Halkirk pupils and staff 'so proud' after receiving silver Rights Respecting School Award
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Halkirk's head teacher has said children’s rights are "at the heart of everything we do" after the school achieved a silver Rights Respecting School Award from Unicef UK.
The United Nations agency is the world’s leading organisation working for children and their rights. The Rights Respecting School Award is granted to schools that show commitment to promoting and realising children’s rights and encouraging adults, children and young people to respect the rights of others in school.
Silver is given to schools that make excellent progress towards embedding the principles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into their ethos and curriculum.
Halkirk is one of more than 1300 schools across the UK that have achieved silver, while over 600 schools have been awarded gold.
Head teacher Fiona MacLeod said: "As a school we are so proud to have achieved this prestigious award. It has had a positive impact on our whole school community, with pupils understanding their rights and an increased awareness of both adults and children respecting the rights of others.
"Children’s rights are at the heart of everything we do at Halkirk Primary School. We have noticed a positive impact on pupil behaviour, relationships between pupils and also between pupils and adults. Pupils’ self-esteem and wellbeing have increased.
"The ethos of the school is a happy, safe and nurturing one, where everyone is respected.
"I would like to say a huge thank-you to all staff for all their hard work, particularly principal teacher Win Campbell for leading this initiative, and most importantly the pupils for their enthusiasm, commitment and willingness to make our school a safer and better place."
The award recognises achievement in putting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of a school’s planning, policies and practice. A Rights Respecting School is a community where children’s rights are learned, taught, practised, respected, protected and promoted.
Unicef Rights Respecting Schools programme director Frances Bestley said: “Children at Halkirk Primary School have shown a really good grasp of the convention and a strong understanding of the wider world.
"It is great to see how much the convention underpins the school’s work and values, in the classroom and at playtime. It was fantastic to see the enthusiasm that all the children and staff showed about learning about rights.
"We are very pleased to be awarding silver to Halkirk and we look forward to continuing our Rights Respecting work with them.”
Halkirk primary achieved its bronze award in the summer of 2020 during lockdown and is now proud to be displaying its silver banner on the fence outside the school.
