I am pleased to confirm that the Accreditation and Standards Committee agree that sufficient evidence was provided in the report to award Greystoke Primary School UNICEF UK’s Rights Respecting School Award at Gold: Rights Respecting.
We are very happy to be actively involved in decisions relating to our school through our School Council. We make suggestions in order develop and improve our school as we work to become a Gold Rights Respecting School. We are able to share our views and opinions with adults on matters that affect us such as our school and playground charter. We also help to plan fundraising events within the school such as Red Nose Day, which was a huge success. After our discussions we are able to share our outcomes with the rest of the school during assembly time. All children within the school can share their own ideas with members of the school council by posting them into our anonymous school council suggestion box which we check during each weekly meeting.
All or our children receive weekly UNICEF lessons linked to the article of the week. Most children are familiar with a wide range of articles and global goals.
The children understand the concept of duty bearers and how local and global issues and sustainable development are linked to rights. One of the ways we explore this is through assemblies.
In our assembly this afternoon, we shared our knowledge about article 24 ( you have the right to the best health care possible, safe water to drink , nutritious food, a clean and safe environment) to understand why World Water Day is so important. Listening to a true story about a little boy ,aged 6, who was so moved after hearing that millions of children do not have clean water to drink, went on to raise enough money to provide a well for a small community in Uganda. This made us think about how you need strong determination to do something for others.Trying to understand how hard it must be for families, who rely on girls to carry water over miles for their families, we explored what this would be like ourselves.
We are delighted to announce that we have been awarded the Rights Respecting School Silver Award. UNICEF has recognised that Greystoke School is explicitly embedding the Rights of the Child in our policy, practise and culture. Today a Rights Respecting School advisor spoke to 20% of the children in school to confirm their knowledge and understanding. We are thrilled to have earned this national accreditation and look forward to continuing on our journey towards the Rights Respecting School Gold Award.
Article 6 of the Convention for the Rights of Children states that 'every child has a right to life'. There is a lot more involved in this as Article 6 is one of the four general themes of the CRC. In order to find out more, the children in Key Stage 2 worked together in groups. Two groups considered what children, as Rights Holders, need to have to ensure that they survive and develop to their full potential. Other group considered what role adults (duty bearers) should play in helping all children receive this right. Finally three further groups of year 5 and 6 children researched the Rights of Children to find out which other Articles link directly with the right of life, survival and development. During our weekly School Council meeting the Key Stage 2 children led the meeting and fed back their findings and learning. They shared this with the youngest children in school and then invited the EYFS and KS1 children to help them add to their work. The photographs show this new learning and contributions from the younger children in different coloured pen. Well done to Mrs Willis' children who showed great understanding of their rights under the CRC.
Earth Day – 22nd April 2023
As part of our Rights Respecting School work, the children in Mrs Matthews’ class have been learning about Earth Day which takes place on Saturday 22nd April, and linking this special day in with two important articles, Article 6 and Article 24 of the CRC. The children have completed some inspirational written work, examples of which have been included below. Earth Day is an important day in the calendar and the pupils were keen to share their thoughts on how we can protect our environment and do what we can to prevent further climate change. I hope you enjoy reading this work and get the opportunity to talk, in your own family, about what you can do on Earth Day.
What our planet will be like in 2040: Leo
2040 – One of the ugliest years of our lives! There will be no more Antarctica or North Pole, they will have melted, and no one will care about them. The only transportation will be petrol cars since electric cars will have been forgotten. Probably the saddest of all is World War 3 – Russia and Ukraine will still be fighting, and climate change is still progressing.
Earth Day by Sol
Earth
Articles matter!
Saturday 22nd April:
Life, survival and development!
No earth is no life.
Health, water, food, environment,
Celebrate Earth Day!
Save water.
Pollution …
2040 by Brandon
I think life in 2040 will be a wonderful life for our world as we will have saved it from the grasp of a black abyss. We thrived and elevated it from the dead. It was as if we lit the Earth on fire (like a candle) then blew the candle out!
