GRYFFE High has become the first secondary school in Renfrewshire to receive the prestigious Unicef UK Gold Award.

The Houston school has received the honour for demonstrating a commitment to promoting and realising children’s rights, as well as encouraging adults, children and young people to respect the rights of others.

The Gold Award is the highest accolade given by Unicef UK, which recognises achievement in putting the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of a school’s planning, policies and practice.

Colin Johnson, headteacher at Gryffe High, told The Gazette: “We would like to thank all pupils, staff and the wider school community for their efforts and participation in creating a school environment that is wholly in line with the promotion of children’s rights.

“It is a great honour to receive this Unicef accolade but we know that, even without such recognition, our efforts to ensure all children are treated with respect and dignity is what is fundamentally important when promoting our values of caring, learning and achieving at Gryffe High School.”

Frances Bestley, director of the Unicef UK Rights Respecting Schools Programme, is full of praise for the Houston school.

She said: “It is clear that everyone at the school – including staff, students, governors and parents – is deeply committed to fully embedding children’s rights in the school’s ethos and culture.

“Through its Rights Respecting work, Gryffe High has created a positive learning environment where all students are empowered to become active citizens, both within and beyond the school gates.

“We were very impressed by the atmosphere of mutual respect and trust that pervades throughout the school. Everyone at Gryffe High should be proud of how they have truly put the Convention at the heart of their school.”

In August, Gryffe High became the first secondary school in Scotland to get an ‘excellent’ grade under the government’s short model inspection format.

The school was rated as ‘very good’ for learning, teaching and assessment and as ‘excellent’ for raising attainment and achievement – the highest grade on the six-point scale.

Gryffe High also recently became the first school in Renfrewshire to be accredited as a Vision School for Holocaust Education in Scotland and won anti-bullying charity Respect Me’s ‘Change Starts with Us’ award in June.