Article of the month June 2023 - Article 12

All children have the right to be heard and the right for their opinion to be taken seriously.  In our school the school council and eco council represent the views of the children.  Eco-council took part in a community litter pick and were inspired to start a campaign to lower the use of one use plastic.  School council visited Stormont to learn about how democracy works.

Article of the month May 2023 - Article 27

Foundation stage love to play in the "home corner" and this echoes their love for their home.  All children have a right to a decent standard of living - a proper home, good food and warmth and safety.

Article of the month March/April 2023 - Article 29

For Book Month all children were encouraged to participate in various creative activities to develop their personalities and abilities as much as possible.

Article of the month February 2023 - Article 9

Article 9 states that all children have the right to live with a family who care for them.  We invited our Grandparents into school for Catholic Schools Week and we completed work on how loving and caring they - and all our family - are.

Article of the month December 2022/January 2023 - Article 31

Article 31 states that all children have the right to play.  To raise money for outdoor play equipment P1 and 2 went for a sponsored walk around the town wearing our hi-vis vests to keep us safe.  We also got to play at the beach park and at the town park.

Article of the month November 2022 - Article 19.

Anti-bullying day is in November so all classes focused on keeping safe from abuse in school.  We wore our odd socks to show that different is good.

Article of the month October 2022 - Article 24.

To celebrate National Poetry Day the children from P3-7 wrote poems on the theme of The Environment.  Foundation Stage coloured some pictures about reduce, reuse and recycle.  P2AF led assembly with a poem and song about caring for our world (Our videos).  The children were reminded how they have the right to live in a healthy environment.

Article of the month September 2022 - Article 30

To link with European Day of Languages the children discussed their right to celebrate their own culture and speak their own language.

Class Charters 2021-22

On Wednesday 20th November the School Council joined more than 2000 other young people to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the UNCRC.  We completed lots of activities based on our rights and also enjoyed our 'right to play'.

Back in school, our peers also celebrated International Children's Day with an assembly and Mr Kinney rewarded everyone with a night off homework!!!!

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.