Pupils around the north-east are today marking World Children’s Day.
As part of the global awareness event, Louise Forbes, 17, an S6 pupil at Lochside Academy and James Gill, 10, a P6 pupil at Dyce School, joined the Evening Express as guest editors for the day.
World Children’s Day also coincides with the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The pair were selected by their schools to be guest editors at the paper and jumped at the chance to see the newsroom in action.
While taking on their newfound roles, James and Louise had the chance to sit in on conferences with reporters and news editors and also tried their hand at writing for the newspaper.
Aberdeen City Council co-leader Jenny Laing said: “Today is a massive day in the calendar for Aberdeen’s children and young people and we are proud supporters of World Children’s Day.
“We have worked tirelessly to give young Aberdonians a platform to express themselves and make their voices heard.
“We aim to put children’s views at the heart of everything we do.”
Keep up to date with the latest news with The Evening Express newsletter
Meanwhile, three more Aberdeen schools have received recognition from a global children’s organisation.
Riverbank Primary School, Ashley Road Primary School and Cults Academy are the latest city schools to receive Unicef Gold Awards as Rights Respecting Schools, which shows commitment to embedding young people’s rights in the pupils’ and staff’s everyday activities.
Frances Bestley, Unicef’s programme director, said: “Today children in Aberdeen are joining their voices with those of children around the world in celebration of child rights.
“We’re very pleased to be working closely with schools in Aberdeen to embed children’s rights in a school ethos and culture through the Rights Respecting Schools Award.”
It is the third time Riverbank School in Tillydrone has been reaccredited by Unicef at Gold level – the only school in Scotland to do so.
Awards are valid for three years, after which they must be reaccredited.
Deputy head teacher Sarah Sunley said: “The school works hard to ensure children know about their own rights and the rights of children around the world.
“If you visit Riverbank, you will get a real sense of inclusion where pupils feel safe and nurtured, have a voice and are very much listened to.”
Cults Academy has been working for the past two years on its accolade, performing at school concerts, developing the behaviour policy and working with linked primary schools.
Ashley Road School head teacher Anne Wilkinson said: “Year on year we have been building and developing opportunities for staff and pupil leadership and participation in local and global themes.
“We were delighted to share many examples of this work with the assessors.”
Other schools also holding a Unicef Gold Award are Culter Primary School, Ferryhill School, Harlaw Academy and Scotstown School.
In Aberdeenshire, schools holding the accolade are Bervie School, Crathie School, Dunnottar School, Ellon Academy, Fordyce School, Foveran Primary School, Lairhillock Primary School, Midmar Primary School, Portlethen Primary School and Redmyre School.
There are also nine schools in Aberdeen and 16 in Aberdeenshire which hold Unicef Silver Awards.
Help support quality local journalism … become a digital subscriber to the Evening Express
For as little as £5.99 a month you can access all of our content, including Premium articles.
Subscribe