CLC News Updates from the Children’s Legal Centre Wales
What's in the News? Blogs on current issues faced by children in Wales and the wider world
Reading my Rights Blogs by Swansea University Students, using Children’s fiction to explore children’s rights in Wales
Children’s Rights and the International Pandemic Treaty

Children’s Rights and the International Pandemic Treaty

On November 29th the World Health Assembly will meet to discuss an International Treaty on Pandemics. Drawing on lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic, the treaty (which will be legally binding under international law) will support international efforts to...

Matilda and your right to go to school

Matilda and your right to go to school

Roald Dahl’s Matilda is a book loved by millions, and has been ranked number 30 among all time children’s novels by the School Library Journal! Have you read it? If you haven’t, you may have watched the movie or musical version. Any version is worth the time. It is a...

Orange: Your right to good mental health

Orange: Your right to good mental health

TW: Suicide, depression Are you interested in an engaging story, with a realistic portrayal of mental health issues? Then you should read Orange! Orange is a Japanese manga, written, and illustrated by Ichigo Takano. The manga, set in Matsumoto, follows the current...

We need a ‘Children’s Rights Approach’ to climate change

We need a ‘Children’s Rights Approach’ to climate change

Climate change is having a devastating impact on children’s rights. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child says that climate change is the ‘biggest threat to children’s health and exacerbates health disparities’ and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human...

What The Huge Bag of Worries tells us about mental health

What The Huge Bag of Worries tells us about mental health

The Huge Bag of Worries by Virginia Ironside tells the story of Jenny, a happy girl with a lovely mum and dad, a great brother, a dog named Loftus, best friends and a wonderful teacher at school. But just lately, Jenny has started worrying. She worries about her...

National Adoption Week 2021

National Adoption Week 2021

National Adoption Week 2021 is taking place between the 18th and 22nd of October of this year. The week hopes to promote a better understanding of adoption through real life stories from many different points of view including adoptees themselves and adoptive parents...

Free school meals and the stigma surrounding it

Free school meals and the stigma surrounding it

Free school meals are available to eligible pupils in Wales who attend school full-time. If you receive free school meals, do you feel embarrassed or different to some of your friends? You are not alone if you feel this way. Here, we’ve set out what it’s like for...

Free School Meals

Free School Meals

Over the last year, free school meals have become a major talking point. From the campaign by Marcus Rashford in England to three major debates in the Senedd and many articles in print and online media, it seems as though a lot of people are discussing free school...

Children’s Rights and Sustainable Development

Children’s Rights and Sustainable Development

By Professor Jane Williams   Wales has special laws on both sustainable development and children’s rights. How do these two important areas of policy fit together? On the face of it, they should reinforce each other. Children’s rights include being able to live...

Harry Potter and the Hogwarts school rules

Harry Potter and the Hogwarts school rules

There are seven books in the Harry Potter series, do you have a favourite? I think they’re all great, but I love hippogriffs, so mine is the third book. If you liked the last book, Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows, you can read about the law in relation to it...

The impact of COVID-19 on young carers and how to get help

The impact of COVID-19 on young carers and how to get help

The past year has been difficult for everyone due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, this time would have been particularly strenuous on those who are young carers. There are an estimated 700,000 young carers in the UK, with approximately 30,000 carers in Wales...

Jacqueline Wilson’s Story of Diamond the Acrobatic Child Wonder

Jacqueline Wilson’s Story of Diamond the Acrobatic Child Wonder

Do not let her fantastic title fool you! Diamond IS an acrobatic child wonder with an extraordinary gift for acrobatics. However, the story of her life is not all that glamorous. She is the fifth child born to penniless parents who would have preferred that she'd been...

What Dear Martin tells us about  your rights as a child in Wales

What Dear Martin tells us about your rights as a child in Wales

Dear Martin by Nic Stone tells the story of Justyce McAllister, a strong minded seventeen-year-old black man who lives a challenging life, both in his poor neighbourhood, constantly threatened by local criminals, and at the overwhelmingly white prep school he attends....

