01387 253058
01387 253058
Session 2025 – 2026
Our Global Gang Members for 2025-2026
Meeting Minutes:
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Session 2024 – 2025
Our Global Gang Members for 2024-2025
Meeting Minutes:
Languages Committee and Global Gang Meeting Minutes – 07/01/25
Eco Committee Meeting Minute 22 Nov 24 (Global Gang Representatives Present)
Eco Committee Meeting Minute 17 Sept 24 (Global Gang Representitives Present)
Languages Committee and Global Gang Meeting Minutes 24/09/24
Our Class Charters
A class charter is a set of rules, promises or guidelines that children and teachers have all agreed on for the classroom.
They’re created to help children understand that they have certain rights in the classroom. These rights are important, as they help to keep them safe and happy while they receive their education. Class charters also help children to develop a sense of responsibility, as they have to do their part in keeping the classroom fair for everyone. Teachers can reference the class charter in lesson aims, especially when it comes to health and wellbeing. They can also use it to highlight poor behaviour when it breaks the rules laid out in the charter. Through reinforcement, children will learn for themselves which behaviours are not appropriate for a good classmate or responsible citizen to take part in.
Primary 1
Primary 2
Primary 3
Primary 4
Primary 5
Primary 6
Primary 7
Term 4:
African Drumming
Bollywood Dancing
Haka
French Cafe Culture
Italian Pizza Craft
Japanese Windsocks
Chinese New Year
Term 3:
Global Goals Football
Many thanks to all the P4-7’s who took part in this year’s Global Goals Football Tournament at Georgetown Primary School. All children who asked to participate were given an opportunity to go along and play. The theme this year was Global Goal 10 – Reduced Inequalities where we had teams of mixed genders and abilities playing. Miss Bodell was very impressed with all the children that went along, they tried their best, and showed fantastic sportsmanship. Scores were not kept on the day as it was more about having fun and spreading awareness but we did receive a certificate for taking part.
Ramadan- Festival of Eid
A number of our pupils and their families are observant of Ramadan and will be celebrating Eid this coming weekend. We hope you all have a lovely time with family and friends celebrating the festival of Eid and look forward to hearing all about it from our pupils on their return to school, after the holidays.
World Book Day
We had a fantastic day yesterday, celebrating World Book Day in School, with each class taking part in activities aimed at enhancing their love of books and reading. It was especially nice seeing both children and staff in their costumes for this year’s Cool Character theme, and pupils bringing in their preloved books for our book stall.
Our hard working Primary 5 Languages Committee hope everyone has been inspired to take the time to pick up a book, magazine, newspaper, comic etc! It has been so delightful and rewarding to see the children’s enthusiasm for reading being highlighted this week – they are all STARS! I am sure they will have lots to share with you over the weekend!
The winners of our Costume Competition are: Andi P6, Romeo P5, and Harry P1
Well done to everyone who came in costume or pyjamas, it was wonderful to see what you all came up with!
Please remember that earlier this week, to further support and encourage our pupils to read, each child was issued with a World Book Day Token which they can use towards a FREE book or buying a book in the participating stores in the town.
Dumfries Academy Cluster Online Safety Event for P5 – P7 Parents and Families.
As you are aware, we have been liaising with our Community Police this session and they have been visiting our senior classes to raise their awareness of how to keep themselves safe online. Indeed, trying to support our young people as they begin to navigate the various online platforms and apps and ensure their safety for many parents and families is becoming rather daunting. To this end, we have collaborated with Dumfries Academy, our Cluster Secondary School, who will be hosting an ‘Online Safety’ event for our P5-S2 pupils and their families, which will be held at Dumfries Academy next Monday, 10th February 2025, from 6:00pm to 7:00pm.
The evening will feature two 30-minute sessions: one led by our Community Police Officers and the other by Dumfries and Galloway’s Education Safeguarding Manager. Parents and pupils will attend separate sessions, ensuring the content is tailored to their specific needs.
I have once again attached a copy of the letter for the online safety evening, and there is a QR code for parents to complete in order that the Academy can establish numbers. Even if you don’t sign in through the QR code, you will be made more than welcome as we are keen for as many parents and families to take up this opportunity to learn more about how to keep their child/children safe when online.
St. Michael’s Primary School
Silver Rights Respecting Schools
Mental Health Awareness Week occurs every year in May and Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week happens every February. It is an ideal time for us all to think about mental health, tackle stigma, and discuss how we can create school environments that protect our mental wellbeing.
