Staff working across the Council – including schools and the Ranger Service – are playing their part in ensuring young people’s rights are being explained and exercised.
It is everyone’s responsibility to follow The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) – to ensure that all children’s rights are respected and that they are free to learn, play and develop.
This Convention – the gold standard for children’s rights and the blueprint for the Council – lists everything children are entitled to, from being given a name at birth and an education to good health care and protection from neglect.
Awareness is being raised among Council staff that whatever service you work in – not just education or social work, for example, but also planning, housing, regeneration and others – you must think about children aged up to 18 when making decisions or creating policy.
And various Council services have recently shown how they meet their responsibility to protect the rights of our children on a daily basis.
The teaching and catering teams at St Anthony’s Primary School, Saltcoats, are using a successful school garden to help pupils learn how food gets from the ground to their fork.Children are learning about these rights in school and Article 24 of the Convention highlights that governments must provide nutritious food, and St Anthony’s is embracing the from-garden-to-plate approach to good nutrition.
All St Anthony’s pupils are involved in the garden, where they grow vegetables including corn, potatoes and purple carrots that are then used to cook meals in the kitchen.
Depute headteacher Michelle Kerr said: “At St Anthony’s Primary, children’s rights are at the heart of all we do.
“All staff are our children’s duty bearers, and this is definitely a role which our catering staff have embraced.”
Green-fingered pupils Finlay (9), Elizabeth (10), Liam (10) and Cassidy (10) are happy to share what they love about growing food at school.
Cassidy said her favourite thing so far has been planting potatoes “because it was really fun” while coleslaw made from garden veg is a winner for Finlay, who said:
“It was really good because it tastes really fresh. At other school dinners you get food from the shop, but we grow it and then make it into food.”
The ambitious school, led by Headteacher Shirley Carr, isn’t stopping here. It is a UNICEF UK Silver Rights Respecting School and is aiming for gold. This award also helps put children’s rights at the heart of schools.
Depute headteacher Michelle Kerr said: “At St Anthony’s Primary, children’s rights are at the heart of all we do.“All staff are our children’s duty bearers, and this is definitely a role which our catering staff have embraced.”
The ambitious school, led by Headteacher Shirley Carr, isn’t stopping here. It is a UNICEF UK Silver Rights Respecting School and is aiming for gold. This award also helps put children’s rights at the heart of schools.
Another Council team that has a strong focus on young people’s rights is the North Ayrshire Ranger Service.
Junior Rangers, aged up to 18, are thriving thanks to the Scottish Countryside Rangers Association programme, which is delivered by the Council’s Countryside Rangers to give the group knowledge about their local natural and cultural heritage, the chance to learn new skills and an opportunity to make friends.
Article 31 of the Convention states that each child has the right to relax, play and take part in a wide range of cultural and artistic activities.
The Junior Rangers initiative is a great example of this and Helen McDowall, from the North Ayrshire Ranger Service, said: “The young people really just enjoy being outdoors. It is great for general health benefits, their mental health and wellbeing is improved and it keeps them active, which is good for their physical wellbeing.”
At a recent meeting at Eglinton Country Park in Irvine, the group braved the rainy weather to tidy the car park area by weeding, sweeping up leaves and picking up litter.
There is a core group of ten young people who attend monthly along with two older volunteers, who are former Junior Rangers.
Helen says recent feedback from young people has included that they enjoy: working with the wider community; completing manual and physical activities; seeing a difference in “before and after” situations; having a sense of community; being able to talk to each other about different things; being outdoors and the positive impact on their mental health.
Activities planned for the coming months include: vegetation clearing at Lochshore in Kilbirnie: a bee survey and pond dip; rock-pooling in Saltcoats; learning First Aid and taking part in the Great British Beach Clean.
Council chief executive Craig Hatton said: “Our young people’s fundamental rights must be respected, protected and fulfilled – and everyone has a part to play in this. It is everyone’s responsibility.”
The Scottish Government continues to make a strong commitment to children’s rights and is currently working towards formal incorporation of the UNCRC into Scots Law to ensure that:
- children’s rights are respected and protected in the law in Scotland and
- public authorities are legally required to respect and protect children’s rights in all the work that they do.
It is important that we think carefully about the UNCRC when creating policy and strategy to ensure children have a voice that can be clearly heard in all areas of life.
Examples of what is covered in the 54 Convention articles include everyone under 18 having the right to: be protected from violence and abuse; access to good health care and to get food, clothing and a safe place to live.
The Council has identified Champions within services and further awareness will be raised in the Council about what everyone’s responsibilities are over the coming year.
To find out more about the Junior Rangers programme, which has sessions across North Ayrshire and has been running for seven years, please email Helen McDowall at helenmcdowall@north-ayrshire.gov.uk
You can see the full list of UNCRC articles here in a user-friendly graphic: https://uni.cf/2P2l0ZZ
Check out the Council’s social media channels in the weeks and months ahead for features on other services and how they put children’s right first. These will include articles on The Swans football team, made up of New Scot teenage girls, in Kilwinning and Ukrainian children learning English – among other subjects – in our schools.
Is your team working on a project related to the UNCRC Rights of the Child? If so, get in touch for your chance to be featured in the next edition. Email: communications@north-ayrshire.gov.uk to share your story.