Custody Disputes in ‘The Suitcase Kid’ By Jaqueline Wilson

Custody Disputes in ‘The Suitcase Kid’ By Jaqueline Wilson

Hi everyone! Hope you are all well and are enjoying your summers to the best of your ability given the difficulties of recent times. I firstly would like to thank you for taking the time to read this blog post I’ve written. It is written about several issues which are...

Sexting and Social Media – Reading My Rights

Sexting and Social Media – Reading My Rights

I have read a book called The Best Possible Answer by Katherine Kottaras which is a young adult fiction book. Despite it being fictional, the main character Viviana finds herself in a very real, modern and scary situation. Between the ages of 13 – 17 as a teenager /...

How to get help if you are a Young Carer like Katniss Everdeen

How to get help if you are a Young Carer like Katniss Everdeen

The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, is one of the most successful book series of all time and is the 21st highest-grossing film franchise. It follows the story of Katniss Everdeen, who nominates herself as Tribute when her sister, Prim, was selected to compete in...

Reading My Rights- The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

Reading My Rights- The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog In The Night-Time by Mark Haddon is a book that follows the journey of 15 year old Christopher, who has autism. When he finds his neighbour’s dog dead, Christopher sets off to unravel the mystery of who was responsible, whilst writing...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -Reading my Rights

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -Reading my Rights

‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ written by JK Rowling, is the seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series. Harry Potter is a boy who finds out on his eleventh birthday that he is a wizard and will be going to school at Hogwarts. The books see Harry Potter...

Cinderella – Reading My Rights

Cinderella – Reading My Rights

Now, I’m sure that we are all familiar with fairy tales. “Once upon a time”, “happily ever after”; does that ring a bell? I thought it would. Whilst these stories tend to end with true love and happiness for our beloved protagonists, we cannot ignore their journey to...

The Catcher in the Rye – Reading my Rights

The Catcher in the Rye – Reading my Rights

The Catcher in the Rye written by J.D. Salinger follows the tale of Holden, a 16-year-old boy, through his transition from adolescence to adulthood. This novel echoed feelings from my childhood as it may have with most teenagers. Holden is a lost and confused boy who...

The Perks of Being a Wallflower – every story has a silver lining

The Perks of Being a Wallflower – every story has a silver lining

Friendships. New schools. Anxiety. Heavy topics. Silver linings. If I had to summarise ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ in a few, simple words that’s how I would do it. This is a book which raises awareness of difficult but important issues which must be talked...

Oliver Twist – ‘Consider Yourself’ Protected

Oliver Twist – ‘Consider Yourself’ Protected

By Amber Wassall ‘Oliver Twist’ by Charles Dickens is a story about a nine-year-old orphan boy who runs away from his life in a workhouse and as an apprentice to an undertaker to London. In London, he meets Jack Dawkins also known as the ‘Artful Dodger’ and joins a...

Ydych chi wedi graddio mewn Cwrs Ymarfer Cyfreithiol, a gyda diddordeb mewn hawliau plant? Ymhen ychydig, byddwn yn recriwtio cyfreithiwr o dan hyfforddiant bydd yn arbenigo mewn hawliau plant, ar gyfer rôl sy’n dechrau yn Ionawr 2021.  Mae’r swydd ddisgrifiad ar...

Smacking in Wales – why will the law soon be different to England?

Smacking in Wales – why will the law soon be different to England?

Smacking in Wales will soon be banned (from 2022). You may have seen in the news earlier this year when this change in the law in Wales was announced. So why is the law going to be different in Wales and what difference will the change make to children? What does the...

Are you getting the school dinners you deserve?!

Are you getting the school dinners you deserve?!

It’s International School Meals Day on 12th March. Whether its references to five, or even seven, a day, the amount of sugar in so-called healthy food, or the colour coded nutritional information on food we buy, there is definitely more of a focus on how healthy our...

