Article of the Month: November & December

Anti Bullying Week 

This years theme for Anti Bullying week is "Break the Silence", this is all about speaking up if bullying is happening, telling an adult, supporting someone who is being hurt, and showing kindness every day.

Article 2: Non Discrimination

Article 12: Respect for the Views of the Child

Article 13: Right to a voice

Article 19: Protection from Violence, Abuse and Neglect

During Anti-Bullying Week we focus on how every child has the right to feel safe, respected and included. These articles remind us that every child deserves to be treated equally, listened to and protected from harm. 
 

What’s happening in school?

- Anti Bullying Week (Monday 16th - Friday 20th November)

Odd Socks Day (Monday 16th November)

- World Children’s Day (Friday 20th November) – Blue Day

Our Voices, Our Ideas, Our School 🩵
 

Our Rights Respecting Steering Group came together to look through the suggestions placed in our suggestion box over the first half term. The children discussed the ideas, choosing those that were practical and could be introduced in our school. They then took their chosen suggestions to Mr Kelly to discuss how we could make them happen.

A big part of being a Rights Respecting School is ensuring children’s voices are heard and their views are considered. Our steering group helps make this happen by listening to their peers and working together to make positive changes in our school!

Article of the Month: September & October

Article 12 - The Right to a Voice

This article reminds us that every child has the right to share their thoughts, feelings, and opinions on matters that affect them. During September and October, we will be exploring what it means to speak up, share ideas and help make decisions.

In school we will be

- Creating Class Charters

- Sharing ideas in class​

 - Taking part in Pupil Voice Groups​

​- Introducing School Suggestion Box

A Sweet Celebration for Our Rights Respecting Pupils

We were delighted to take our Rights Respecting Group, along with the children who played an important role in our recent accreditation visit, for a special walk to our local shop. As a well-deserved treat, everyone enjoyed an ice cream while spending time together and celebrating their hard work and commitment.

We are incredibly proud of all the pupils involved, who represented our school so brilliantly during the visit and continue to promote children’s rights in such a positive way. Well done to everyone

Achieving Silver

We are delighted to share that on Friday, we achieved our Silver Rights Respecting School accreditation! 

A huge congratulations to all the pupils who took part in the virtual accreditation visit. They represented our school so well, and the mentor was extremely impressed with their understanding and knowledge of children’s rights.

Our Rights Respecting Steering Group has worked incredibly hard throughout the year to introduce this initiative and ensure it is embedded across the school. Their dedication and commitment have played a key role in this fantastic achievement.

We are extremely proud of everyone involved and look forward to continuing our journey as a Rights Respecting School.

Pictured below are the group of children who represented the school for the virtual visit and members of our Rights Respecting Group with our Silver Award Banner that we will proudly display outside our school!

Our Rights Respecting Class Teddy Bears Have Arrived! 🐻 

The Rights Respecting Team were excited to receive our new class teddy bears, and they will be visiting each Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 class soon to introduce the bears and explain their special role.

As part of our work to help every child understand their rights and respect the rights of others, each class will now have its own Rights Respecting Class Teddy Bear. Over the coming weeks, children will name their bear and explore rights such as the right to feel safe, to play, to learn, and to be listened to. They will also think about how to make sure their bear enjoys these rights too.

Classes might choose to:

• create a safe place for their bear
• teach the bear how to be a good friend
• include the bear in daily routines
• explore fairness, kindness and respect together

The teddy bears help children understand big ideas in a simple, meaningful and age‑appropriate way, while building teamwork, empathy and responsibility.

We look forward to seeing how each class welcomes their new bear and the thoughtful ideas the children come up with!

Mental Health Week Assembly 

Our pupils led a whole school assembly to launch World Children’s Mental Health Week. Children from the School Council, Rights Respecting Team and ECO Team worked together to plan and deliver a brilliant assembly.

During the assembly, the children explained that over the next few weeks we will be focusing on Article 24 – the right to good health, in reflection of Mental Health Week.

They spoke confidently about why looking after our mental health is important and reminded everyone that it’s always okay to ask for help. The children shared simple ideas to help us feel good, such as spending time outside, talking to trusted adults and being kind to others.

We are very proud of how well our pupil leaders worked together and shared such an important message. By giving children a voice, we continue to build a kind and caring school where everyone feels safe, valued and heard.

Children’s Mental Health Week

Our Rights Respecting team met with members from the School Council team and the ECO team to discuss Children’s Mental Health week which we are celebrating on the week beginning 16th February. Mrs McClean and Miss McCrink discussed the importance of this week and we explored the different things that we are trying to achieve from celebrating this week as a school collectively. We then rehearsed our assembly that we will be delivering to the rest of the school on Monday 16th to introduce the week. We will be sharing the theme for the week which is ‘This is my place’ with a focus on belonging. We are looking forward to presenting our plans to the rest of the school after a well deserved week off.

Internet Safety Week

This week, our Rights Respecting School Steering Group met to decide on our Articles of the Month, linking their choices to our school’s celebration of Internet Safety Week.

The children chose Article 17 (Access to information) and Article 19 (Protection from harm) as the most relevant articles to focus on. They felt these articles best reflected the importance of staying safe online, accessing reliable information, and knowing how to protect yourself and others while using digital technology. The Steering Group will display the Article posters beside our Internet Safety Week display in the ICT, where every class contributes samples of their learning and work.

The children visited each class to explain what the articles mean and why they were selected. Their confidence, leadership, and commitment to promoting children’s rights were evident throughout the week.

Well done to our Steering Group for helping the whole school stay informed, aware, and rights respecting during Internet Safety Week!

Steering Group Meeting

This week, the children from our Rights Respecting School Steering Group met to carefully consider which UNCRC Article posters would be most meaningful in different areas of the school. After thoughtful discussion, they toured the building to put each poster in its chosen location, ensuring that every space reflects the rights that matter most to our school community.
In addition to displaying the posters, the group also visited every class to hand out informative leaflets and a relevant Rights Respecting Schools booklet, helping to raise awareness and strengthen everyone’s understanding of children’s rights.
We are incredibly proud of the Steering Group for their leadership, enthusiasm, and commitment to making sure children’s rights are visible and valued throughout our school.
 

Achieving Bronze Award

Our school has successfully achieved the bronze rights respecting school award. This award recognises our commitment to promoting children’s rights across the school. 

The children pictured are members of our KS2 Rights Respecting Group, alongside pupils from KS1 and our provision, all of whom play an important role in promoting children’s rights across our school.

We’re very proud and excited to continue our Rights Respecting journey together 💙

Introduction to Rights Respecting School

Our children have recently been introduced to the concept of becoming a Rights Respecting School. Mrs McClean and Miss McCrink visited Primary 4, 5, 6 and 7 classes this week to introduce what a Rights Respecting School is. They are learning about the importance of children’s rights and how these values shape our school community. Work is now underway to form a Steering Group, and pupils are excited to apply and play an active role in leading this important journey.