Special Edition Newsletter:

Human  Rights Month in Balbriggan Educate Together NS : October 2017

Human Rights Month is an important  month of teaching and learning in our Educate Together school. This year the theme is Children’s Rights and,  in keeping with their age, the children will learn about: What are Rights? What responsibilities come with Rights? What are the Children’s Rights specifically?  How can I exercise my Rights? How can I  help in enhancing other people’s enjoyment of their Rights?  What are the Children’s Rights issues in our school?, in Babriggan? In Ireland? Internationally? Here’s some of the highlights that the children will experience over the month:

• All classes will follow a core-text which teaches them about Human Rights, generally, and Children’s Rights specifically: Junior infants. , Senior Infants  and 1st class  learn from  the text The Right Start,  2nd and 3rd continue their knowledge of Rights with ‘Lif-Off’ and 4th, 5th and 6th learn from the text  ‘Me, You and Everyone’. These classes are done as part of the school’s teaching of SPHE, English, Drama, Ethics and  Visual Arts
• All classes Junior Infants to 6th will learn a Rights Anthem for peer-audience concerts The Human Rights Factor  at the end of the month, some of these songs will also  be reprised   for the parent-audience Winter Concerts in December.
• The school will publish , in proper book form, ( for sale in due course) an Anthology of the Children’s Writing conducted over the month on the theme of Children’s Rights  ( we are looking for a sponsor for this,  would your business/company be interested in  associating themselves this very noble venture? Plenty of media attention guaranteed!!!!!!)
• The children  from 2nd to 6th will  undertake to put themselves forward for election to the school’s Student Council, by presenting manifestos to their class and voting in peer-elections.
• Selected classes will learn about the Global Goals for Sustainable Development and participate in the international World’s Largest Lesson on October 17th
• The Student Council, in front of the audience of the  whole set of children in the school,  will interview  and award  the BETNS Human Rights  Hero award and status to two persons in our community who work hard to  enhance the Rights of others. This year’s recipieents  will be Edel Campbell  ( North Dublin Outreach; the right to a home) and Assumpta Hickey ( Balbriggan Children’s  Library; the Right to an Education )
• Irish Aid, Trocaire, The Office of the Children’s Ombudsman and Goal will do workshops with various classes on issues of children’s rights,  justice, climate-change and sustainable development
• Our 3rd classes , as is customary, will visit a Traveller’s Site, as part of their work on the right to a home
• All children will learn about about lesser known international Human Rights Defenders   Leymah Gbonwee ( Liberia), Daisy Bates ( USA) and Kailash Setyarthi ( India) and will  vote for one of these  in an referendum conducted by the Student Council for our BETNS 2017  Human Rights Defender
• Friday October 27th is our Self-Expression Day, wehre the children are encouraged to dress up, or perhaps make and wear a badge, that says something about their identity ( interests/hobbies?, languages? Religous or non-religous identity? Ethnic identity? Parental/Family nationality? ) Parents, please encourage your children about this day, and it’d be wonderful to see our many various and rich identities celebrated on the day!!!! We will also have a video-booth ( along the lines of a wedding video-booth) where the children may  speak about their identity for the camera/recording?
• And , for the family , see overleaf for a Human Rights Month  Family Quiz , with a family ticket to a cinema of your choice as a prize

Human Rights Month  Family Quiz

Child’s   Name         _____________________

Please fill in your child’s name ,  your answers to each question, complete the tie-breaker, and send the page back in to your child’s class teacher on or before Friday October  20th ( 9.00am) to be in with a chance of winning  a family voucher for a cinema of your choice.

• What year was the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child ratified by the Irish Government ( hint; this is its 25th Anniversary)   ______________________
• Only one country in the world has not signed up to this internationally respected protection of   children? What country?   ___________________________________
• Which former Irish President went on to become the United  Nations  Human Rights Commissioner? ________________________________________________________
• On which birthday does an Irish child offcially become an adult? ________________
• Which international Human Rights agency has as a motto: “it is better to light a candle  than to curse the darkness” ?  ___________________________________
• In which city in the USA did Rosa Parks refuse to give up her seat on the bus  to a white-man?   ________________________________________________________
• 7 Which famous Italian educationalist  said ‘early childhood education is the key to the betterment of society?”  _________________________________________
• What activity, and a children’s right in itself, did the famous psychologist  Jean Piaget describe as  ‘the work of childhhod’?  _________________________________
• Finish the sentence: Focus ireland is an advocacy and charitable organisation who help individuals and families  who have become ______________________________
• On  Friday 27th of October in our school , the children are encouraged to dress up or wear a  home-made badge  that signifies  any aspect of their identity (  interests, languages, cultural background, religion or non-religous  life-philosophy, personality,  parental nationality, ethnic identity etc). In our school we call this       _____________–_________________Day

Don’t forget……..

Tie breaker:   How many children are there  in our school ? ___________________________