Find your brave – Children’s Mental Health Week

Find your brave – Children’s Mental Health Week

It can be hard to find your brave when it feels like the world is against you – but you have a right to good mental health, and the law in Wales supports this. The classroom erupts into laughter, even the teacher can’t fully supress a grin. Your own smile evaporates....

Why is the law different in Wales?

Why is the law different in Wales?

The law is different in Wales. Not all of it, but in some important areas, the law in Wales is different to the law in England. In this blog, we look at why the law is different in Wales, and why it’s important to know this! Why IS the law different in Wales? In 1997,...

Count Me In! Young Carers

Count Me In! Young Carers

The school day is over and all of your friends are talking about their plans for the rest of the day. You can’t join in though. Like other Young Carers, you have to think about other things. While your friends are free to go out and play, you will busy looking after...

The UNCRC now and for the future

The UNCRC now and for the future

The UNCRC – the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child – is 30 today. 30 years of standing as a charter for the human rights of children, not just here in Wales, but across the world. It’s the most signed international convention ever – but 30 years ago,...

Breaking down Barriers to access in the community

Breaking down Barriers to access in the community

Access in the community is not always straightforward… Picture this. You’ve decided you want to see some of your friends, you’ve worked out what you’re going to do, where you’re going to meet them and how you’re going to get there. You start to get excited, looking...

Walking to School in Wales

Walking to School in Wales

October is Walk to School Month, a global event to celebrate the benefits of walking to school and identifying the barriers that get in the way of more children being able to walk to school. In this blog we look at the law around ‘walking to school’ and see if there...

International Day of Sign Languages

23rd September is the United Nations official ‘International day of Sign Languages’, raising awareness of the importance of sign languages and realisation of the human rights of approximately 72 million deaf people worldwide. The ability to communicate is an important...

What Matilda tells us about the law on going to school

What Matilda tells us about the law on going to school

What’s your favourite Roald Dahl book? I love them all but one of my absolute favourites is Matilda. If you haven’t read it (or seen the film, or the musical), it’s about a brilliant little girl whose family treat her like dirt – and it’s only when she meets Miss...

What’s new for school uniform in Wales?

What’s new for school uniform in Wales?

School uniform in Wales has been in the news recently. The Welsh Government has introduced new guidance to schools planning on introducing a school uniform, or changing the school uniform that they already have. The guidance must be followed from 1 September 2019. So...

Lies We Tell Ourselves – “You’re the one who really decides”

Lies We Tell Ourselves – “You’re the one who really decides”

By Alex Davies The latest book that we’re covering in the Children’s Legal Centre ‘Reading your rights’ series is called ‘Lies we Tell Ourselves’ written by Robin Talley. The book itself was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal and has been described as “A moving young...

Reading my Rights: ‘The Story of Tracy Beaker’

Reading my Rights: ‘The Story of Tracy Beaker’

By Nikita Austin 'The Story of Tracy Beaker’ written by Jacqueline Wilson follows the life of Tracy Beaker who is ten years old and is one of many children in care - She lives in a children's care home which she calls' the dumping ground. Tracy is always in trouble...

Air Pollution & the Right to Life

Air Pollution & the Right to Life

We’re delighted to publish this ‘guest blog’ by Lucie Boase, a paralegal working with Jocelyn Cockburn, a partner at Hodge Jones & Allen, who is instructed by Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, the mother of Ella Kissi-Debrah. Although these sad events happened in London, air...

New resources for unaccompanied asylum seeking children …

New resources for unaccompanied asylum seeking children …

...and the social workers and foster carers who look after them! The Children’s Legal Centre Wales and Welsh Government have been working together to produce a series of factsheets for Young People who find themselves in Wales seeking asylum, without family to care...

Thinking about Future Generations

Thinking about Future Generations

The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 may provide a legal framework which will force politicians to think about the long term future of Wales, and not just about whether they will get re-elected at the next election. We talk a lot about the future –...