNICEF both within our school and globally to protect and uphold children’s rights. The values of the Rights Respecting Schools Award are embedded throughout all we do here at SJP in the way we interact with one another, through our key values of Smart, Present and Kind but also, through our Personal Development Curriculum in PSHE and Citizenship. 

The Personal Development Curriculum offers pupils many opportunities to reflect on human rights and to think about how the work of different organisations, such as UNICEF and CAFOD, work to uphold the different articles within the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Each week in Personal Development we have shared an article of the week from UNICEF with forms. Students have completed different activities and had discussions about what that particular right means to them. We are excited to continue this journey with UNICEF and look forward to working towards becoming a Silver Rights Aware School.