In November 2020, we were awarded the Bronze Award Level. A huge well done to everyone involved and we are really looking forward to continuing our journey to the Silver Award .
Participation is one of the four principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This week we focused on Article 12 - Every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them. We discussed how our voices and participation of young people can make a difference so we began by looking at how we can make a positive difference in the village of Greystoke. Using a map and a key we walked around, identifying issues that were apparent. We also spoke to a few Greystoke residents who mentioned that the issues which could be improved are; speeding cars and bicycles, poor parking, lack of safe place for parents with young children to cross, litter and the amount of dog poo. We are going to use this information to focus on how we can use our voices to make a positive difference in Greystoke.
We would like to work with our community to make a positive difference. We have walked around our village and found three areas which we would like to improve: litter , cars speeding ( and poor parking) and the amount of dog poo that is not picked up. We have spoken to a few people on our walk who have shared some of their thoughts with us but we need a little more help. We posted a plea for help on Greystoke Village Facebook page and members of the community have been very generous in giving us their thoughts, suggestions and ideas as to what we can do to make a difference.
In support of the work we are carrying out on our campaigns to help improve our village we headed out this afternoon with a range of jobs to complete. Firstly we were armed with bin bags and gloves to complete a litter pick. Whilst carrying out our litter pick we also collected data to support our campaigns and to help us plan the next steps that we want to complete. We collected information on; the number of litter bins in the village , the number of dog poo bins, evidence of poor parking, evidence of speeding and the number of horses passing through the village.
Our Speed Awareness Group identified poor parking and speeding as two areas of concern that they wanted to tackle in our village. Today we have built our bespoke signs which remind motorists of the dangers of speeding and inconsiderate parking. The children have built the signs and placed them outside of school, taking care not to block the pavement or any driveways. We are also working in consultation with the Highways department at Cumbria County Council to ascertain whether it is viable to instal any permanent speed sign or signs in the village. We hope to have an update on this matter before the end of the week.
Every child has rights, and every child has the right to know their rights (UNCRC). As part of our UNICEF work, the children have enjoyed an afternoon of discussion and drama. During lockdown some of the children, in school and at home, developed a school charter. This charter reflects all 42 articles related to children's rights. This afternoon, the children have interpreted each one of their rights and expressed them through drama and art.
Metal Health Awareness Week
In recognition of Mental Health Awareness week, the children have been thinking about what they need to do to ensure strong mental health. They learned more about this topic through the RRSA Article of the Week and using Article 24 (Every child has the right to the best possible health.) as a stimulus, considered how it is possible to manage their own mental health They thought about how outside influences can impact mental health and therefore the importance of the impact of positive influences such as exercise, friends, a healthy diet and the opportunity to talk about any worries or concerns. The Key Stage 2 children then took this learning to our School Council meeting and shared their knowledge. EYFS children then shared their understanding of Healthy Me through their PSHE Jigsaw work. After this, all children took part in some mindfulness exercises to help calm their minds.
UNICEF-Rights Respecting Schools Award
The Rights Respecting School Award puts children's rights at the heart of schools in the UK. Greystoke School is proud to be working with UNICEF to create a safe and inspiring place to learn, where children are respected, their talents are nurtured and they are able to thrive. UNICEF's Rights Respecting School Award embeds these values in daily school life and gives children the best chance to lead happy, healthy lives and to be responsible, active global citizens.
Article 29 -Goals of Education
After speaking to Pets at Home, they very kindly gave us a supply of dog poo dispensers and dog poo bags. We are hoping to place the dog poo bag dispensers around the village in places where we found dog poo that had not been picked up. If, or when, these dispensers are empty, please contact Greystoke School and we will refill them. If you are aware of other dog owners who possibly do not use this page, please feel free to share this information. Thank you for your help.
Jack, Sam, Saydie and Freya
