Category Archives: Obair & Beatha na Sgoile / Life & Work of the School

Spèis is Còraichean nar Sgoile – Rights Respecting Schools

We are delighted to announce that we recently were accredited as a Silver: Rights Aware School through the UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools scheme.

As part of the accreditation process, we submitted evidence for the team to review and then hosted a visit which involved speaking with parents, pupils, staff and senior management to find out more about what we have been doing to ensure Sgoil Ùige has children’s rights at the forefront of all we do. We received very positive feedback, with particular reference made to the strength of Pupil Voice and Leadership opportunities.

The full report can be read here Uig Primary RRSA Silver accreditation report April 2025 MCF

Buidhean Spèis is Còraichean nar Sgoile / Rights Respecting Schools Group

Sgoil Ùige are currently a Bronze Rights Respecting School. This means that we are ‘Rights Committed’ and, together with our pupil steering group (Buidhean Spèis is Còraichean), we ensure that children’s rights permeate our school ethos and curriculum.
We learn about the UNCRC Articles through ‘Article of the Month’ assemblies and challenges, our policies and practices across the school are linked to the UNCRC and we follow a ‘School Charter’ which ties together our school values and UNCRC Articles to set the standard for all children and adults to follow in our school.
We are currently on the journey to becoming a Silver ‘Rights Respecting School’. To achieve this, pupils and staff have created an Action Plan on how we can improve knowledge and understanding of rights across our school community. The pupil steering group carry out surveys and speak with pupils in assemblies to gather their views and contribute to school improvement relating to rights.

Comhairle nan Sgoilearan / Pupil Council

Our Pupil Council meets every Friday as part of ‘Committees’ time to plan and carry out school improvements. Below is a summary of what Pupil Council have led on so far this session:

Gathering Views

·         Created an online questionnaire to gather views of pupils as to what they would like to see for school improvement

·         Launched the ‘Bucas Beachdan’ at assembly for pupil views – checked weekly at pupil groups and actioned

Decider Skills

·         Worked with Maggie Drummond (alongside Play Monitors) to receive intensive training on Decider Skills.

·         ‘Launched’ Decider Skills through information session at assembly (for pupils) and at Family Learning Event (for parents/family members)

Playground Improvements

·         Wrote letter to the Parent Council asking for support to improve school playground – improved markings and trim trail requested

·         Community partnership made with OMac to lay new Playground Markings purchased by  the Parent Council

·         the Parent Council sourcing funding for trim trail. HT putting in requests for building works to dept – work to continue into T3 and 4.

Playground Behaviour

·         Wrote simple Playground Expectations to ensure clarity for all.

·         Introduced the ‘Red and Yellow Card’ system to work alongside the Playground Expectations & launched both at assembly.

Self Evaluation for School Improvement

·         Used hgiOURs Theme 2 – Teaching and Learning to conduct self evaluation – read over all the statements and categorised them by ‘What we do well’ and ‘What we need to improve on’.

 

Obair agus Beatha na Sgoile / Life and Work of the School

Developing the Young Workforce through the Life and Work of the School

In Sgoil Ùige, we have developed a ‘Life and Work of the School’ programme to support our children and young people to develop the skills they require for learning, life and the world of work.

Learners need to experience opportunities which are designed not only to raise their awareness of future choices but also raise their expectations and aspirations. They develop the skills for personal planning and making decisions in the context of curriculum, learning and achievement which will prepare them for next stages in life.

This programme should be used in conjunction with the guidelines set out in Learner Participation in Educational Settings (3-18)

Learners should experience activities which enable them to develop the skills and attributes they will need if they are to achieve and sustain positive destinations beyond school. Demands and employment patterns are changing, so it is particularly important for all young people to develop high levels of skill and also an understanding of the world of work, training and lifelong learning so that they can embrace opportunities.

The Skills for Life and Work programme will ensure all pupils are being given the opportunity to learn and develop their skills within the four contexts of learning:

All learners in the primary school are involved in a Pupil Leadership Committee, actively contributing to school improvement and the life and work of the school.

Pupil Profiling

The Life and Work of the School Programme also details how pupils will engage in Learner Conversations and profiling of their learning in order to ensure that they are given a voice in what and how they learn, identifying their own learning needs and developing their skills and language of learning. Please see the full programme below for further information:

Life & Work of the School Programme – Uig