At Strangford Integrated College we are delighted to have achieved our Gold UNICEF’s Rights Respecting Schools Award.

A Rights Respecting School is a place where students feel safe and confident in the fact that their rights are being advocated for. We are a school that has fully embedded children’s rights into our school ethos. We believe that students and staff working together and respecting each other’s rights will result in the following being improved:

· Learning

· Self-esteem

· Well-being

· Confidence

· Appreciation of community

By achieving our Gold Award, we are acknowledging that across the world, some people do not have access to their rights. We are using our voices to help the wider community and beyond; working towards the Global Goals as seen below.

Article 14 says you have the right to think for yourself and choose what you believe. You can follow any religion or none at all, and your parents can help guide you-but they can’t force you to believe or stop believing something. No one should treat you unfairly because of your religion. You also have the right to keep your thoughts private and to make choices based on what feels right to you, like not eating meat or saying no to things you don’t agree with.

We were delighted to be awarded our Gold Rights Respecting School status in March 2022. Gold Rights Respecting is the highest level of the Award and is granted to schools that have fully embedded the principles of the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child into their ethos and curriculum. We are one of only three post primary schools in Northern Ireland that currently hold the Gold accreditation and the only integrated post primary to currently have the Gold Award.

Our assessors made the following observations about the College and our wonderful students at the reaccreditation visit in April 2025:

• Students have a very good understanding of the rights and understand how they are connected to school life, to their integrated ethos and their local and global community.

• A child rights approach is embedded across the college putting it at the core of the school ethos.

• Relationships are based on mutual respect and trust, where learning about trust is clearly affecting relationships in a positive way.

• There is a strong culture of inclusivity and respect which is understood and articulated by the school community.

• Pupil voice is highly valued with a large range of pupil voice groups giving opportunities for young people to put their suggestions forward and these to be acted on.

• Pupils are actively engaged in raising awareness of children’s rights in their community and supporting other children globally to access their rights.