Rights Respecting School
At Elizabeth Selby Infant School we are delighted to have been awarded the Rights Respecting Schools Silver Award for embedding children’s rights in the school’s policy, practice and ethos!
As a Rights Respecting School we put the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) at the heart of our planning, policies, practice and ethos to empower all children to develop their talents and abilities in order to achieve their potential as global citizens.
We believe that the UNCRC reflects the beliefs of our school community. Our children receive their right to a wonderful education and they understand the responsibilities that they have to their communities as they grow into confident, active and responsible citizens. Our children will continue to learn about their rights and responsibilities as well as the work of UNICEF in helping to build a better world for children.
This year our Article 12 School Council Team planned some fantastic projects for the school community to all get involved with.
They have achieved fantastic results with their community initiative that they titled ‘Project Golden Age!’
Each Friday during the schools Golden Time a team of 6 children visit Silk Court Care Home. They read, play, draw, sing and socialise with the residents. The room is always filled with laughter and happiness. It is amazing to see how the children’s energy and enthusiasm instantly changes the whole dynamic of the room!
Their project has been so successful that they were even featured on Sky News. You can watch the clip here:
We have also been involved in a project called ‘Kindred Spirits Shared Values’. In this project we linked with Hollingwood Primary School in Derbyshire. We paired 3 of our classes with theirs. We share work with them that explore the themes of rights and values. The children frequently write letters to one another and compare the differences and similarities between their communities.
Article 12 Team
As a UNICEF Rights Respecting School, we believe it is important for our children to share their opinions and help us to make important decisions.
Article 12 states that you have a right to say what you think should happen and be listened to.
Our Article 12 Team is a group of Reception to Year 2 pupils who have been elected by their classes to represent their views and opinions concerning a wide range of issues in their school, their community and global issues that affect people all over the world. Our pupils know that they have a voice which must be listened to by adults and that their views and opinions influence our decision making.
The Article 12 Team have been working on a number of projects this year:
The Community Cohesion Project
The team have been working on this project in partnership with Global Learning London and Silk Court Care Home for the past two years. The aim of the project is to form intergenerational links with the care home residents.
As part of the project the children:
- Arrange weekly visits to the care home to talk, read, draw, play and sing with the residents of the home. The children do this during their Golden Time on a Friday afternoon.
- Work with the staff and residents of Silk Court on improving their outside space by planting and maintaining their garden.
- Invite and involve Silk Court staff and residents to our school events and celebrations.
The Article 12 Team are supported in this projected by School Councils from all over Tower Hamlets through the facilitation of Global Learning London. The Councillors come together once a term to support each other with their projects through learning activities and discussion.
CAQE Project
CAQE stands for Quality Education through Climate Action. This project is being facilitated by the British Council’s Connecting Classrooms programme. Elizabeth Selby Infant School is the lead school in a cluster of four schools from around the world. We work in partnership with the other schools to learn about Climate Change and take action in our local communities.
We share our ideas, projects and learning across the four schools. We believe that by working in partnership in this way we can start to make a difference not just in our local community but in other communities around the world.