At assembly this week, we had conversations about mental health and the everyday things that can affect it. We talked about examples of when we have felt sad or worried and who we could share this with.
Our mental health clearly links to Article 24 of the UNCRC but if you think about it, many of the other rights that children and young people are entitled to, also contribute to good mental health.
We also finished off doing some mindfulness and some dancing exercises to help keep our minds healthy. We also talked about next week’s mid-term holiday and the importance of getting out into the fresh air and taking some time off the electronic devices.
Our GLOBAL GANG members are:
Callum (P7), Kayda (P7), Andi (P6), Lennox (P6), Lilah (P5), Micah (P5), Darcie (P4),
Amber (P3), Anais (P2), Ruaridh (P1) and Miss Bodell.
I have rights, you have rights, we all have rights.
Primary 5 – ST MICHAEL’S PRIMARY – LANGUAGES DAY
We all thoroughly enjoyed a fabulous WHOLE SCHOOL LANGUAGES DAY where our pupils got to take part in 8 various language-based activities. A very big Thank You to our Primary 5 Languages Committee for organising such a fantastic event. St Michael’s haven’t held a whole school Languages event for a number of years, so it was lovely to see it return. The children certainly seemed to enjoy it!
A big Thank You also goes to Miss Berenguer, who returned to host a super Spanish Language activity after her recent stint as a student in Primary 2. Primary 5 also wish to thank all the staff who provided activities such as Computer Coding, Fun Quizzes, Scots Language Activities and stories, Secret Code-Making, a Blindfold Obstacle Challenge and Eiffel Tower painting. The children had lots of fun while learning about different types of language and cultures.
The teachers were very happy with the wonderful effort, behaviour and manners displayed by all the groups and as a result the team scores were all very high. Congratulations to Hoddom 1, who were the winners of the Language Quiz- Language Geniuses and were presented with a packet of skittles each at assembly this morning. Congratulations also go to Caerlaverock 1 who were the overall winners on the day and received an extra 10 minutes playtime today. You are all St. Michael’s Stars!
St. Michael’s Primary School 07/02/25
Silver Rights Respecting Schools
This week we have been learning about Safer Internet Day, which is marked on 7th February every year.
We all have a right to feel safe and secure and that means safe online as well as in the real world. Safer Internet Day is an annual event that promotes the safe, responsible and positive use of the internet.
There are a large number of articles that link with being online. This week’s activities have a particular focus on Article 19, the right to protection from harm, Article 17, the right to reliable information and Article 34, protection from exploitation.
The internet can be a great place but needs to be used carefully. We used lots of activities to start conversations about internet issues that matter, what changes children would like to see and how we can make it a more positive and rights respecting place!
Our GLOBAL GANG members are:
Callum (P7), Kayda (P7), Andi (P6), Lennox (P6), Lilah (P5), Micah (P5), Darcie (P4),
Amber (P3), Anais (P2), Ruaridh (P1) and Miss Bodell.
I have rights, you have rights, we all have rights.
St. Michael’s Primary School 31/01/25
Silver Rights Respecting Schools
This week we looked at articles 2, 19, 37 and 38 in line with Holocaust Memorial Day. Holocaust Memorial Day is on the 27th January every year. The 27th January marks the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi death camp. On this day, we remember the six million Jewish people who were killed during the Holocaust, alongside millions of other people who were killed under Nazi persecution and in genocides that followed in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and Darfur. Holocaust Memorial Day is for everyone. Each year across the UK, thousands of people come together to learn more about the past and take action to create a safer future. Holocaust Memorial Day is promoted and supported by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust.
As part of Scots week, classes were also given the opportunity to listen to a book called ‘Let’s Explore Oor Richts’. The book is written in Scots language and is about the human rights for very young children. The book, beautifully illustrated by Corinna Campbell, from Inverness, takes young children on a journey to discover rights like having a safe home, the right to be healthy, to learn, and to play, and features iconic Scots landmarks like Edinburgh Castle, Glasgow’s Clydeside and Tarbat Ness Lighthouse near Tain, Inverness-shire. I have enclosed the link below if you would like to listen to the story at home.
Our GLOBAL GANG members are:
Callum (P7), Kayda (P7), Andi (P6), Lennox (P6), Lilah (P5), Micah (P5), Darcie (P4),
Amber (P3), Anais (P2), Ruaridh (P1) and Miss Bodell.
