The NASUWT believes that the educational success and wider wellbeing of children and young people is dependent on ensuring that their legitimate rights and entitlements are respected in all aspects of their lives, both within and beyond school.

Teachers and school leaders have important roles to play in this respect but the contribution of families and other agencies with responsibilities for children and young people’s care is also critical.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child confirms that it is a responsibility of the state to ensure that children and young people, as well as having access to an effective education, are safe, secure, can make a contribution and enjoy good physical and mental health.

The NASUWT’s policy and campaigning work in this area focuses particularly on the role of wider public services for children and young people. Health, social care, youth justice and cultural and leisure services all have a critical part to play, working in partnership with schools, to ensure that every child has the best possible start in life, as well as good future life chances.

For this reason, the NASUWT has drawn attention across the UK to reductions in the resources available to these services and ineffective frameworks for collaboration between them. Critical areas of concern, including child protection and promoting good mental health among young people, depend crucially on a well-funded public service framework.

The NASUWT campaigns actively on children’s rights issues. The Union is clear that the right to grow up free from poverty and socio-economic insecurity is one of the most important of these rights. Children and young people also have a right to be safe, to have their voices heard and to be free from exploitation and abuse. Further information about the Union’s work in these and other areas can be found in this section.

Your feedback

If you require a response from us, please DO NOT use this form. Please use our Contact Us page instead.

In our continued efforts to improve the website, we evaluate all the feedback you leave here because your insight is invaluable to us, but all your comments are processed anonymously and we are unable to respond to them directly.