Rights Respecting Schools

On 17th October the children from P1-P7 joined schools across Ireland to raise awareness of child poverty where we live.  In Ireland 230,000 children (1 in 5) live below the poverty line.  Our children drew around their own footprints to show solidarity based on the saying "Walk a mile in my footsteps."

St. Patrick’s and St. Brigid’s Primary School and Nursery Unit is a ‘Rights Respecting’ School.  This means that we teach our children about their rights according to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). 

Learning about the UNCRC  encourages children to develop a clear understanding of their rights but also of the kind of actions they need to take within the school and the local and global community if they want to fully enjoy their rights and ensure that others enjoy them too.  They learn about how their choices can have an impact on their friends, school and even the world around them.

We have received the Level 2 Award which is the highest accolade given by Unicef UK.  

In St. Patrick’s and St. Brigid’s Primary School, our work on the RRSA allows our children to have a much stronger voice within the school.  We have Rights Champions, a School Council and an Eco-Council.

 Through our Rights Respecting work we are involved in many projects: 

• A Shared Education Project with Ballycastle Integrated Primary School
• An Active Travel Project with Sustrans
• A Sustainable Production and Responsible Consumerism Project with Tulkarm Girls School in West Bank, Palestine
• Our third Green Flag Award
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• We find out about the World Around Us by writing to penpals:
• P4 are writing to children in Germany
• P5 are writing to children in Spain
• P6/7 are writing to children in South Korea

We are Ambassadors for our rights too:

• P2 have written to the Causeway Coast and Glens Council to ask for more litter bins on the beach.
• Each year the whole school take part in 'Send my friend to School'

• P6/7have written to local MP Mrs Andrea Leadson, Minister for the Environment, to promote responsible pesticide use to help susyain the bee population.
• The Rights Champions took part in 'Amazing the Peace' event in Belfast.
• P7 have taken part in the Outright Campaign focusing on the war in Syria by writing to local MP MR Ian Paisley, who was so impressed with our work that he came to visit us.