Hermitage Academy has become the first secondary school in Ƶapp to receive gold accreditation in UNICEF UK’s Rights Respecting School programme.
UNICEF is the world’s leading organisation working for children and their rights. The Rights Respecting Schools Award is awarded to schools that show commitment to promoting and realising children’s’ rights and encouraging adults, children and young people to respect the rights of others in school. Hermitage Academy is the second school in Ƶapp to receive gold accreditation – the first being Hermitage Primary in 2020.
Assessors commended staff and pupils for their commitment to a rights-based approach and praised them on the following:
- The school has an ethos that places students at the centre and is very responsive to both group and individual needs; multiple examples demonstrate how pupil voice has influenced change and developments across the school.
- Transition work to support P7 students to understand their rights, with a particular emphasis on pupil voice.
- The value placed on student engagement and participation in decision making, for example the excellent intuitive and interactive school improvement plan co-developed by students and stakeholders.
Mr Morgan, Acting Head Teacher at Hermitage Academy, said: “We are delighted to have received the Gold accreditation from UNICEF. I would like to thank Miss Purves, Miss Marshall and the young people from the Rights Respecting Schools group for their energy, efforts and enthusiasm. It is a fantastic achievement and one that represents the hard work of our entire school community.”