IRVINE’S MP Dr Philippa Whitford visited Greenwood Academy as part of an “MP - Back to School” event.

She met with the pupils and staff who are working towards level two of the UN Rights Respecting Schools initiative.

The MP said: “I was very impressed with the young students who welcomed me to the school and presented their different projects around the UN convention on the Rights of the Child.

“Some involved providing practical support to fellow pupils and local people while others were to help children in far corners of the world.

“I was also interested to hear what they have learned about those who fought against persecution and for civil rights in the past.

“We heard about Corrie Ten-Boom, the Dutch woman who rescued Jewish people from the Nazis by hiding them in her in her home, and Harriet Tubman, an escaped American slave who repeatedly risked her freedom and her life by returning to the Southern states to rescue others.”