Learning About Human Rights in the Primary School

This booklet provides a sample of our human rights education resources produced 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.

You will find a set of 10 interactive lessons for children – five for age 5+ (England and Northern Ireland: Key Stage 1; Wales: Foundation Phase; Scotland: Early and First Level) and five for age 7-11 (England, Nothern Ireland and Wales: Key Stage 2; Scotland: Second Level). Please photocopy and adapt these exercises for your own classroom use.

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.

The final activity, Taking action for human rights, explains how schools can sign up to the Junior Urgent Action Network. It’s an opportunity for children to become more actively involved with Amnesty International’s human rights work through our letter-writing campaign. 

In addition, you can download free resources on a range of human rights issues and order free posters for your school from www.amnesty.org.uk/resources-schools.