I have rights, you have rights, we all have rights.
24/01/25 – No RRS assembly – school closed due to Storm Weather Warnings.
A huge well done to our Primary 5 class who took part in the recent Dumfries Carnival organised by The Big Burns Supper. They have worked hard over their dance workshops to learn their routine and did us all, and their town, proud on the day.
St Michael’s Primary School
Silver Rights Respecting Schools
This week at Assembly, we talked about Article 1. Article 1 makes clear that everyone under the age of 18 has all the rights in the Convention. We talked about what makes being a child special and what they value in their childhood, and celebrating differences. Eilidh stated, ‘we should treat people as we wish to be treated’ regardless of our differences.
We then discussed how we could best remember our Rights and what UNCRC want to achieve. We chose the acronym ‘RIGHTS’ and discussed what each letter represents.
R is for really important. Why do rights matter for every child?
I is for international. Remember – every child in the world is born with these rights.
G is for governments, grown-ups, guardians. How do they help you to get your rights?
H is for hopeful. Because of the CRC the world is becoming a better place for children.
T is for together. You are connected with every other child and young person as you have the same rights.
S is for sharing. How can we tell others what we know about rights?
Our GLOBAL GANG members are:
Callum (P7), Kayda (P7), Andi (P6), Lennox (P6), Lilah (P5), Micah (P5), Darcie (P4),
Amber (P3), Anais (P2), Ruaridh (P1) and Miss Bodell.
Primary 6 – Living Life to the Full – Health & Wellbeing Programme
Next term, as part of their Health & Wellbeing curriculum, our Primary 6 pupils will be engaging with Junior Youth Worker, Cairn Langan, who will be the programme – Living Life to the Full. This is an 8 week programme of 1 hour sessions – supporting young people to build resilience, confidence and self-esteem. I am sure this piece of work will be ideal in beginning to prepare our pupils for the leadership roles they will be taking on in Primary 7 and their transition to Secondary School in August 2026.
St Michael’s Primary School
Silver Rights Respecting Schools 27/12/24
This week we spent some time reflecting on all the things we are grateful for in our lives. We talked about the love we have for our families and friends, our homes and the food on our tables. We discussed that not everyone around us is fortunate enough to have all of the above and we took some time to think of others. For those that celebrate Christmas, we discussed being grateful for what we receive and give our thanks to our loved ones.
The Global Gang would like to take this time to wish all of our pupils, parents and carers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. For those of you who do not celebrate Christmas we would like to wish you a wonderful Winter Holiday. We look forward to continuing our journey towards Gold upon our return to school in January.
Our GLOBAL GANG members are:
Callum (P7), Kayda (P7), Andi (P6), Lennox (P6), Lilah (P5), Micah (P5), Darcie (P4),
Amber (P3), Anais (P2), Ruaridh (P1) and Miss Bodell.
I have rights, you have rights, we all have rights.
Pupil Profiles
On Tuesday next week you will receive, via e-mail, a copy of your child’s e-Profile for October-December, which forms part of their Individual Personal Learning Portfolio that follows them through their 7 years at St Michael’s Primary School. The children are all very proud of their e-Profiles and we hope that you enjoy seeing this ‘snap shot’ of your child’s learning and that it further compliments the wide range of information we have regularly shared regarding your child’s progress in their learning throughout the year.
Please note that pupils who have joined us recently will not have completed a Profile but will begin one for January – May.
Primary 7 – Transition Event at Dumfries Academy
On Thursday 19th December our Primary 7 pupils will be visiting Dumfries Academy to sample learning in the Secondary context and participate in a Home Economics lesson. As they shall not be returning to school until 1:45pm, pupils are require to bring their own packed lunch with them on that day. For those who receive Free School Meals, a cold school lunch will be provided.
St Michael’s Primary School
Silver Rights Respecting Schools 20/12/24
This week we spent some time reflecting on all the things we are grateful for in our lives. We talked about the love we have for our families and friends, our homes and the food on our tables. We discussed that not everyone around us is fortunate enough to have all of the above and we took some time to think of others. For those that celebrate Christmas, we discussed being grateful for what we receive and give our thanks to our loved ones.
The Global Gang would like to take this time to wish all of our pupils, parents and carers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. For those of you who do not celebrate Christmas we would like to wish you a wonderful Winter Holiday. We look forward to continuing our journey towards Gold upon our return to school in January.
