Education

Children’s rights education programme launched for Kiwi kids

<h2>A new education programme for schools that aims to teach Kiwi kids about their rights under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was launched yesterday&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The free online programme has been developed by educators at Save the Children to help children in Aotearoa New Zealand learn about their rights&comma; from access to healthcare&comma; housing and education to being protected from violence or practicing their culture&period; It includes a range of cross-curricular resources for teachers&comma; children and the wider wh&amacr;nau and school community&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Rights are an important part of our children’s everyday lives&comma;&&num;8221&semi; says Save the Children’s Advocacy and Research Director Jacqui Southey&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;But despite New Zealand signing up to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child almost 30 years ago &lpar;1993&rpar;&comma; many New Zealanders have little understanding of the Convention or what child rights mean for our children in Aotearoa&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Southey says that while there is a requirement to teach children about rights in the curriculum&comma; learning about children’s rights in a New Zealand context is less common&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Children often learn about the rights of others in overseas or historical contexts&comma; rather than their own rights in their everyday lives&period; Knowing about their rights adds a protective layer where children understand they have the right to be protected from harm or to have a say on issues that are important to them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;When children learn about their rights&comma; they also learn about the rights of others&period; Research shows they are more like to respect the rights of the others and speak up when the see injustices or to offer support to the those who need it&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Parents can also be empowered through knowing their child’s rights&period; Knowing your child’s rights is a powerful tool if a parent finds themselves needing to advocate on behalf of their child&comma; for example&comma; in receiving quality healthcare&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The resources can be used in a remote learning environment and are designed for a wide range of ages&comma; from early childhood to intermediate&comma; with secondary resources currently being developed&period; Future plans for the programme include connecting Kiwi kids with Save the Children’s work in the Pacific and overseas through online platforms&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"alignnone size-medium wp-image-21071" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2021&sol;09&sol;Save-the-Ch-206x300&period;jpg" alt&equals;"" width&equals;"206" height&equals;"300" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Save the Children has also joined with long-term partner Peppa Pig and renowned education publishing house Twinkl to create resources designed to support mindfulness in children&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Twinkl New Zealand Country Manager Imogen Wood says Twinkl is passionate about supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children across Aotearoa&comma; as mindfulness is increasingly important&comma; especially given the ever-changing circumstances that children have faced over the past 18 months&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We are delighted to partner with Save the Children and Peppa Pig to collaborate on a series of teaching resources to support October’s &OpenCurlyQuote;Peppa Practices Mindfulness’&period; The resources cover ECE through to Year 6 and provide strategies for coping with frustration and worries&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Teachers and schools can sign up to the free programme online at <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;savethechildren&period;org&period;nz&sol;educationhub" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;savethechildren&period;org&period;nz&sol;educationhub<&sol;a> via the e-newsletter link&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

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