Under the Transdisciplinary Theme of ‘Who we are’ the years 3/4 students are exploring children’s rights and how rules and choices help us to live together peacefully. They’re looking into personal responsibilities and ways to understand and respect the needs, feelings and interests of others. The classes are also learning about rights and rules for living and working together in a community, and an important example of these are the Rights of the Child as stated in the United Nation’s Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Our students approached the issue from different perspectives and got really involved.

As Delia explains: “It’s great to learn that we have rights, we really have a say, not just the adults.We should be taken seriously.”

Guillaume was shocked to learn that some children have to work for hours every day: “It’s ok if we help our parents, like household chores, but we children need free time to play and to enjoy every day, and to learn and grow.”

Paul adds: “Children have to be protected against all forms of violence, every child has the right to live in peace. And that’s also why we have to help children in poorer countries, for example we collected money at the Sponsor’s Run to support projects. Everybody can do something.”

During our project day the children had a small taste of what a working day of a child in a factory would be: they were sorting matches into boxes and glueing paper bags – only to find out that their ‘wages’ they received afterwards were not enough to feed their families.

It’s just a really significant topic – as Delia puts it: ”Children’s Rights are important for all children, and we children are important for everyone!”

Sara Thesen, Bilingual Primary School