Saturday 2 November 2013

Are Children's Rights Respected in Balbriggan?

What Do You Think? 

On Friday 18th October the children from Balbriggan Educate Together NS will be voting in their own Human Rights Referendum. Following a series of lessons, discussions, assemblies, fieldtrips etc the children will be invited to vote YES or NO to the Referendum question: Are our Children’s Rights respected in Balbriggan? 

Working through the United Nation Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) the children will be encouraged to think deeply about the availability and enjoyment of the Children’s Rights in their hometown of Balbriggan. The children will be asked to vote YES or NO in summary across a list of questions such as: 
Do I feel safe in Balbriggan? 
Can I walk safely to and from activities that I like to do? 
Do I ever feel in danger in Balbriggan? 
Are there good schools in Balbriggan? 
Can I get a good education in Balbriggan? 
Can I practice my religion and culture in Balbriggan? 
Are there good amenities for children in Balbriggan? 
Are there places for us to play? 
Are there Clubs for us to join? 
Are there Community facilities for us to use? 
Do I get the chance to have my voice heard in Balbriggan? 
Are we consulted on matters that affect us? 

The votes will be counted on the 18th and we’ll publish the results on this website. We will also communicate the results of our Referendum to all of the important agencies in Balbriggan. 

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Friday 1 November 2013

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Monday 14 October 2013

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

Something to help stimulate your thoughts about children's rights.

Think about each right... is it respected in Balbriggan?

What do you think OVERALL?  Are children's rights respected in Balbriggan?

Thursday 10 October 2013

World Mental Health Day

To mark World Mental Health Day, the senior choir went over to Dunnes Stores to sing and put a smile on people's faces.  We wanted to raise awareness of mental health issues and encourage people to talk about mental health.  You can see it here below.




Monday 7 October 2013

Senior Infants Learn About Deafness


As part of their work on disability for human rights month, senior infants have been learning a lot about people who can't hear very well. Sometimes, these people are called deaf people.

First of all, we read a book called Moonbird. This told the story of a young prince that couldn't hear earth sounds. He visited some animal friends and they showed him how to communicate with his hands. When he returned to earth, the king and queen learned how to talk to him using their hands and eyes too. 




Then we read Freddie and the Fairy. This story is all about a fairy who can't hear very well so she sometimes mixes up the wishes that the boy is asking for. This book taught us the 3 Golden Rules for speaking to someone who can't hear very well - speak clearly, don't cover your mouth and always face towards the person. 




Today, we read A Birthday for Ben. This book is about a boy called Ben who hates birthday parties because he feels left out of the games that need music. He even decides that he doesn't want a party for his own birthday because he doesn't want his deaf friends to be left out. Luckily, his mother comes up with lots of ways to make sure that everyone can join in all the party games by using lights and coloured cards as signals as well as music. 



We also looked at the First Animal Sign Book today. We learned all the signs for the animals in the zoo. It was great fun!




Thursday 3 October 2013

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Here's a nice video illustrating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.


We Are All Born Free


Senior Infants read 'We Are All Born Free' in school this week. 




We learned about some of the rights that all humans should enjoy. You can watch a video showing some of these here! 




Remember, everyone has rights so everyone also has the responsibility to protect other people's rights!


Tuesday 1 October 2013

Whoever You Are by Mem Fox

The senior infants read this lovely book in class today - Whoever You Are by Mem Fox.  It taught us about how despite our differences, all the children around the world share lots of similarities.

Here's a video of someone else reading the story.  




Did you like the story?  Let us know by leaving a comment below!

What are Children Rights?

Here's a really nice video to introduce the idea of children's rights.  





Here's to a great human rights month!

Monday 30 September 2013

A Friend Like Simon

Cecelia's Senior Infants started Human Rights Month a day early!  After lunch today, we read 'A Friend Like Simon' by Kate Gaynor. This was a lovely story all about having friends that might act a little differently but appreciating them for their uniqueness.  It also reminded us about how important it is to be nice to everyone - even if they don't always do what you expect!  


Saturday 28 September 2013

Our New Equality Policy!

Our theme for our human rights month is 'Equality is a Human Right - Putting Policy into Practice'.  Over the past two years, we have been working very hard on developing a comprehensive Equality Policy that encapsulates all that we do in the school with regard to promoting equality.  Our current actions and our philosophy with regard to equality is available to read in the policy below or here!