Right of the month for October at Auchinleck Academy has been Article 6 (life, survival and development). To encourage our young people to take action in support of this right, Auchinleck Academy has been participating in UNICEF’s annual OutRight Campaign. This year part of the campaign has involved encouraging young people to put pressure on the UK government to commit more spending to vaccination campaigns. In PLP classes last month, pupils in all year groups learned about the importance of vaccines and the fact that 5.4 million children die before their 5th birthday, usually because they don’t get the health care and life-saving vaccines that they need. Pupils also learned that the UK government is hosting an important event in the summer of 2020, called GAVI: the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation. At this event, the UK Government will pledge how much they will donate to vaccinating children around the world.

In PLP time our pupils wrote postcards which will be sent to the Secretary of State for International Development, stating how important it is for the government to commit a substantial spend to vaccines. This is an excellent example of the young people in Auchinleck Academy making their voice heard and influencing decision makers to do more in support of each child’s right to life, survival and development.