Our GLOBAL GANG members are:
Callum (P7), Kayda (P7), Andi (P6), Lennox (P6), Lilah (P5), Micah (P5), Darcie (P4),
Amber (P3), Anais (P2), Ruaridh (P1) and Miss Bodell.
I have rights, you have rights, we all have rights.
Primary 6 – Young Entrepreneurs
Taking inspiration from our young entrepreneur, Tatiana in Primary 7, a group of our Primary 6 pupils – Ben, Brodie, Faith, Grant, Perez and Zayyan, have been very busy making a variety of crafts and accessories, which they wish to sell in school next week.
Picture Crafts – 50p Elf Hats – 50p Beaded Bracelets with stickers – £2.00
Loom-band Bracelets – £1.00 Key Chains – £1:50
If anyone wishes to support their venture, please bring along some pennies, as they will be on sale during break-time on Monday and Tuesday next week. Profits will go towards a class resource for Primary 6.
School Christmas Show – McTivity (P1-3)
Well I am sure everyone who came to see our Primary 1-3 Christmas Show this week will agree that all of our pupils put on an excellent performance and all their hard work over the last few weeks paid off. Once again I wish to say a very big THANK YOU to all the staff who without their hard work events such as this would not take place and a massive WELL DONE to all of our Primary 1-3 pupils who gave us a fantastically wonderful Christmas Show! We are so proud of you all!
We are now very much looking forward to our Upper Primary Christmas Show – ‘The Stars are Coming Out for Christmas’ will be held on Monday 16th and Tuesday 17th December in the afternoon. I look forward to welcoming you then.
Christmas Singing at The Granary Mews
In our endeavours to spread some Christmas cheer, the Global Gang thought it was the perfect opportunity to engage with elderly members of our local community and as a result on Monday myself and four members of the Global Gang Darcie (P4), Lennox, P6. Micah (P5) and Lilah (P5) met with members of The Granary Community and arranged for our Primary 1 and 2 pupils to sing some of their Christmas Concert songs. It was a wonderful afternoon with the children showcasing their talents whilst at the same time providing entertainment for elderly members of our community.
Here are some of our Global Gang members meeting with management at the Granary Mews to arrange for P1 and 2 to visit and sing some Christmas songs.
Friday 13/12/24
St. Michael’s Primary School 13/12/24
Silver Rights Respecting Schools
At assembly today, we spoke about Article 3 –The best interests of the child must be a top priority in all decisions and actions that affect children. We discussed that children should be protected and cared for to ensure their wellbeing. Next, we talked about who can help meet the best needs of the child and discussed the Children’s Commissioner. The Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland is Nicola Killean. She works with her team to protect the human rights of children and young people. She works to make sure the laws that affect our lives are fair. She challenges people in power to keep human rights promises they have made and to make sure you have all you need to grow up in an environment of happiness, love and understanding.
We finished off by hearing from Nicola Killean https://youtu.be/p8neS8GLB3Q and listening to the following story… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUca8bkXwjI
Our GLOBAL GANG members are:
Callum (P7), Kayda (P7), Andi (P6), Lennox (P6), Lilah (P5), Micah (P5), Darcie (P4),
Amber (P3), Anais (P2), Ruaridh (P1) and Miss Bodell.
I have rights, you have rights, we all have rights.
Creating Engineers Challenge – 2025
Recently our Primary 5 and Primary 6 pupils were busy in class, undertaking the first stage of the National K’Nex Engineers Challenge 2025. As part of the challenge, pupils were given the opportunity to demonstrate their creative design and build skills by solving set engineering challenges using the construction set K’Nex. I am pleased to announce the two winners of this first stage were:
Primary 5 – Connol and Romeo
Primary 6 – Emileigh and Rena
Congratulations to our winning teams from each class who will now attend the next step of the challenge which is a Cluster Heat in Term 3.
Junior Parkrun Schools Challenge
We are delighted to announce that St. Michael’s Primary School has been recognised as a BRONZE achieving school in Dumfries Junior Parkrun Schools Challenge. Well done to everyone that has taken part, we are very proud of this award. A copy of the certificate has been emailed out along with the weekly bulletin.
