Right of the Month for September at Auchinleck Academy is Article 42: Knowledge About Rights. To promote and uphold this right, staff and pupils at Auchinleck Academy have produced their very own film about the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and what it means to be a Rights Respecting School. The film contains important information to help our pupils learn about the nature of their rights. It also highlights the role of Duty Bearers in ensuring that all of our young people know about their rights and can enjoy them. Well done to all of the pupils and staff who starred in the film or helped to produce it! Thanks in particular to Aarran Whitfield in 2B1 who was amazing as our lead actor, and to Mr McGlynn in the Art department for his excellent work in directing and editing the film.
Members of the Rights Respecting School group have also created an inter house quiz to test everyone on their knowledge of rights- all classes will take part in this over the next few days during PLP time and there will be a prize for the winning class! Why don’t you test your own knowledge of children’s rights? You can find the quiz in the Rights Respecting school section of the website.
In addition to all of this there is so much going on again this session to promote and support children’s rights at Auchinleck Academy. Last week, for example, several pupils took part in a community litter pick in Auchinleck to improve the local environment along with residents and pupils from the primary school. Our pupil run Fair Trade stall is also still going strong and selling lots of chocolate, biscuits and jelly babies to pupils and staff. We are also continuing the campaign that S2 pupils started last session to reduce plastic consumption, and have now sold lots of our reusable water bottles with the slogan ‘Save the Oceans’.
Our School Community Worker, Mary Gladwell, and Home Link Worker, Ashley Robertson, have also been doing lots of great work to support children’s rights and empower our young people to stand up for their rights. They are working with pupils to run a food bank, uniform recycling project, and a shop and swap clothes exchange initiative. Mary has also been running a Young Carers group and an LGBT support group, and she has recently started a Youth Forum group which pupils can attend to discuss matters that are important to them, and campaign for changes that they want to see in the local community. Recently in PLP time all pupils had the chance to vote on issues which they would like to be raised at the Scottish Youth Parliament- this was an excellent example of pupils exercising their right to voice their opinion and have a say in matters that affect them.
