We are glad to welcome everyone back from the holidays, we hope you all had a well-rested break.
Please find October’s newsletter below.
October 2020 Newsletter
Blog
Review of ACC, Minimising Exclusion Policy
We would be grateful if you could please read the following documents and complete the online form using the link provided.
The closing date for responses is Friday 9th October.
Building Inner Strength and Wellbeing for Kids – The Resilience Alphabet
Education Scotland has released the Resilience Alphabet.
What is this?
The Resilience Alphabet includes ideas and activities to help your child build inner strength and wellbeing. For each letter there is a definition, something to think about, something positive to say and some suggestions of things to Make, Do or Write.
Download on the Education Scotland link above.
Updated Contact Details – COVID 19
Updated Contact Details for During COVID-19 School Closure
School is closed, and our normal number, 01224 586755, is therefore inaccessible.
Please use the following numbers/contact methods:
School Mobile (to be used in first instance): 07870484109
Virtual School Helpline: 01224 523322
Aberdeen City Council Crisis Support Line: 0800 0304 713
Other Queries: Contact your child’s class teacher on Seesaw and they will support the best they can.
Email: ferryhill@aberdeencity.gov.uk
The UK’s First RRSA Accredited Gold Award School
On 1st February 2018, Ferryhill School were visited by UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Award assessors. We are delighted to be able to share that Ferryhill were successfully accredited under the new UNICEF RRSA award scheme standards and they became the first school in the UK to successfully achieve Gold using the new outcome strands.
Assessors noted a number of strengths in their final report and were particularly impressed by:
- (The) polite, welcoming and confident children
- Pupils who have a deep understanding of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Pupils could clearly see and explain the relevance of the CRC to their daily lives
- An inclusive ethos based on a sound understanding by pupils and staff of the concepts of equity and fairness
- Staff (who) model rights respecting language and behaviours
- The recognition and celebration of wider achievement is highly valued by staff and pupils and linked to the CRC
- RRSA is embedded across the school, and all staff are fully committed and engaged with the process.
Assessors went on to say…
“The school is a wonderful ambassador for children’s rights and works hard to promote awareness in their local community and this wonderful achievement is recognition of the hard work, commitment and passion by pupils, staff and parents. Well done Ferryhill School!”
As a school, we will continue to build on this success and to guide and support our pupils to ensure that all children enjoy their rights.
Adventure Aberdeen Easter Holiday Programme
Adventure Aberdeen is a ‘not for profit’ Aberdeen City Council service. Closely associated with our school, they provide an essential and vibrant outdoor service to education, social care and community establishments across Aberdeen city.
Their Easter Holiday Programme offers fantastic outdoor experiences for children and the whole family.
All proceeds go back into the service to help support vital outdoor learning experiences for the future.
NSPCC Workshop: Speak Out Stay Safe
The recent online safety workshops presented by NSPCC in partnership with O2 reminded parents of the importance of understanding our children’s online world.
Along with some sobering statistics around cyber bullying, presenters Heather and Alan gave an introduction to some of today’s most common apps, the age restrictions for each (did you know you have to be 13 years old to use Whatsapp?) and the risks associated with some of the most popular apps.
The three greatest risks are:
- What they see
- Who they meet
- What they do
The key for us as parents is to engage with our children, have the conversation around what they’re doing online, help them set boundaries (e.g. only real-life friends can be online friends, no strangers) and give them strategies to cope with the risks.
Tools and help available online and in person:
- www.net-aware.org.uk – a site that keeps you up to date with the social networks your child is using.
- 0800 800 5000 – a helpline dedicated to parents who may have concerns about their child’s online safety
- O2 gurus – free in-store expertise at O2 to help you set up parental controls, privacy settings etc (Union Street and Union Square stores)
Let’s work together to help our kids speak out and stay safe.
Ensuring everyone belongs, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion, or abilities
We are proud to be a Rights Respecting school, working towards level 2 of the UNICEF program to implement the 54 articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in our school.
The four main principles of the UNCRC are non-discrimination, participation, best interest, and life, survival and development.
Article 2 on non-discrimination states:
The convention applies to everyone: whatever their ethnicity, gender, religion, abilities; whatever they think or say; whatever type of family they come from.
Enabling pupil participation in all areas of school life
Ferryhill School is a Rights Respecting School. Of the 54 articles listed in the UN Covention of the Rights of the Child, we have chosen 4 articles to be focus areas for our school.
Article 12 of the UNCRC focuses on participation.
Every child has the right to say what they think in all matters affecting them and to have their views taken seriously
Working together to make the best interest of our children top priority
Ferryhill is a Rights Respecting school, having achieved level 1 of the UNICEF Rights Respecting award.
As a school, we have chosen 4 articles to focus our efforts on.
Article 3 focuses on the best interest of our children:
The best interest of the child must be a top priority in all things that affect children.