Children’s Rights in Schools

Our key call for change:

• Children’s rights must be at the core of a child’s experience of education and at the core of school planning, teaching, decision-making, policies and practice.

Background information and introduction to our work

Wales is in the process of major reform of the education system, with the embedding of a new curriculum. Children’s rights and human rights are included in the new curriculum, which states that in designing and implementing the curriculum:  ‘head teachers and governors have a duty to promote knowledge and understanding of Part 1 of the UNCRC, and of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with disabilities, Section 64 of the Curriculum (Wales) Act 2021’.  

It is a significant step in the embedding of children’s rights and human rights that they have been included in the new curriculum. Welsh Government guidance also says a cross-cutting theme of the curriculum is to make sure children and young people understand their rights, and participate in decisions about their learning and their wider school experience. Stating: 

‘Learners should experience their rights through their education and develop a critical understanding of how their educational experience supports their rights. Schools and settings can develop this experience by taking a children’s rights approach. (Welsh Government Guidance 2022).’  

Dr Croke and Prof Hoffman developed a guide translating a children’s rights approach into practice for public bodies. The Children’s Commissioner for Wales, called this approach ‘The Right Way’. Since the development of the original ‘The Right Way’, the Children’s Commissioner for Wales has produced helpful follow-on guides of which one of them is focused on a children’s rights approach to education. The education guide states the importance of embedding children’s rights, ensuring they are core to a child’s experience of education.

CLCW works to advise and support educators as well as children to understand and embed children’s rights in the context of education.

CLCW is developing a Wales-wide approach to empower young people via legal education on human rights. In a project funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, CLCW Education and Engagement Lead, Rhian Howells is working with children to design and pilot interactive sessions for 11 – 17-year-olds (access more information here). Rhian is also helping educators with ideas and top tips on how to embed children’s rights in school (access information here).

Professor Jane Williams is currently participating in an ESRC funded project examining how younger children’s participative rights can be better embedded in schools (access information here and a recently published article of interest here).

Dr Croke, Professor Jane Williams and Arwyn Roberts conducted research into the impact of Covid-19 on Pupil Voice – this research is of interest because it tracks and considers Pupil Voice and children’s rights related developments in schools in Wales since devolution.