The programme is closely related to the Government's Every Child Matters policy that aims to ensure that every child and young person - whatever their background or circumstances - has the support they need to be healthy, stay safe, enjoy and achieve, make a positive contribution and achieve economic wellbeing.

Organisations involved with providing services to children are expected to share information and work together, to protect children and young people from harm and help them achieve what they want in life. Children and young people should have far more say about issues that affect them - as individuals and collectively. The Rights Respecting Schools programme provided an approach that helped schools develop the culture to support this pupil participation.

The DfES funded UNICEF's Education Department to roll out the programme in partnership with five Local Authorities: Durham, Rochdale, Bracknell , Hampshire and Dorset. The programme had a built in evaluation which was undertaken by the University of Sussex between April 2007 and March 2010 . The aim of the evaluation was to assess whether and how the programme realised its aims and to provide feedback so that improvements could be made. The evaluation also considered how far UNICEF's Rights Respecting Schools programme inspired and supported schools who wanted to provide children and young people with a rights-respecting guide to living.

The research involved an in-depth case study of 12 schools across the five local authorities. Interviews (with pupils, staff, parents/governors, senior managers), observation and documentary analysis in these schools, where possible drawing on school self evaluation, informed the research. In addition, school cluster and group meetings were attended and telephone interviews undertaken. These provided an overview of different perspectives and clarified ways in which schools sought to develop pupils' rights and responsibilities, linking them to other initiatives and existing developments and extending and enriching their current practice.

The evaluation project was undertaken by Carol Robinson and Judy Sebba from the University of Sussex.

Download the Unicef Interim Report - August 2008 [DOC 142.00KB] here.