Lower Playground – Imaginative Play
During last year’s refurbishment, our Lower Primary Playground unfortunately required to have all their play resources removed. Therefore, on our return we have been busy working with our Parent & Carer Group and fundraising through the Tesco Blue Tokens scheme to purchase a durable item which we hope the children will enjoy exploring through imaginative play. Following consultation with the pupils they chose the Train Engine and Carriages, which have just arrived! What a lovely surprise, just before Christmas! A massive THANK YOU to the Parent & Carer Group and all our families for their wonderful efforts in raising the money for this wonderful resource which our children will hopefully enjoy for many years to come!
Christmas Gift Plea
As we approach the Christmas period, we are aware that many parents, carers and pupils enjoy buying gifts for their teachers as a token of appreciation for all of their hard work throughout the year. However, as part of our commitment to reducing the cost of the school day we wish to reduce any perception of expectation on pupils to bring in a gift for their teachers. Indeed, the culture of gift giving to teachers, can lead to families feeling peer pressure to give presents whether they can afford to or not.
At St Michael’s Primary School we can make a difference here, by simply letting everyone know that teaching staff would be really happy to receive a card (if they wish) but don’t expect presents from their pupils. We hope this small change in practice at St Michael’s Primary can make a huge difference to families on low incomes.
Letters or cards of thanks to teachers may also constitute as compliments and any we receive will be scanned and emailed to education and learning so that they can be formally recognised and recorded.
St Andrew’s Day – Competition Winners
You may recall that to support awareness of St Andrew’s Day our Pupil Council arranged an ‘in-house’ art competition for each class, where they were asked to produce a drawing of what we think the mythical Wild Haggis might look like!
The winners from each class were selected collaboratively by the Pupil Council and the Global Gang, and presented with their prizes this morning at Assembly. Congratulations and well done to the following winners:
| Primary 1 | 1st Place | Joey | 2nd Place | Abra | 3rd Place | Peyton |
| Primary 2 | 1st Place | Shehrish | 2nd Place | Amelia-Grace | 3rd Place | Finlay |
| Primary 3 | 1st Place | Agatha | 2nd Place | Jessica | 3rd Place | Daisy |
| Primary 4 | 1st Place | Nathan | 2nd Place | Tom | 3rd Place | Faiz |
| Primary 5 | 1st Place | Anna | 2nd Place | Greta | 3rd Place | Millar |
| Primary 6 | 1st Place | Emileigh | 2nd Place | Ben | 3rd Place | Rena |
| Primary 7 | 1st Place | Zayna | 2nd Place | Tatiana | 3rd Place | Jigme |
06/12/24
St. Michael’s Primary School
Silver Rights Respecting Schools
At assembly today, we spoke about Article 4 & 41 in line with celebrating Human Rights Day on Tuesday 10th December. On 10th December 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. All children have the same human rights as adults. Children’s rights are human rights so we can celebrate them alongside the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The aim of all human rights is to make people’s lives better. In the Convention, there are two Articles that remind us that human rights are the responsibility of the Government who must use their laws to protect rights and that rights are the minimum standard expected.
Article 4 (implementation of the Convention) Governments must do all they can to make sure every child can enjoy their rights by creating systems and passing laws that promote and protect children’s rights.
Article 41 (respect for higher national standards) if a country has laws and standards that go further than the present Convention, then the country must keep these laws.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3ozxrdD30s – Please watch this short story shared by UNCRC if you would like to know more.
Our GLOBAL GANG members are:
Callum (P7), Kayda (P7), Andi (P6), Lennox (P6), Lilah (P5), Micah (P5), Darcie (P4),
Amber (P3), Anais (P2), Ruaridh (P1) and Miss Bodell.
I have rights, you have rights, we all have rights.
Christmas Fayre Tombola (By Andi P6 and Anais P2)
The Global Gang organised and ran a UNCRC Articles Tombola at our recent Christmas Fayre. Our members wrote to Community Payback and local businesses who donated lots of prizes. The prizes were labelled 1 -45 and if you pulled out a winner you had to match it to the UNCRC Article and learn why that article was made. We made £73 for our school and also helped other adults learn about the Rights of the Child.
