Paisley Children's Centre: Children's Rights and Responsibilities

Meeting room

The children’s meeting room was situated intentionally at the entrance to the building, and beside the parents’ room, to include everyone who is directly involved with the children. This provides the opportunity for staff and children to reinforce to families that children’s opinions are valued, sought and acted upon on a regular basis within the nursery.

The entrance to the children’s meeting area is illustrated by symbols based on the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Meaningful discussion

The area is used for purposeful and meaningful consultation with the children in areas that directly affect them. Some of these consultations have included:

• Children’s Rules - which informed the rules for the whole nursery
• What Makes Us Happy? - which informed the purchase of play resources, in the redevelopment of the literacy area
• Curriculum Activities - children’s responses were used to plan meaningful activities on the topics of Halloween and Scotland.

Recording discussions

Mind mapping and symbols are used as a tool for discussion and staff find this is a useful technique to encourage all children to participate at their own individual level.

Responsibility groups

Staff worked with the children in small groups to identify and discuss the responsibilities that there were or should be within the nursery. After mind mapping these jobs, the children decided on names for the groups and produced badges for them.

The responsibility groups were:

• the Peace Patrol
• the Toy Tidiers
• the Lunch Bunch
• the Toilet Monitors.

Role of the adult in discussions

Staff in the nursery had clear guidelines to facilitate the children’s discussions:

• Give clear guidelines at the beginning of the session - explain to the children what they are entitled to expect, but also what they may give to the group.
• Discuss what will meet the needs of your service - ensure workable capabilities to ensure success and build on children’s self-esteem.
• Encourage further thinking - respect children’s choices even when it may be the same group chosen week after week, exploring issues such as real ownership.
• Promote further active citizenship as a way of nursery life - modelling genuine consultation and participation.