Learning about human rights in the Primary School

This free booklet from Amnesty International UK provides a set of 10 interactive lessons for primary schools. It helps provide pupils with an understanding of their own human rights and the values and attitudes that underpin them. It will help to foster attitudes of respect and an appreciation of the uniqueness of each individual. Pupils will also develop skills to enable them to take action to defend human rights. Activities for Key Stage 1 (ages 5 to 7) include:

• The tale of the orange juice: Understanding the food supply chain and Fair Trade
• One for you, three for me: How food consumption is very uneven
• Fair play? Exploring what’s ‘fair’ and ‘unfair’
• Rights in the classroom: What factors contribute to a respectful environment?
• Exploring identity: Learning every member of the group is unique and important

Activities for Key Stage 2 (ages 7 to 11) include:

• We are all born free: Introducing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
• Right up your street: Looking at human rights in everyday life
• Children’s rights picture quilt: Understanding that children have rights too
• Refugees – they came because they had to: Thinking about the refugee experience
• Action for human rights: Standing up for those in need in your school (part 1) and through letter writing (part 2). ??

All the activities are designed to encourage pupils to take a basic starting point, often based on something close to home or an event or situation they’ve experienced or can relate to, and then develop it. Pupils are then invited to expand their understanding beyond themselves and to begin to think outwards and towards others, whether locally, nationally or globally. There are no explicit curriculum links provided in the booklet, but the activities will fit well into PSHE / Citizenship and there are also connections to English/literacy and Geography. An older version of this booklet is also available in bilingual Welsh/English