Celebrating Our Journey to Becoming a Silver Rights Respecting School

We're thrilled to announce that Bel Royal has achieved Silver Rights Respecting School status!

This exciting milestone follows a successful virtual visit in September from Sheree Mayer, the Participation and Engagement Officer for the Children’s Commissioner. Sheree reviewed the school's progress since achieving the Bronze Award in September 2021, examining how children's rights are integrated into our planning, displays, and communication. Her visit included interviews with Mrs. Hammond, Mr. Mills, teachers, support staff, parents, and, most importantly, the fantastic members of our Rights Respecting Schools Committee. We're incredibly proud of everyone's hard work and dedication. Gold, here we come!

The Rights at Bel Royal School

Bel Royal School is on a journey to become a Gold-recognized UNICEF UK Rights Respecting School. This means we're building a school where children's rights aren't just learnt but lived. We're committed to upholding the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) in everything we do, creating a safe, inspiring space where every child feels valued, respected, and empowered to speak up. Ask your child how we celebrate these rights – they should be able to share examples from our class charters, displays, assemblies, and everyday learning.

Recent Highlights

On our way to Gold: Having proudly achieved our Silver RRSA Award in October, we're now striving for Gold! This means embedding children's rights even deeper into our values and daily practices. We'll focus on demonstrating the positive impact of rights on well-being, participation, relationships, and self-esteem. A whole-school approach with a strong pupil voice and a focus on global citizenship will be the key to success.

Democracy Week: During Democracy Week, Bel Royal students explored key democratic concepts, including voting, fairness, the role of Jersey's government, and representation. We celebrated Article 12 of the UNCRC (the right to have a voice and be heard) through assemblies and welcomed local Constable Andy Jehan, and Deputies Hilary Jeune and Kirsten Morel (an ex Bel Royal pupil!) to discuss their roles. The week ended with school-wide elections for our new School Council representatives.

Meet a Minister: Our Rights Respecting Schools Committee exercised our rights under UNCRC Articles 4 (Government's duty to protect rights), 12 (the right to express views), 13 (freedom of expression), and 19 (protection from harm) by meeting with local States members. We raised our concerns regarding road safety at Bel Royal, and Constable Andy Jehan has committed to revisiting our school to explore ways to enhance road safety in the area. Our RRS Committee did a fantastic job of representing Bel Royal School.

Get Involved

We warmly invite parents and the wider community to join us on our Rights Respecting journey! Your support is vital in helping us create a truly rights-respecting school. Here are some ways you can get involved:

• Chat with your child: Discuss children's rights and what they mean. Ask your child to share how we celebrate and embed these rights at Bel Royal – you might be surprised by what they've learnt!
• Become a Rights Respecting Champion: We're looking for parents and community members to join our Rights Respecting School Committee, helping to guide our efforts and bring fresh perspectives – can you help? Get in touch: j.fernandes@belroyal.sch.je
• Explore the UNCRC: Visit the UNICEF UK website to learn more about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child: https://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/
• Share your skills and talents: Do you have a skill or area of expertise that could enhance our Rights Respecting work? Perhaps you could offer a workshop, talk, or help with a project.
• Share your ideas: We're always open to new ideas! Get in touch with Mrs. Fernandes, our Rights Respecting School Lead, at j.fernandes@belroyal.sch.je