Saturday, 31 October 2015

UN at 70



Sciennes continued our journey to becoming a Rights Respecting School at P4-7 Assembly on Friday 30th October. Mr Howie explained that many of the UNESCO landmark sites around the world, including Edinburgh Castle, were lit up by blue lights last weekend to mark the 70th anniversary of the United Nations. (Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is also 70 this year.) Mr Howie explained the background to the United Nations and Unicef and why they were set up. 193 countries have signed the United Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) but Mr Howie asked our pupils if they believed that all children actually have these rights around the world. He then asked our pupils how they felt about not all children having their rights and to think about what they could do.




The Sciennes community has already taken action to support some Syrian refugee children to have their right to play by fundraising for the P3 Harvest Appeal. £2100 has been raised to fund seven playgrounds in refugee camps and Mr Howie asked everyone to think about what else we could do to help children have their rights locally and globally.

Our House Assemblies on 20th November will mark Universal Children's Day, on the anniversary of the UNCRC, and Sciennes is taking part in the annual Unicef OutRight campaign. OutRight empowers children and young people to play a role in the realisation of their rights and to speak out in support of all children’s rights. This year OutRight will focus on children’s rights in humanitarian emergencies – empowering children to speak out and share their views on protecting children affected by these crises.

Our P7 Sports Captains did a wonderful job of celebrating this week's achievements.

Our first week of using the new wildlife/nature playground area has been a great success and pupils were asked to pass on their suggestions for a name for the area to their Pupil Council rep. We look forward to the offical opening ceremony of our new playground on Saturday 31st October 11.00am-12.30pm.

Article 42 All adults and children should know about the UNCRC
Article 31 The right to play

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