St Augustine’s CE High School was delighted to welcome the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to the school as part of a visit celebrating the positive impact of putting children’s rights at the heart of school life.
The Mayor was joined by Lib Peck, Director of London’s Violence Reduction Unit (VRU), and representatives from UNICEF UK, who visited St Augustine’s to see first-hand our work as a Rights Respecting School and hear from our students about their experiences.
The visit provided a wonderful opportunity to showcase the values and ethos that are central to our school community: ensuring that every young person feels safe, respected, valued and listened to.
Putting our students at the heart of school life
At St Augustine’s, we believe that educating young people about their rights is an important part of preparing them for their future.
Our work through the UNICEF UK Rights Respecting Schools Programme helps us to embed children’s rights across our school community, strengthening relationships between students and staff and giving young people meaningful opportunities to have their voices heard.
During the Mayor’s visit, our students spoke openly about what being part of a Rights Respecting School means to them and the difference it makes to their experience of school.
Year 13 student Rayan explained:
“Rights respecting schools is very important as it allows students to be given the space so that they can speak freely and communicate about their thoughts and issues to teachers who are there for them every day, without them feeling restricted and unheard.
“It’s our right to feel protected and respected no matter the colour, background, race or religion. Young people should feel they are always valued and appreciated at a school like we do at St Augustine’s.”
His words reflect one of the key principles behind our approach: young people should know that their voices matter and that they have a safe and supportive environment in which to use them.
A culture of belonging
Our Headteacher, Ms Kelly, highlighted the importance of making children’s rights part of everyday school life.
“Educating our young people about their rights is an incredibly important part of preparing them for their future.
“These conversations are not simply about teaching students what their rights are; they are about creating a school culture where young people feel safe, valued, listened to and that they genuinely belong.”
The Rights Respecting Schools Programme provides an important framework for helping us achieve this. It supports our wider work around safeguarding, relationships, inclusion and student voice, while encouraging our students to understand both their rights and their responsibilities within our community.
Part of a wider movement across London
The visit comes as new research commissioned by the London Violence Reduction Unit and independently carried out by the University of Strathclyde highlights the positive impact of rights-respecting approaches in schools.
The 12-month evaluation surveyed almost 2,000 pupils and teachers across primary and secondary schools. It found that pupils and teachers in schools that have embraced the programme feel safer, more included and more connected, with students more likely to feel heard by adults and to have a strong sense of belonging.
More than 730 schools across London have now taken up the offer of support through the programme, reaching more than 360,000 children and young people.
The wider work of the Mayor’s Inclusion Charter has also coincided with reductions across London in persistent absenteeism, suspensions and exclusions. New data shows that London’s suspension and permanent exclusion rates are now half the national average.
For us at St Augustine’s, these developments reinforce the importance of creating school environments where young people feel connected, supported and able to thrive.
A proud day for St Augustine’s
We were incredibly proud to welcome the Mayor and our partners from the Violence Reduction Unit and UNICEF UK and to showcase the fantastic work taking place across our school.
Most importantly, the visit was an opportunity for our students to share their voices and demonstrate what being a Rights Respecting School means in practice.
At St Augustine’s, we will continue to work together to build a school community where every student feels safe, every voice is valued and every young person knows that they belong.
We would like to thank the Mayor of London, Lib Peck, UNICEF UK and the London Violence Reduction Unit for visiting our school, and our students and staff for making the day such a memorable occasion.
