Meet our 2023/24 Rights Respecting Schools group

We are proud to be a Gold 'Rights Respecting School'.  This is an award given to schools by UNICEF, a leading organisation for children and their rights.  It recognises the work that duty-bearers (normally teachers, staff and other adults) do to ensure that all children can access their rights as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. This year (2023) we gained our Gold re-accreditation and were awarded our Sustaining Gold award by Stuart Whiffen from UNICEF in a celebratory assembly.

Our children and staff speak knowledgably and passionately about the rights of the Child as enshrined in the United Nations Conference on the Rights of the Child.

A rights-respecting school not only teaches about children's rights but also models rights and respect in all its relationships: between teachers / adults and pupils, between adults and between pupils.

The 'Rights Respecting School Award' (RRSA) helps our children grow into thoughtful, respectful and responsible young members of the school and wider community. By learning about their rights, our children also learn about the importance of respecting the rights of others.

The UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) runs throughout the life at Pembroke Dock Community School and is referenced in all of our lessons and policies.  Article 42 states that, "Governments must actively work to make sure that children and adults know about the convention."  To help the children learn about their rights, they are present across our school environment.

At PDCS, both the staff and children are passionate about upholding the rights of the children.

As duty bearers, the staff ensure that children's rights are referenced in policies as they are updated and we regularly introduce key initiatives to focus on upholding the children's rights.

As rights holders, the views of the children are very important to us and the UNCRC focuses our discussions with the school ambassadors.  The children's ideas are raised with the staff and put into practice.

We hold regular Rights Respecting Schools meetings with our elected pupil voice group and Super Ambassadors to discuss rights across the school and to seek pupil feedback. The RRS group begin the school year by discussing their rights and setting priorities for the year ahead.  They take the views of their peers and work alongside the Rights Respecting Schools leads to ensure that the children’s views are represented across the school. They ensure that each class creates a class charter that is unique to them to be used within the classroom.

Our Super Ambassadors take part in the Children's Commissioner for Wales' termly missions and feedback their progress to Rocio Cifuentes.

Have a look at our Gold RRS re-accreditation report, we are extremely proud of our achievements! ⭐