Bonnybridge’s Antonine Primary pupils gain UNICEF award

Youngsters at Antonine Primary School in Bonnybridge were delighted to receive their Rights Respecting School Bronze Award.

Unicef works with schools in the UK to create safe and inspiring places to learn, where children are respected, their talents are nurtured and they are able to thrive.

Its aim is to “embed these values in daily school life and give children the best chance to lead happy, healthy lives and to be responsible, active 
citizens”.

Antonine PS headteacher Jacqueline McLaughlin said: “We began our journey at the start of the year, January 2020, when the whole school engaged in training around the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

“Sadly in March we experienced school closures in response to the coronavirus pandemic, but rather than bring our journey to a halt we used this time to create a Recovery Plan based around six main Rights Respecting Schools articles.

“Given the impact of the events at that time on children and young people, we wanted to place children’s rights at the heart of our response.”

The plan focuses on giving pupils a voice, health, wellbeing, safety, play, learning and education to inform their thinking and shape health and wellbeing priorities.

The headteacher added: “We now have our Rights Respecting Schools Steering Group in place, comprising of staff and a Rights Ambassador from each class. We are looking forward to driving forward our Action Plan, with a Rights Focus Week planned for November 2020.

“We are very proud of our children at Antonine and all we have achieved so far.”