Week of Change - March 2019

Each year we hold our ‘Week of Change’, as part of our Rights Respecting agenda.  This year, during the week of 18th-22nd March, we made a variety of changes to school life at Calthorpe Park.  Students from REaL3, our Rights Respecting student group, had the task of coming up with events for the school to engage in.  The week began with a mufti day to support eco initiatives within school and concluded with our ‘teacher swap’ day.  

Articles which were looked at during the week were:

Article 12 The Rights of the Views of the Child
Article 13 The Right to Freedom of Expression
Article 27 The Right to a Good Standard of Living
Article 31 The Right to Leisure, Play and Culture
Article 3   The Right of Best Interests of the Child
Article 24 The Right to Good Health
Article 17 The Right to Information from the Media
Article 28 The Right to an Education

Besides this, the following events took place: a lunchtime Multi-Cultural Film Fest; a Mental and Eco-Health and Digital Detox Day, when there was no electricity in lessons and students were discouraged from using mobile phones; ‘News’ lesson starters and also a ‘student-teacher swap’ day, when 130 student ‘teachers’ took lessons across a variety of subjects.

In Year 7 Spanish, Miss Meaden played the part of a student in her fake ‘Calthorpe Park jumper’, whilst her students looked the part as teachers and delivered an excellent lesson.

In Year 9 English, Toby H and Cerys C gave students a silent reflection task to allow them to mark the quiz they made about Wilfred Owen’s ‘Disabled’. In Year 10, English students worked collaboratively to complete work on ‘Macbeth’.  Students in Year 11 Spanish planned a quiz.  The two student teachers taking the lesson shared responsibility of explaining the task and using the classroom technology.  Some students also taught more than one lesson and enjoyed practising their ‘teacher look’!

As a reward for their teaching, students attended a ‘staff room style’ extended break on Monday, 25th March.

From this event it is quite clear that the right to an education (Article 28 of the UNCRC) is something to be valued and appreciated.  We would like to thank the student teachers and the staff for their support during the Week of Change and look forward to the event next year.