Twice so far this term, pupils at a west London school who have been disrupting lessons have been invited to appear before a panel of their peers to explain why they have been misbehaving – and to hear their fellow pupils talk about their belief that those actions have infringed upon their right to learn.
The student juries are seen as an attempt to bring the lessons learned from restorative justice work among juveniles into the classroom. Much more than that, however, they are part of a slowly developing project that aims to put human rights at the heart of the school's ethos and curriculum.
For several years, Villiers high, a comprehensive secondary in Southall, west London, has been taking a global view of its mission to prepare its pupils for the modern world. And increasingly, its international education has focused on human rights issues. Attempts are also being made to embed human rights values into the fabric of the school's daily life.
Robin Street, the assistant head, is responsible for the programme. Street and his colleagues are aiming to educate a new generation that will have a clearer understanding of threats to human rights across the world.
The school is now working closely with Amnesty International, which has linked up with 15 schools in 14 countries to create the Human Rights Friendly Schools project.
A similar scheme known as the Rights Respecting Schools Award has been run for the last six years by Unicef UK, a charity that promotes the work of the United Nations Children's Fund. Now running in more than 1,000 primary and secondary schools across the UK, this project aims to help children learn more about the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Amnesty has teamed up with Learnnewsdesk, the Guardian's e-learning news website, to launch a contest this year offering key stage 2 and 3 pupils the chance to win a prize for articles based broadly on human rights concerns (see below).
At Villiers, education about basic liberties is incorporated into geography and media studies lessons, as well as citizenship, history and RE. Over the last 15 years, says Street, increasing numbers of refugees have settled in the school's catchment area, so a study of local geography must involve learning about the reasons why people seek asylum in the UK.
Last October, the school hosted a two-day international students' conference, inviting pupils from schools in Denmark, the Czech Republic, Israel, Mongolia, Germany and Northern Ireland. With the help of artists, musicians and media advisers, the pupils worked together in a series of workshops to explore ways in which greater awareness of basic rights can be integrated into every area of a school's life. Meanwhile, staff from Villiers and the visiting schools received training from Amnesty and Unicef about the development of human rights education.
Street says: "The conference allowed our students, other students from across the UK and from across the globe to share thoughts and ideas about the importance of knowing about their own rights and, by definition, their own responsibilities."
Young Human Rights Reporter of the Year
Learnnewsdesk, the Guardian's online news service for schools, has teamed up with Amnesty International UK to launch the Young Human Rights Reporter competition. Children aged between seven and 14 are asked to write under 250 words on a human rights story. This could be from personal experience or their interpretation of a human rights news story. Prizes include an expenses-paid trip to the Amnesty International UK and Guardian HQs, easi-speak mp3 recorder and microphone and a specially made Amnesty Media Awards 2010 trophy. Winners will be announced in the Guardian and will be showcased at the Amnesty Media Awards on 1 June. Entries can only be sent through Learnnewsdesk – so we've organised a free login to the site. For more details about the competition, and how to enter, go to www.learnnewsdesk.co.uk, login Amnesty, password Amnesty, and go to competitions link in the Be a reporter section. The closing date for entries is 1 April.