Daisy – Our School Mascot
St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School is a Rights Respecting School. This means we abide by the Charter of Children’s Rights and actively teach children to understand their Rights and the Responsibilities which come with them through our curriculum. Each September, with our new class teachers, we celebrate each child as an individual focusing on the following rights:
Article 28 ‘Every child had the right to an education’
Article 8 – ‘Every child has the right to an identity.’
These are displayed in every cloakroom across school and allows children to develop a better understanding of children’s rights, fundamental in enabling them to flourish as young people.
On the 20th of November 1989 the United Nations sanctioned the UNCRC. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is an international statement of ALL of the rights that children have.
UNICEF protects and promotes those rights, and the Rights Respecting Schools Award seeks to put the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child at the heart of a school’s ethos and culture to make sure that every child is healthy, educated, treated fairly and listened to. They also make sure that all children are protected from violence, abuse and exploitation.
A Rights Respecting School teaches child rights and models rights and respect in all its relationships – between teacher / adults and pupils, between adults and between pupils.
To help support and teach our children about their rights, we have our school mascot Daisy, designed and chosen specifically by our very own children. Daisy is present in every classroom, reminding everyone of The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
How can parents support their child to learn about the Convention at home?
- Take the time to ask your child what he/she has learnt recently regarding children’s rights and how they may show respect for those rights.
- Discuss the ideas learned in class, and try to think of examples from your own experiences, or from the media, of rights being respected or denied.
- Discuss how your child or your family can promote respect for rights, or help those whose rights have been violated.
- Model using rights and respect language with your children.
- Ask your child’s opinion on children’s rights.