29/11/24
Community Police – Primary 5, 6 and 7 – School Internet Safety
This morning, our Community Police Officer PC Wilson visited with our Primary 5, 6 and 7 classes to talk to the children and give them advice on how best to keep themselves safe online. As social media has developed over the last 10 years, it has had a significant impact on school life and relationships. As per Police Scotland advice, PC Wilson reminded children that they should be 13 years old before using social media sites and 16 years old before using WhatsApp to enable them to keep themselves safe. PC Wilson talked to P5, 6 and 7 about online safety, the importance of not sharing devices or passwords and the importance of taking accountability for what you post online. She advised children that even though posts and pictures can be deleted, information can remain on a cloud that the police can access if need be. She also offered to come back in and speak to any children or adults that would like to talk with her privately. If you would like any further information, please see the Police Scotland website on the following link or speak with Miss Bodell who can get in touch with PC Wilson.
St. Michael’s Primary School
Silver Rights Respecting Schools
At assembly today, we spoke about Article 2 & 23 (Children with a disability) in line with celebrating International Day of People with Disabilities on Sunday 3rd December. We discussed that a child with a disability has the right to live a full and decent life with dignity and, as far as possible, independence and to play an active part in the community. Governments must do all they can to support disabled children and their families. Pupils shared their ideas on why they think the world has a special day to focus on people with disabilities, that we celebrate our differences, and that not all disabilities can be seen. We spent some time discussing why it is important to share awareness of this day and the challenges some people face daily and celebrate all of our differences. The children suggested it is important to look at people for the type of person they are and not their disability. We finished off with the following story and clip.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=Epe_wmvYd_s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8WVfWW4J7I
Our GLOBAL GANG members are:
Callum (P7), Kayda (P7), Andi (P6), Lennox (P6), Lilah (P5), Micah (P5), Darcie (P4),
Amber (P3), Anais (P2), Ruaridh (P1) and Miss Bodell.
I have rights, you have rights, we all have rights.
St Andrew’s Day
It was lovely to see so many of our pupils wearing a ‘Touch of Tartan’, or in some cases a great deal of Tartan to celebrate St Andrew’s Day on Thursday of this week. The whole school was very colourful and certainly and made us all feel very patriotic. We also celebrated with some traditional Scottish shortbread, washed down with some Irn Bru!
To support awareness of this special day our Pupil Council arranged an ‘in-house’ art competition for each class. They have been learning about the myth of the Wild Haggis and producing a drawing of what we think it might look like! Our Pupil Council are now busy judging the entries and will announce the winners in each class at next week’s Assembly.
22/11/24
St. Michael’s Primary School
Silver Rights Respecting Schools
At assembly today, we spoke about Article 14 (freedom of thought, belief and religion). We discussed that every child has the right to think and believe what they choose and, also to practise their religion, as long as they are not stopping other people from enjoying their rights. Governments must respect the rights and responsibilities of parents to guide their child as they grow up. We also discussed people, from history, who have campaigned for rights such as Martin Luther King. Pupils suggested what can shape the way we think about the world and what can influence our thoughts and beliefs. Friends, Family, TV, School, Where you live, Religion, Your health and Social media were a few of the answers shared.
Our GLOBAL GANG members are:
Callum (P7), Kayda (P7), Andi (P6), Lennox (P6), Lilah (P5), Micah (P5), Darcie (P4),
Amber (P3), Anais (P2), Ruaridh (P1) and Miss Bodell.
I have rights, you have rights, we all have rights.
Pupil Bulletin Takeover!!
The Global Gang have taken over Mrs Thomson’s Weekly Bulletin.
What is this all about I hear our new families ask. Well, apart from the first few items below, I have handed over my Weekly Bulletin to the pupils. This is the third year in which, through our Rights Respecting Schools, our pupils have been given the opportunity to share their voice through our Weekly Bulletin. Enjoy!
12. WEEKLY BULLETIN (22nd Nov’24)
World Children’s Day – 20th November (by Callum P7 and Kayda P7)
Thank you to everyone who came to school wearing blue to celebrate World Children’s Day. The school was a sea of blue colours on Wednesday and it was fun to see what everyone chose to wear (Kayda). It is important to see everyone raise awareness for World Children’s Day and it was amazingly fun to celebrate children and their rights (Callum).
15/11/24
At assembly today, we spoke about Article 45 (provide expert advice and assistance on children’s rights), in line with World Children’s Day on 20/11/24.
The Global Gang explained that this day is the ‘birthday’ of the convention in 1989. We talked about our rights and why and how we will be celebrating World’s Children Day.
