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The Children's Rights and Participation Improvement Group are a multi-agency group of practitioners working together to further the incorporation of the UNCRC across our organisations
The Children's Rights and Participation Improvement Group are a multi-agency group of practitioners working together to further the incorporation of the UNCRC across our organisations
Highland Practitioners Guide
Highland Practitioners Guide
We have created a new Practitioners Guide to support everyone to implement our Children and Young People's Participation Strategy.
It, alongside the Participation ROCCS resource, is full of guidance, support and practical tools to help ensure that children's participation in decisions that affect them is meaningful. The Involving Children and Young People in Decisions that Affect Them booklet focuses on how we ensure that we are making participation safe, meaningful and rights respecting.
If you are working with teams of staff, supporting them to enact Article 12, you may find our Participation ROCCS resource a useful tool to use in a team setting. It offers a safe, playful way to examine our assumptions, spark meaningful discussion, and strengthen rights-based practice. It's not about blame. It's about curiosity, care and ensuring effect for all voices
Children's Rights Reporting
Children's Rights Reporting
Children and young people have rights. These rights are explained in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and are now part of Scottish law.
Every three years, Highland Council will write a report about children's rights. The report explains what we have been doing to make sure children's rights are respected, what we have learned, what is working well and what still needs to improve.
Our Children's Rights Report covers the period 14 July 2024 to 31 March 2026 and includes examples of work from across Highland Council. The full report will be available in the coming months, and the link will be added to this page.
We have created a child-friendly version so that children and young people can learn about their rights and see how we are working to make children's rights part of everything we do.
Children and young people have the right to share their views and have those views taken seriously.
We are proud of the progress we have made, but we know there is still more to do. By listening, learning and working together, we will continue making children's rights real for every child and young person in Highland.
Every child has rights, and together we can all make change.
Using the Voice and Influence Process, children and young people can feedback ideas for things that could be improved, or though participatory work with practitioners, they can reach into the Integrated Children's Services Board to ask for advice and guidance on projects that they wish to undertake to improve things for their peers.
Click on the link below the report to open it in a new tab.
The 'having your voice heard' page on the website is a place to have a look at what is happening locally, and nationally that children and young people can get involved in, or seek support from to have their voices heard.
Over the coming months, with the launch of the participation strategy, this page will begin to grow and more local opportunities will be added.
All of the pages on the website are relevant to children and young people, but this page focuses specifically on the places that you can go to, or connect with to share your thoughts and opinions on issues that matter to you, and affect your lives. The What's Happening? Page has a link to give feedback on the Participation Strategy and to sign up to a mailing list to be kept in the loop. Check it out if you want to be kept informed that way.
What is the UNCRC?
What is the UNCRC?
This short video has been made by I Am Me Scotland. 6 year old Sebastian talks to us about children's rights.
This Scottish Government animation was created in partnership with children and young people and follows four young people on a ‘children’s rights journey’ through their community, interacting with representatives from various public authorities to learn about the practical ways that public authorities can respect children’s rights.
What do we mean by Participation?
What do we mean by Participation?
The website of Scotland's Commissioner for Children and Young People (CYPCS) has some really useful information about Participation and Children's Rights.
Within the UNCRC, Participation is one of the General Principles of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Article 12, in particular, states that every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously. Other Articles within the convention (or rights) that relate to participation are:
Article 13: Freedom of expression.
Article 14: Freedom of thought, belief and religion.
Article 15: Freedom of association (the right to meet with other children and join groups and organisations).
Article 17: Access to information from the media (the right to reliable information from a variety of sources in a way that children can understand).
In Highland, we are working hard to ensure that meaningful participation is at the heart of all decisions that are made which impact upon children and young people. Our Participation Strategy seeks to support practitioners to do this, and uses the Lundy Model of Participation.
The infographic below shows what children and young people in Highland wanted from a Participation Strategy, and how we hope to address this by using the Lundy Model.
Highland Key Themes x Lundy Model.pdfPage updated
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