Well here it is… after a lot of discussion, filming and editing, the final copy of our short film is ready. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it. You’ll find the link to youtube film in both the parent and pupil links on the right.
Tag Archives: Rights
Let’s all enjoy lunchtime
Article 1
Everyone under 18 has the same rights
As part of our journey, the Rights Respecting Committee have been busy discussing what kinds of things we should be doing in the dinner hall to make sure everyone enjoys their rights. They have created a very bright and colourful lunchtime charter which is displayed where everyone can see it whilst waiting for their lunch.
We are about to embark on a whole school and playground charter.
See it, Make it
Article 13
You have the right to find out things and say what you think, through making art, speaking and writing unless it breaks the rights of others
Everyone at the Film Club is very excited. We have been chosen to participate in an outreach project, working with a filmmaking professional who will stimulate and facilitate the making of our very own film! We will learn all the different skills required to produce a film, including scripting, camera skills, sound recording, lighting, editing and using proper film language. While doing all this we will develop not only digital skills, but also communication and teamwork.
Angus Reid is a writer, filmmaker and artist. He is founder/director of Speakeasy Pictures, 1987 – the present day, “…independent research in the medium of spontaneous self-expression: a therapeutic creative act that is a tool in the development of a child, an adult, a person”.
After meeting Angus last week, he is very excited about our chosen theme (to be revealed at a later date). Angus will be in to see us all next week, where we will begin to learn how to properly use a camera to record action and discuss further how we are going to stage our film. In the meantime, we have been busy making some of the props we will need.
We will keep you all up to date with how we are doing with regular blog posts, but in the meantime, you can have a look at the programme run by Into Film by following link in the parent/pupil link section.
Primary Five Experience… APARTHEID
Article 41
You have the right to any rights in laws in your country or internationally that give you better rights than these
On Sunday the 27th April, South Africa celebrated 20 years since the end of apartheid when Nelson Mandela became the first black president following his 27 years spent in prison for fighting against this segregation. Apartheid happened for many years in South Africa and was when people with different colours of skin were not allowed to be together. The country had separate schools, banks, buses and even laws for white people and non white people. People who were not white were treated very unfairly.
To gain a better understanding of apartheid and how unfair and unjust it was, last week primary 5 actually experienced it first hand!
We had a long discussion about equal rights and how unfair it is when people are discriminated against, we agreed that everyone no matter who you are should be treated equally and everyone is entitled to their rights. To gain a better understanding of what it would have been like to live in South Africa during apartheid we were separated into 2 groups. People that were born in January to June were in group one and people born in July to December were in group two. We talked about how we didn’t get to choose what month we were born in, just like babies do not get to choose the colour of their skin, eyes or hair, or the country they are born in, who their parents are or if they have a disability.
Then we were told the ‘Apartheid Laws’ for the day. People that were born in the first half of the year were treated fairly but the laws for the people born in the second half of the year were very different…
A person born between July to December…
- could not sit with or play with people born between January and June
- could only play in one small area of the playground
- had to work until the bell
- could not take part in class discussions
- went last for break and lunch
- had to ask permission to use classroom resources
- could not receive stickers, rewards and points
- had to wear an identity badge at all times
Children who were born in the first half of the year wore bibs so both groups could be easily identified.
Children born in the second half of the year were not treated fairly at all, during P.E. even though they won the curling game 7-2, the teachers insisted that the other team won. It made the people in group 2 very frustrated! The unfairness also had an effect on children in group 1 who felt guilty and were angry that people were being treated so differently. We stopped throughout the day and we shared how we were feeling, it gave us a real insight into what life would have been like during apartheid.
On day two the groups swapped over so everyone had a chance to experience both sides of apartheid.
At half past two on Thursday we stopped our segregated P.E lesson and celebrated the end of apartheid and a very challenging couple of days. We scrunched up our idneitity badges and threw our bibs in the air and danced around the hall with our friends who we had been separated from for two days. This was a very valuable lesson, we vowed to always treat each other equally, never to discriminate and to stand up to injustice and unfairness.