At assembly, we talked about the different ways UNICEF helps children around the world to access their rights and the children gave some fantastic answers:
To finish we watched the video ‘We all have rights…’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F7ie1Z07aM
08/11/24
This week our article of the week was article 38 (Protection from War). We reflected on Remembrance Day and why it is important to take a moment to remember those that paid the ultimate sacrifice. Remembrance unites people of all faiths, cultures and backgrounds in honouring those who defend our democratic freedom and way of life.
The UK has a long tradition of marking Armistice Day, calling to mind the moment when fighting ceased at the end of the First World War, at 11.00am on the 11th November 1918.
Article 38 states that Governments must not allow children under the age of 15 to take part in war or join the armed forces. Governments must do everything they can to protect and care for children affected by war and armed conflicts.
During assembly, we discussed why children have the right not to go to war, to be protected during war and why we should avoid wars from happening.
We then finished by listening to the story Tusk Tusk by David McKee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU9BwWXzsS4
Remembrance Poppy Appeal – 11th November 2024
Thank you to everyone who has shown their support to this year’s Poppy Appeal. It has been lovely to see so many pupils wearing their poppies with pride and honouring the two-minute silence in class so respectfully.
After a week of selling poppies we were able to raise a total of £63.78
Thank you so much to everyone who donated.
01/11/24
This week we were visited by Cara Bowden who works for CHAS (Children’s Hospices Across Scotland). She shared with us that CHAS is a charity that cares for children throughout Scotland, and they are there to support the whole family. Whether that is at home, in hospital, or visiting at Rachel or Robin House, they are there to give families the care and support they need, when they need it. Cara told us that the number of babies, children and young people receiving care from CHAS keeps on growing and, so do the complexities of many underlying conditions and care needs. Which is why more and more of the support they offer needs to be specialised.
We discussed how having our health looked after, in a supportive, dignified and private matter was a right we all have and that many children around the world are not as fortunate to have such healthcare in place. We also talked about the role our parents and carers play in looking after our health and wellbeing.
Once we had finished assembly, Cara met with the Global Gang to discuss their rights in more detail and how the charity she works for enables children to access their rights and how they work to support not only children but all of the other members of the family impacted by poor health.
11/10/24
This week we talked about Article 6 in line with World Food Day on 16th October. The World Food Programme estimates around 811 million people go to bed with an empty stomach every day.
They predict this will rise to 840 million people by 2030. World Food Day is celebrated every year on 16th October. It celebrates the work of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation.
World Food Day aims to make people think about those who go hungry every day. It also teaches us to appreciate the food we have and that we can help to reduce food waste.
We discussed how we can help by:
We finished off by discussing how people of different Faiths/Nationalities show gratitude for their food.
04/10/24
This week we looked at articles 28 (Right to Education) and 29 (Goals of Education|) in line with World Teacher’s Day on 5th October every year. In 1994, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation announced that there should be a World Teachers’ Day on 5th October every year. They wanted to celebrate a big conference they’d had in 1966. The conference had decided rights and responsibilities for teachers around the world. It also decided on high standards so that all teaching would be good.
You might be thinking “What’s so special about teachers, that they need a whole day just to celebrate them?”
We are so fortunate at St. Michael’s Primary School to have a very dedicated and hard working group of staff who always go above and beyond to offer stimulating and engaging opportunities for all of our pupils. When I met with the Global Gang this week we decided that they wanted to celebrate our staff at assembly so they each chose to draw and say a few words about one of our staff members. It was lovely to see that the children recognise how hard our staff work and I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank them for everything they do.
27/09/24
This week we looked at articles 7 (I have a right to a name and belong to a country) and 30 (I have a right to speak my own language and follow my family’s way of life) as part of International Day of Languages on 26th September. European Day of Languages was first celebrated in 2001. It was started by the European Commission and Council of Europe. It is a day where we can celebrate the different languages spoken in Europe. We celebrate European Day for Languages each year to show all the different languages that are spoken in Europe today. The European Commission and Council of Europe wants to show how important learning additional languages is for us all. We discussed the different ways in which we can celebrate this day:
We finished by watching the following language video that taught us how to say hello in 24 different languages.
20/09/24 –
This week our article of the week is Article 38 (war and armed conflict) and Article 39 (recovery from trauma and reintegration). These articles link to ‘Peace Day’ which is an International Day on Peace held on or around 21st September every year. Peace Day is a global day for everyone in the world to commit to peace above all differences and to contribute to building a culture of peace.
