Joining Human Rights in Education (Nelson Central School)

Paul Potaka explains why and how Nelson Central School joined the Human Rights in Education Initiative

Why did Nelson Central School join Human Rights in Education?
We joined the Human Rights in Education initiative as a result of members of the Board of Trustees attending a presentation Ced Simpson gave at the 2008 School Trustees Association Conference. What impressed our board members was the case study involving behavioural changes amongst students and schools in Hampshire.

Parents are always concerned about safety and well being of their children and bullying in schools is always a hot topic. We had developed programmes to address reduction of bullying and making the school a safe place for children. Our approach involved a shift from punitive reactive measures to proactive preventive measures in the form of social skills programmes and promotion of agreed values.

Informed by the literature provided by the Human Rights in Education (HRiE) Trust we decided that a rights respecting approach to behaviour in school had the potential to increase everyone’s, including children’s, responsibility for ensuring the safety and well being of those with whom they live, work and play.

What has it meant in practice?
Several issues had to be considered as we prepared for a new way of thinking and doing. The first concerned whether or not we were talking about a new ‘bolt on’ programme or whether we were talking about making HRiE an integral part of the school culture. We decided the latter would be the case.

We developed a strategy to: ensure all members of the Board of Trustees were supportive of the initiative; implement a communication strategy for the staff, students and school community; address HRiE in a curriculum context; ensure professional development of staff; and, ensure we did some long term thinking about an implementation strategy for HRiE.

At a classroom level teachers found it relatively easy to incorporate HRiE thinking into their annual curriculum plan. Outside the classroom our current social skills programme was adapted to incorporate HRiE ideas.

How has it affected other programmes/initiatives?
Existing programmes will be affected by adopting a HRiE approach. We are now working on further development of a HRiE approach as our main tool for creating and maintaining school culture. This will lead us away from a rules based approach to the way we operate, to a rights respecting way of doing things.

What impact has involvement had?
Staff have accommodated the change in thinking. Students are getting used to the new concepts and language involved in HRiE  and enjoy learning about themselves and other people in the world.

What do people say about it?
Parents have expressed enthusiasm for the concepts involved in HRiE and are very supportive of the way this has come through in classroom programmes and the general culture of the school.

- Paul Potoka, Principal