Exploring the Rights of the Child

Over the last few weeks we have started looking at the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in more detail during our assemblies.  We have explored Article 2 which states that the Convention applies to all children, regardless of any individual differences.  This coincided with Martin Luther King Jr Day (USA) and we explored the racial discrimination that existed in relation to attending schools in parts of 1960s America.  The children particularly enjoyed watching a segment of MLK’s famous ‘I have a dream…..’ speech.  We have also been talking about Article 8, which states that every child has a right to an identity. This led to discussions about what ‘identity’ means to each of us, as well as looking at how the 2010 Equality Act offers legal protection for different characteristics that might be part of someone’s identity.  The children particularly enjoyed listening to ‘The Flamingo Who Didn’t Want To Be Pink’, written by ex-head of English, Nicola Stone, and we discussed the importance of respect and kindness towards each other.  It has been wonderful to hear further discussions in classes and even on the playground about these topics, with the key message being how important it that we respect who people are, without judging what we think they should be.