At assembly, our Global Gang asked everyone what peace meant to them. We had some superb answers:
No discrimination, feeling safe, being who you want to be without being scared, trusting people around you, no racism and supporting and helping others. We then reflected on a time where children have been involved in a disagreement, what they did and how they managed to resolve the issue.
We then finished with the story, ‘This is our House’… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wf_n6yjr9T0
Our Global Gang also got up with our Eco Committee to discuss the exciting news about our garden design competition which you can find more details about above in this bulletin.
Our GLOBAL GANG members are:
Callum (P7), Kayda (P7), Andi (P6), Lennox (P6), Lilah (P5), Micah (P5), Darcie (P4),
Amber (P3), Anais (P2), Ruaridh (P1) and Miss Bodell.
I have rights, you have rights, we all have rights.
13/09/24-
This week we looked at Article 5 – Parental Responsibility. This article states that Governments must respect the rights and responsibilities of parents and carers to provide guidance and direction to their child as they grow up, so that they fully enjoy their rights. This must be done in a way that recognises the child’s increasing capacity to make their own choices.
The Global Gang spoke at assembly and shared some of the important things parents and carers should do for children. Gere are some of the suggestions that came up through our discussions.
We also discussed that lots of different blends can make up a family and that the important thing is that everyone feels loved with the family/carers they live with.
We finished with the following book, The Family Book by Todd Parr.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=the+family+book
06/09/24 –
I am pleased to announce that our voting has taken place and we now have a newly appointed Global Gang. Our Global Gang for 2024 – 2025 are Callum (P7), Kayda (P7), Andi (P6), Lennox (P6), Lilah (P5), Micah (P5), Darcie (P4), Amber (P3), Anais (P2) and Ruaridh (P1). Miss Bodell is really looking forward to working with our new representatives and hearing all of their ideas and opinions. Our Global Gang will also be presenting our weekly article of the week alongside Miss Bodell at assembly to help share awareness of the UNCRC articles.
Indeed, they have already been hard at work and have stood up and spoken at each assembly. This week they were discussing Article 12 – Respect for the views of the child. Callum (P7) explained that “Every child has the right to express their views, feelings and wishes in all matters affecting them, and to have their views considered and taken seriously”. We then discussed all of the times children are given the opportunity to give their opinion. We had lots of different ideas such as choosing snacks, decorating bedrooms, being in one of our whole school responsibilities such as the Global Gang or the Health Committee and deciding what we would like to do at the weekend.
We then finished off with the story – ‘Everyone Gets a Say’ and discussed why it is important to listen to other people’s ideas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=B0zyNIgtuDA
Session 2023 – 2024
We are incredibly proud to announce that we are a Silver Rights Respecting School.
The Rights Respecting Schools Award puts children’s rights at the heart of schools in the UK and we are extremely proud to announce that on Wednesday this week we were awarded our SILVER AWARD. St Michael’s Primary School is now proudly displayed as a Silver Rights Respecting School on the UNICEF website and our certificate and banner for the school gates will be on their way to us very soon! The accreditation was completed by a Quality Improvement Officer who was very impressed with what he heard from our pupils and staff. We will now start working towards our Gold Award which we hope to achieve by this time next year.
St. Michael’s Primary School aims to be a school where Children’s Rights are at the heart of our ethos and culture, to improve well-being and to develop every child’s talents and abilities to their full potential. As part of this plan we are working towards recognition as a ‘Rights Respecting School’, an award given to schools on behalf of UNICEF UK. UNIFEC is the world’s leading organisation working for children and young people and their rights. In 1989, governments across the world agreed that all children have the same rights by adopting the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). These rights are based on what a child needs to survive, grow, participate and fulfil their potential.
At St. Michael’s Primary School children learn about their rights by putting them into practice everyday. We model rights and respect in all of our relationships.
If you would like to know more please spend a few minutes visiting Convention on the Rights of the Child at https://www.unicef.org.uk/rights-respecting-schools/
Our Global Gang are our steering group and regularly meet with Miss Bodell to track our progress and ensure we are learning about our rights, through our right and are ambassadors for the rights of others!
Meeting Minutes
Christmas Concert at St. Michael’s and South Church – 19/12/23
Our Christmas Concert – Click on the link below to watch our Christmas song all linked to the UNCRC and what we hope we could achieve.
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Global Gang Tombola – Our Christmas Tombola 01/12/23
