Kirkcudbright Academy receives prestigious UNICEF UK Gold Award
Kirkcudbright Academy has been awarded Gold by 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 granted 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. Gold is the highest accolade given by UNICEF UK and shows a deep and thorough commitment to children’s rights at all levels of school life. There are over 600 schools across England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales that have received Gold.
Over the past few years, students, staff and community members have worked together to make sure that children’s rights are not just something we learn about, but something we live by every day. Assemblies, UPS sessions, Rights days/afternoons and our curriculum have all helped to bring the UNCRC to life, encouraging everyone to think critically about fairness, equality, and respect — both in school and beyond. “You can approach staff with ideas as they are accessible to talk to. You feel included, listened to and can see changes when they are made.” Morgan in S6 told the UNICEF representative during the Gold Award Visit and Cally in S2 said “We are listened to and feel acknowledged in school. Overall, it makes us feel safer in school.”
Headteacher of Kirkcudbright Academy, Anthony Tuffery, said: “We are incredibly proud that the school has received the Gold Award from UNICEF UK. Working towards the Gold Award has been about more than achieving a title — it’s about creating a culture of mutual respect and understanding. When students know their rights, they also learn about their responsibilities to respect the rights of others. This has helped to build stronger relationships across year groups, improved behaviour, and created a more inclusive school environment. This has been a positive journey for not just the school, but the wider community who have been involved in the success of the programme.”
The Award recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of a school’s planning, policies and practice. A Rights Respecting School is a community where children’s rights are learned, taught, practised, respected, protected and promoted.
Students have had more opportunities to be actively involved within the school, being encouraged to give their opinions, share their thoughts and take the lead, making changes to our school and community as Hazel in S5 told the UNICEF assessor “There are lots of opportunities to have a say in our learning as we can give end of year feedback to our teachers about things that have happened and what went well. Feedback from teachers on marked work is positive and constructive to help us know what we need to improve and help us make more progress.” This is done across a range of pupil-led groups and has already had their say and involvement in school policies, campaigns and community projects, using their voices to make positive change.
The UNICEF UK Rights Respecting Schools initiative is aimed at schools across the UK, including those in an early years setting. Currently, it works with nearly 5,000 primary schools, secondary schools, schools for children and young people with special educational needs and pupil referral units across England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Schools have reported a positive impact on pupil behaviour, relationships and well-being by enhancing pupils’ self-esteem, leading to less truancy and bullying, better learning and improved academic standards.
During the accreditation visit from UNICEF, a wide selection of pupils from across all years in the school were asked questions about the school and their experiences at Kirkcudbright Academy. The final question for each session was about what the best thing about Kirkcudbright Academy was and Bethany in S4 said,
“The best thing about our school is that it is like a kind, caring, supportive environment. It is like being a part of a community with lots of stuff you can do.”
As the school continues its journey to continue to put our young people’s voice at the centre of our school community, everyone is committed to keeping children’s rights at the heart of what we do. It’s about ensuring that every student feels safe, valued, and empowered to make a difference — both now and in the future.
