Last term our Rights Ambassadors worked hard to spread the word about how great it is to be a Rights Ambassador and how valuable their role is within the school. This has meant that we have now appointed many new ambassadors and they have started their role this week. Their first job has been to reinstate Play Buddies to our lunchtime playtimes. Each day, some of the ambassadors will be helping on the playground to ensure play time is running smoothly and happily. They have created a bank of games and have a new games box to choose from. They will be easily identifiable by their bright t-shirts so do look out for them on the playground if you need help or a game to play. We are all looking forward to seeing them thrive in their new roles – well done!

In Year 4 we have been looking at both articles 28 and 29 about having access to and a right to an education. We read about the story of a little girl called Chiwa who was 9 years old and lived in Malawi with her family. Chiwa was having to walk 10 miles to go to school every week day (she loved school and didn’t mind this) but because of her family’s circumstances she may have to stop once she finished Primary school. We discussed her family situation and how it impacted on her ability to have an education. We wrote our opinions down and shared them as a class.

Article 13 – Children have the right to share freely with others what they learn, think and feel, by talking, drawing, or writing.

As part of children’s mental health week the children drew pictures of their outer and inner selves, exploring what they show the outside world and what they keep inside.

Holocaust Memorial Day is a day when we think about the bad things that happened to the Jewish people during world war ll. 

Last week for Holocaust Memorial Day on 27^th January we made candles, and wrote the names of people who had sought justice in our world.  There were lots of different people who we learned about, from Anne Frank to Martin Luther King.  We decorated the candles and then used them to update our display in the hall. 

On the day we took assembly for KS2 and we learnt more about the day and why it is so important.  We then watched a video, with survivors and their families taking part in a rememberance service at Trafalgar square.  It was lit with the colour purple and all the people present had a candle. 

In KS1 we wrote the names of people we are grateful for on the candles and in our classes, we talked about how it is important to be kind to people even when they are different to us. 

As part of the assembly each class was given 2 candles so that we too could take part in the act of remembrance.  We remember so we can make sure that these awful things never happen again. 

Article 38, Children have the right to be protected during war.

The Reights Team

Next year you may see our Rights Ambassadors sporting these brilliant t-shirts! The logo was designed by Rohan before he left for Secondary School and the current team came up with the idea of putting it on t-shirts. They will be wearing them at various events next year to raise awareness of children’s rights.

St Michael’s have loved spending the day celebrating World Book Day today. Without the skill of reading we would not be able to access the amazing education we have a right to. 

   
 

This week year 4 talked about climate change and the impact humans are having on the planet. We looked how our world is changing but also how we can fight back. In PSHE we designed logos of hope to remind ourselves that we can support change in a good way and we discussed the book ‘Varmints’ by Helen Ward in Guided Reading. In Varmints, a city is built, destroying the nature around it but a rabbit fights back and re introduces nature to the city. We wrote messages to our future selves.

   
   

Across the school today, we have been learning Spanish. Kids lingo have come to visit and teach us some new language. We love any opportunity to celebrate different languages from around the world and had a lot of fun learning to rap and sing in Spanish.

 

 

Our Year Five Rights Ambassadors decided hey wanted to write a letter to local businesses asking for seed domations. They sent their letter and got responses from B&Q and Otter Nurseries- Jack’s Patch! Thanks to B&Q we have over 2000 seeds to plant and (pictured below) are some amazing seed bombs and wild flower packets from Jack’s Patch!

Thank you to both businesses and well done to our ambassadors.