Equal Rights for All
On Wednesday 26th of March, West Lothian Council hosted an event to showcase the excellent work in the areas of Children’s Rights & Equalities across the region at Inveralmond Community High School.
Along with Mrs Buchanan-Coutts, Mandipa, Kerys, Carrick, Daniel, Mark and Chloe represented St Nicholas.
We set up our stand, sharing just a snippet of the rights education carried out at our school, including the recent P2 and P2/1 diversity assembly, Send My Friend to School resources, world trade day and Famous Fridays, then prepared ourselves for questions from the vast amount of people who had turned up, including Scotland’s Commissioner for Children and Young People, Tam Baillie.
There was a little bit of time for us to have a look at the excellent work that some of the other schools are doing before Daniel and Carrick, very confidently, stood up in front of the auditorium and introduced the Primary 5 assembly and showed a clip from the DVD of the children singing the Every Child has Rights song.
Chloe and Mark then shared with everyone, their experiences of the digital rights programme they took part in as part of their transition to St Margaret’s academy.
It was a great morning and we definitely showed how, through our work, we contribute to Getting it Right for Every Child.
Trading all over the world!
Article 5
Adults have the responsibility to help you learn to exercise your rights, and to ensure that your rights are protected.
World trade rules are unfair and often disadvantage developing countries. Today, Primary 5 explored international trade issues to try and find out how this has happened.
We were divided into ten groups, each representing a different country:
- A most developed country (e.g.France, Canada)
- A less developed country (e.g. India, South Africa)
- A least developed country (e.g. Honduras, Kenya)
Each country was given an envelope containing raw materials (e.g. paper) and/or technology (e.g. scissors). The materials and technology differed from country to country, according to their level of development. With the contents of their envelopes, the countries were asked to produce shapes; each shape representing a monetary value they could redeem by depositing in either the Bank of Deas or Valentine’s Bank. The goal of the game was to gain as much wealth as possible.
It didn’t take long for us to discover that the contents of our envelopes were not equally distributed; some did not have enough raw materials or technology to produce any of the shapes. In order for us to do so, we had to negotiate and trade with other countries.
Everyone soon become extremely engaged in the game and there was a real buzz about the room. We were eager to produce tip top shapes and were very active in negotiating and trading with each other. However, there was some very underhand dealings going on! Not all countries were cooperative and helpful; selling resources at astronomical costs, counterfeit goods were being cashed in at the bank, there was dodgy trading at one of the banks and even some materials being sold on the black market by Miss King!!
The afternoon was a great success, especially for Canada who earned an impressive £22,000. Everyone gained a better understanding of the situation Third World countries find themselves in such as Tanzania who only managed to bank £3,150.
Well done to everyone involved.
Some helpful information
What is a Rights Respecting School?
School Charters
Learners have been in full swing contributing to the creation of classroom charters which will be put together with the staff charters to create a whole class charter. The process has involved the learners choosing the rights from the Convention on the Rights of the Child that they feel are most important to the school. Once these have been collated they then think about how they can show respect towards these rights. This involves thinking about what day to day actions learners can take to protect their rights and take the most of the opportunities given by these rights.
Assemblies
Learners regularly attend and lead assemblies that promote the Rights Respecting ethos. They have had the process of gaining the award explained to them and were asked to reflect on the following themes:
- How easy is it to get your rights in Scotland?
- Why are our rights important?
- What can you do as learners to make the most of your rights?
- How can everyone involved in St Nicholas Primary School look after children’s rights?
The global dimension and RRSA
The global dimension of RRSA is a central part of the award. Children learn that rights are universal and that all children do not have equal access to these rights across the world. As an international children’s rights organisation, UNICEF is committed to developing a global perspective in schools, so global citizenship in rights-respecting schools promotes the idea of taking action with and building cohesion rather than doing things to or for people.
A global citizen in a rights-respecting school is someone who knows their rights, believes everybody has rights and is committed to working towards a world where everyone can access their rights. At the heart of the CRC is the fundamental moral principle that all human beings are of equal worth who share an equal entitlement to enjoy the rights set out in the Convention.
