To raise funds for environmental support Sam and his ‘Shark Academy’ team are holding a book sale. They are promoting their cause around school and sending all the funds they raise to WWF. We are proud as a school to give them their chance to have their say and promote a cause that means a lot to them. 

  

To celebrate the birthday of The Convention on The Rights of The Child, and to continue our work for our right of the month- article 1, the right to know and understand our rights- we held a child led afternoon. Our Rights Ambassadors chose a range of activities and every child was able to choose a classroom to spend the afternoon in. We learned about our rig to be creative, our right to rest and play, our right to grow spiritually and mentally and our right to be safe and looked after.

Below are some photos of us enjoying our activities.

   
    
    

 

Article 12- when adults are making decisions that affect you, you have the right to say freely what you think should happen and to have your opinion taken into account.

Each ks2 classroom will now have a notebook where all children can record their ideas for school improvements. Each half term the ambassadors will check it and make a list of things to work on.

In Ks1 the teachers will be collecting ideas from the children throughout the half term and sending them on.

  

Article 2- no on should be discrimated against for any reason.

Our rights ambassadors attended the Remembrance Day parade on behalf of our school last Sunday. Will and Chanel read a reading from the bible and everyone set a great example. In assembly today the ambassadors shard the poem ‘In Flander’s field’ and they talked to the school about why it is important to think about owe who lost their lives. We thank them for their sacrifices and what they have done to allow us to live in  a safer world. 

    
 

In relation to article 6 (you have the right to live and grow well) we had an enterprise sale to raise awareness and money for those children around the world who don’t have the same access to rights as we do. We raised an amazing £218.80 for world vision. Through world vision we sponsor two children in Africa. We are learning all about their lives and have helped them to get an education and build a life for themselves in their village. 

 

The Rights Ambassadors have launched a new award to be given out in praise assembly on Friday. The award recognises children who have thought about something thy have done and learned from it and found a way to make it into something special.

This week he first award went to Rhys for making a fabulous choices and finding lots of ways to be positive. 

  

On Thursday 10th October, St Michael’s held its Rights Respecting launch day. We celebrated children’s rights, held an assembly run by the Rigs Ambassadors and did lots of activities in our classes to learn what rigs are. In the afternoon we made items to sell to raise money for World Vision in support of children around the world who can’t access their rights.  

    
    
   

 

 

The windows, mirrors, doors scheme is a tool for helping children to reflect on the good and bad moments in our days.

Close your eyes and imagine you are staring out of the window. Think to yourself what  good (wow) moment you have had this week or what bad (ow) moment you have had this week. Whatever it is, it’s fine to think about it. What made it good or bad?

Keep your eyes closed and think about what you could do to either make sure your wow moment happens again or what you can do to make your ow moment better. This is looking in the mirror. You are reflecting and learning from what has happened.

Open your eyes and try to find time over the following week to do what you decided to do in the mirror. This is walking through the door.

The worry box is there for you to write down any ow moments you may have. It is not going to be seen or shared by anyone but helps you to take your worries out of your head and reflect on making them better.

Every two weeks we are looking for children who have clearly reflected on something and learned from it. We will be giving a Windows, mirrors, doors award to that person when we notice it if they are happy to share.

In the mean time we look forward to hearing about how you have been reflecting in class.

In August 2019, St Michael’s Primary and Nursery School in Kingsteignton were granted the Bronze Rights Respecting School award by Unicef. The award has been running for 30 years this year with nearly 1.6 million children currently attending a Rights Respecting school and over 5000 schools across the UK are currently working towards the award.

 

The RR School award was set up to help promote the United Nations Convention for the child, a world wide agreement to ensure that children are treated in a safe, fair and nurturing environment. This award demonstrates St Michael’s ambition to place the UN convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of their ethos.

 

To be awarded the Bronze certificate the school has to set up a children’s steering group from Years 2 to Year 6. At St Michael’s there are 7 children on the Group representing each of the 4 year groups. Their job is to promote children’s’ rights through assemblies, leading to a whole school launch day before the Christmas break.

 

The RR Ambassadors have been busy since the Summer Term writing the school action plan, planning assemblies and meeting with the Governors and Head of School, discussing how to work towards establishing a solid foundation from which new initiatives will spring. This term they are planning multiple assemblies, a parent drop in event and fundraising activities to raise awareness of those children around the world who can not access their rights.

 

Miss Murray, a Year Four Teacher, has taken the role of RR Lead and has worked hard with her Steering Group to win the Bronze award.

“I am incredibly proud of all the work the children have done and impressed by their thoughtfulness and maturity in handling their new responsibilities in the Steering Group. Their ideas and effort have far exceeded our expectations. I am very excited to see what the future has in store for St Michael’s as a RR school.”

 

‘Before I became a Rights Ambassador, I didn’t know what rights were. Now I understand how important they are and I am really enjoying promoting them to the rest of the school.’ William, year 4 Rights Ambassador.

 

‘I am really enjoying being a part of the Rights Ambassadors and am looking forward to helping with organising events and promotions across the school. I love the responsibility it has given me.’ Lily, Year Four Rights Ambassador.

 

Working with the whole school community from children, all staff, parents and Governors, the RR Ambassadors’ next step is to work towards the Silver Award, which is focussed on ensuring that the UN Children’s’ rights are embedded in the school ethos.

“We are working across the Federation to support our children as they grow through their school lives. I am incredibly impressed by the creativity and responsibility they have shown so far. It is a wonderful opportunity to allow the children to have their opinions heard and involve them in the running of the school. Kate Arnold, Head Teacher of St Michael’s Primary and Nursery.

 

We are listening to article 12 (every child has the right to express their views and have them taken seriously) by making our lessons more exciting this morning. We are testing out our maths skills this morning by turning Beech classroom into an escape room. Clues are hidden around the classroom and we are trying to solve the clues to earn extra break time. We are finding it very tricky so far!