We are a Silver: Rights Aware School on our journey toward Gold: Rights Respecting.
On this page, you’ll find details of what the assessors said during our silver visit and what we are working on as we embed rights learning across our school on our journey toward gold.
Here is a poster of the UNCRC along with the Articles and Rights, the language of which is embedded in our daily practice here at Small Isles.
Here are some useful links to information and reading around rights. There are lots of misconceptions around rights learning so we recommend that people read this UNICEF documentation on myths (we really enjoyed reading it):
In school, we teach children that rights are inalienable (cannot be removed), indivisible (equally important), inherent and universal. We do this by using the ABCDE of rights. Please read all about the ABCDE of rights here:
We consult our children in developing “Class Charters” which are visible and often referred to in our classrooms. They promote positive relationships and reinforce to the children that they are rights holders and that the adults in the school (and wider community) are duty bearers. Please have a look at the creative way our children design them.
We are delighted to announce that we are now a SILVER: RIGHTS AWARE Rights Respecting School
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Achieving Silver: Rights Aware means that there is evidence in the school that children and young people are seeing themselves as rights respecting global citizens and advocates for fairness and children’s rights, both locally and globally. The assessor commented on how the children’s passion for rights being upheld came across strongly when chatting to them. She said that although we are “a small rural school in a remote location, children at Small Isles are taught about diversity, world religions and life beyond Jura. The teachers are passionate about delivering a broad and balanced curriculum, bespoke to their unique setting. The children value the opportunities that they have had such as “World of Work week”, “Dig for Cake” days and a virtual visit from Hindu author, Roopa Pai.”
The assessor also commented on how “children are able to explain how schools facilitates them to enjoy a range of rights.” There is a passion for music within the schools, with many talented pupils and parents, therefore music is used for emotional check-ins. One pupil explained that “we write a musical genre to describe how we’re feeling.”
The parent community felt that one of the school’s strength is that children are listened to and respected, especially with our setting meaning that children gel together like one big family, supporting and caring for each other. One parent described how “the children have a choice and a voice” in Small Isles and recognises that the children will remember the lessons and projects that they have led “for the rest of their lives.”
Everyone at the school is thrilled to receive the award and we are already planning lots of exciting events and projects as we begin our journey toward Gold!
We will leave you with some thoughts from our fabulous children about the visit
“On Wednesday, we were visited by Christine virtually. She was very kind and good at her job. She asked us loads of questions about our rights and how we respect them and asked us about how our teachers keep us safe. We told her about our improvement teams, class charters and how we help people around the world. We are so proud of our school and all of our friends who are ambitious, compassionate and show respect.” – Alba, Grace and Joseph (P4).
