Like many of the ‘pupil voice’ roles at St Mary’s, Rights Respecting Ambassadors are elected to the position by their class. Once they have taken up their role in the autumn term they help support the Rights Respecting Schools Co-ordinator with the OutRight campaign run by UNICEF (the charity that runs the Rights Respecting Schools Award).

The 2018-19 campaign was based on ‘Article 24 – Every child has the right to the best possible health’, with a particular focus on improving the quality of air children breathe in. On behalf of the school, the children sent postcards to members of parliament (MPs) to persuade them to do something about the quality of air in the UK and around the world. As well as the OutRight campaign, St Marys also joins in with UNICEF’s Playground challenge in the summer term.

A highlight of the Rights Respecting Ambassador’s role is visiting the local ‘Foodbank’ to donate the items we have collected during our harvest appeal. The children really enjoy this trip and get to see first-hand how their donations are processed so they can be used to help people in need.

Within the classroom the ambassador’s also have an important role in demonstrating Rights Respecting behaviour. During our monthly meetings we discuss ways that we can better promote children’s rights across the school. The ambassadors are beginning to come up with their own agenda for these meetings and focus on Rights that are important to them.