- A huge congratulations to every child and adult at St Patrick's P.S.!
The school has been awarded the Gold RRSA Accreditation by Unicef.
You will enjoy watching the attached 'congratulations' video by Paul Clarke from UTV. If the video won't play you may need to watch it on a desktop as it is quite a large file.
The Rights Respecting journey at St Patrick's began in 2014. The school achieved the Bronze Award on 6th October 2016, the Silver Award on 17th April 2019 and the Gold Award on 23rd March 2021. It has been a wonderful team effort involving all staff, pupils, governors and parents in these years and we are proud of everyone for their commitment and dedication. A special 'thank you' to Mrs Sinead O'Neill who led the work for the gold award and Mrs Richella Hearty who led the work for the silver award.
The Gold Report reported that it is evident that children's rights are embedded across the school and the particular strengths of the school include:
- Pupils' voice is given high priority and pupils' ideas are acted upon.
- Knowledge and understanding of the CRC and how it can support children's lives particularly in challenging times such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Continued commitment by the whole school to place the CRC at the heart of policy and practice. After many years of engagement with the Rights Respecting Schools Award, there is sill innovation and creativity in the way RRSA is taken forward and adapted.
- Awareness of how local issues and actions impact on wider global concerns.
- The school is very clear on the underpinning concepts of rights and has a strong understanding of duty bearers and rights holders.
The report states:
'Building relationships is a central theme of the schools' values and mission. There is strong evidence of respectful relationships. Pupils understand the concepts of fairness and equity. One pupil said 'Every child is treated equally here. Everyone gets what they need but sometimes people need different things. Children with autism need extra help because they might not get the same opportunities as the other pupils in the school without it'. Pupils were unanimous that is they had a problem in school the staff would address the problem and help them to solve it'.
The Report continues:
'All pupils feel safe at school. The schools mission statement of 'Progress Through Partnership' promotes an inclusive ethos. The school has worked with a multitude of external organisations to support the needs of their pupils. The children's active involvement in their learning and their appreciation of their right to quality education was apparent during the virtual visit. Children complete personal targets in class either orally (FS/KS1) or written (KS2). Staff discussed how pupils are given choices about what they learn and how pupils' interests are taken into consideration when planning.
Pupil participation is given importance within the school, with many opportunities for children to be involved in shaping the life and ethos of their school. Pupils provide leadership through the School Council, Eco Council, Digital Leaders or Rights Respecting Team. One pupil commented; 'We all work together to accomplish something. We are helped to channel our talents by the opportunities we are given in school.'
As well as contributing to change in school, children are empowered to take action to uphold the rights of others globally. Children have engaged with global campaigns. The school supports the rights of children locally and globally by giving their pupils opportunities to drive change. The children spoken with showed a clear understanding about rights being universal, unconditional, indivisible, inherent and inalienable.'
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