Rights News
Congratulations to P1B, P3A and P6 for winning our key stage charter competition. Each class had to work with the adults who support them to design and create a charter using Articles they selected from the UNCRC to form the agreed pupil and adult actions. All classes did an amazing job but these classes stood out for their extra creativity and focus on rights!
We are delighted and very proud to share with you that on 13th June 2023 we received the prestigious Rights Respecting Schools Silver Award! UNICEF is the world’s leading organisation working for children and their rights. This award is clear recognition of our dedication for putting children's rights at the heart of our school and all the hard work of our staff, pupils and school community in promoting a Rights Respecting, inclusive ethos that puts the needs of all our learners first to create a happy and positive learning environment for all. The Rights Respecting Schools Award is granted to schools that show commitment to promoting and realising children’s rights and encouraging adults, children, and young people to respect the rights of others in school. Silver is given to schools that make excellent progress towards embedding the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into its ethos and curriculum. Becoming Rights Respecting has had a tremendous positive impact on our school. Pupils' behaviour across the school is exemplary, pupils and staff have further developed positive relationships and pupils' well-being has improved by enhancing pupils' self-esteem, leading to less absences and bullying, better learning and improved academic standards. Thank you to everyone in our school community for all your hard work in achieving this award! The next step on our Rights journey is going for Gold!
Our School Community is passionate about supporting all children and families locally and globally. This school year we have taken part in a number of charity ventures and fundraising campaigns. This includes donating to food banks, providing food and financial support to vulnerable families, (which remains ongoing) and fundraising for Trocaire, Downpatrick Autism Support Group and Cancer Research. We have also raised funds with our PTFA to provide vital educational resources for our school, including iPads and laptops and other ICT resources. This has helped develop a positive ethos of working together as a community to be proactive at ensuring the welfare and well-being of all and that through doing so we actively ensure that children's Rights are upheld.
Well done to P6/7 pn their Fantastic and Informative Assembly!
Check out our new display designed by our Rights Steering Reps to showcase the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Check out our fabulous display board to showcase our Rights Day 1 celebration across the school and introduce our Rights Reps to everyone in our school community!
St. Colmcille’s Primary School was recently awarded the Bronze Level Rights Respecting Schools Award. Throughout the course of this school year, we will participate in a range of rights related activities and themed days as we work towards achieving the Silver Level Rights Respecting Schools Award. Our first Rights Day will take place on Tuesday 27th September. On Rights Day, the pupils will explore the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) as we step towards our goal of embedding children's rights into all aspects of school life and inspiring our pupils to become active and global citizens.
UNICEF Rights Respecting School Bronze Award
St. Colmcille’s Primary has recently been awarded the Bronze Award for the UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Award. Since September 2021, the whole school community has worked hard to embark on the UNICEF Rights Respecting journey. Our goal is to embed children’s rights into all aspects of school life. When the Rights Respecting Schools Award comes to life, it transforms whole schools into places where children feel safe, nurtured, valued and heard. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) becomes a thread that runs throughout the whole of school life, inspiring young people to become active and global citizens. Having achieved our Bronze Award: Rights Committed, St. Colmcille’s Primary are now at the stage where we will begin our journey towards the Silver Award: Rights Aware. The whole school community has thoroughly enjoyed achieving the Bronze Award. We look forward to undertaking our next steps on the path to becoming a Rights Respecting Community by earning the Silver Award during this academic year.