Dear Parents and Carers,
It gives me great pleasure to share our good news with you all…
VALEWOOD PRIMARY SCHOOL IS OFFICIALLY… AN UNICEF ‘GOLD’ RIGHTS RESPECTING SCHOOL!
On 23rd February, our Rights Respecting School Ambassadors and a selection of children (chosen randomly from each year group) joined me; Mrs Parr; a number of staff; parents and a governor, so that the UNICEF assessors could interview us all for our GOLD RRSA accreditation. Mrs Parr, having led the RRS Ambassadors through our Silver accreditation, back in 2018, increased our expectations (over subsequent years) and enabled our community to be conversant with the United Nations Charter on the Rights of the Child, to the highest standard.
The UNCRC is at the heart of all that we do at Valewood and this has been our vision, since I became the Headteacher. We are all so proud, 10 years after the Charter was introduced to the staff and children in school, that we are now one of only 350 schools who have this GOLD accreditation in the UK. What an amazing achievement for our special, school community.
THANK YOU, to you all: children, parents, carers, staff, governors, external agency partners, for contributing to what makes Valewood shine. This report is exemplary. The assessors were highly impressed and very vocal in their praise, when they gave us feedback. It was quite emotional hearing what they had to say. What is not a surprise is that the voice of the children is loud and clear within the report and this only exemplifies how much we value their contributions on a daily basis. Please make the time to read the report and take credit for your contribution in making our children the global citizens they are becoming. We could not ask for better, working partnerships with our families and I am so thankful for each and every one of you. Thank you.
On Friday, much to all of our excitement, Mr Kelly (Ben’s dad in Team 4) came to school on a surprise mission with his licensed drone to take footage of us all celebrating this wonderful achievement. It was another landmark moment at Valewood and one I know we will all remember for years to come. (Lucky neighbours who got to enjoy the squeals of joy!) The sun was shining on us and we all had the best time. It’s been so long since I have been able to speak to all the classes at once. It felt marvellous!
With all best wishes, #ProudHT…Helen Tantouri