Merchiston has been awarded Gold accreditation as part of the UNICEF Rights Respecting School programme, which is designed to put children’s rights at the heart of schools in the UK.
Merchiston previously achieved UNICEF’s RRS Bronze Award in June 2019, followed by Silver in March 2022 and Gold in 2024. The Award Programme, based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), recognises a school’s achievement in putting the UNCRC into practice within the school community and beyond.
Rights Respecting Conference
We hosted Edinburgh’s first Rights Respecting Conference in February 2024, followed by our second and third conferences in February 2025 and 2026. Our Pupil Rights Respecting Group played an active role in planning this year’s event and supported delegates throughout the day.
As part of the conference, delegates presented the work currently being undertaken within the Rights Respecting Schools Award. They also took part in workshops focused on designing a framework for a Rights Award that could be presented to organisations, services and individuals championing children’s rights through their work.
The ideas generated during these workshops will now be taken forward by a dedicated Rights Award Pupil Working Group.
Other current projects that the Pupil Rights Respecting Group are working on include:
- Introducing Rights to our Forest Nursery and Junior School
- Introducing a Rights based Rewards System
