Author: Amy Dunnett

Letter To Parents and Carers – 25th February 2022

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Dear Parents and Carers,

I wanted to give you a quick update on a few things.  Firstly, the lifting of COVID restrictions and their implication on school life.  We anticipate that further guidance will come out from the Scottish Government re mask wearing and social distancing.  As of Monday 28th, we will be removing the need for staff to wear their masks outside, we continue to wear masks inside as we cannot socially distance the adults in the classroom safely.  I will ensure that you are updated with any other changes to our risk assessment and ensure it can be accessed on our web page.

Swimming Pool – my hope is to re-open the swimming pool after the Easter holidays.  As you will all be aware this will be a great step forward, but it does still require some careful planning, as we will have to limit the number of staff in changing areas due to mask wearing and social distancing rules.  Classes will have to be split in half to access, meaning that your child/young person will have a fortnightly slot to begin with.  Your class teacher will be in touch with more details closer to the holidays.

Orchard Brae Holiday Club – all parents and carers of pupils attending the school should have received an information poster and return for our holiday club.  This will run for the first week of the Easter holidays from 9.30-12.30.  Places are limited and you cannot be guaranteed a place, but the information will help us to organise future clubs and holiday access to activities.

Buildings – Our building is undergoing a transformation on the outside.  The removal of some of the slate from our building has started which means that we will soon be rid of all the Heras fencing.  We do also have plans to create our little garden areas outside each class which allows us to remove the temporary fencing as well.

Finally, we have received word that our report/letter from the latest HMIe visit will be published on the March 1st.  Once it goes live you will find access to it via this link on the Education Scotland website at www.education.gov.scot.  I would like to thank all of you for your continued support in making Orchard Brae the best it can be and hope to have a thank you gathering in the summer term to celebrate our wonderful community.

Kind regards

Elaine

Parental Contact Details

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Following Friday’s early closure due to bad weather, can parents please ensure that the school office have your most up-to-date contact details. If you have changed your contact number or email address, please notify the school admin team or email orchardbraeschool@aberdeencity.gov.uk

SCHOOL CLOSURE

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Due to the worsening weather conditions and roads, Orchard Brae will be closing to all pupils at 1pm today. Transport has been arranged to take pupils home. Should there be no-one there to accept the child, please call the school as soon as possible.

Bucket Time And Books In Room 10!

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Room 10 have responded fabulously to lots of change recently and have enthusiastically immersed themselves into a new term.  We have started to run “bucket time” sessions in our class, and the response so far has been brilliant, from spontaneous shouts of “bucket” and “go!” to fantastic engaged visual attention.  Indeed the spoken, signed and AAC supported communication shared by the class throughout the day has been very impressive!

Our topic this term is “books and stories”, and we’ve been working hard on two projects.  We’ve each been starting work on our own sensory story, but we’ve paused that for a moment whilst we video one of our favourite stories.  Our favourite part so far has been playing hide and seek like the animals hiding in our story!  We’ve also recreated the sea with our parachute and sensory lighting.

We’ve also been working hard on both target work and independence skills.

Room 8 Engage And Have Fun With The Three Little Pigs

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When the three little pigs set off to build new houses, the first little pig chooses to make a house out of straw. The second little pig makes a wood house, and the third little pig uses bricks. But which house will keep them safe from the big bad wolf? 

What have we learned from this story?

Hard work pays off – the primary moral lesson learned from “The Three Little Pigs” is that hard work and dedication pay off. Also, working together is far better than working alone.

Our pupils have been introduced to story plays before and always enjoy them.

The story plays use props and characters to retell a story. If you are looking for a new way to tell a story, this form of storytelling is magical for kids.

Room 8 has had so much fun building houses just like the pigs. These 3 Little pig houses have been used for sequencing and discussing elements of the story. 

“I’m a Little Piggy” is set to the tune of “I’m a Little Teapot.” The song was sung during our Book study sessions, and it has a related literacy activity. Also, it encouraged the kids to stand and act the song out as they sang.

“I’m a Little Piggy”

I’m a little piggy

Short and pink.

Here is my belly, and here is my snout.

When I get hungry

Hear me oink.

Tip the pail and pour it out.

Celebrating Burns Night In Room 6

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Room 6 had a great time on Tuesday 25th January. We learned about Robert Burns, listened and played along to Scottish songs, made a haggis from leaves, twigs and netting and made a thistle using bubble wrap, green paint and purple strips of cloth. We also learned a Scottish ceilidh dance, found out what happens in a Burns’ Supper, tasted Scottish food and then had our own Burns’ Supper in class with our very own piper Claire!!

Celebrating Burns In Room 5

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In class this week we celebrated Burns Night! We made our very own haggis from an old pair of stockings which we stuffed with leaves and twigs we found during our outdoor education session. We played a game of Scottish corners and some Scottish parachute games. This was so much fun and a bit competitive at times!
In the afternoon we had a Scottish drumming session with Keith and a Scottish ceilidh. We dressed up in our finest tartan and had danced our socks off. We finished our day with some shortbread! It was a fantastic day and we all had great fun!