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Room 10 have been enjoying ‘Making their marks’ in class and are getting better and more independent in it each time. Lots of dexterity is being used and fine motor skills are being developed as the children hold brushes and pencils, and they are making personal colour choices too. We are experiencing the sensation of writing our names with lots of support, and beginning to understand what our names ‘feel’ like.
Oor former heedie, Caroline has completed her fundraising walk along the West Highland Way in aid of Friends of Orchard Brae and Remember My Baby!
Here’s a wee message from her.
Hi, Thank you to everyone who has donated to my Virgin Money Giving fund raising page. We completed the West Highland Way – 96 miles on Friday 1st October. What a great experience with many challenges and lots of laughs along the way. Despite the weather we saw some amazing scenery and many places I would like to go back and visit. Thanks to all of your support we have raised £1755.00 for the two charities 😊. Huge thanks Caroline
Her fundraising page will remain open for a couple more weeks so if you would like to make a donation, please follow the link below.
As a school we feel that it is very important for our students to support others within the wider community and in some cases, some of the most deprived countries in the world. Following on from this, the staff and students in Howes Hoose are once again organising the Rotary Shoebox Appeal this year.
You do not have to send in any money and we are not asking for families to fill a shoebox but rather send in donations from the list shown below. This will allow our students to organise and fill the shoeboxes in school. We have found in previous years that the best way is to buy a multi-pack of an item and we will divide these up between boxes. The items do not have to be expensive and could be things you have at home which you no longer want, so long as they are in good condition.
Apologies for the short notice but could any donations please be sent in by Wednesday 8th October to allow the students time to pack them up ready for collection so they can be distributed in time for Christmas.
On a Tuesday afternoons, Room 2 pupils have been learning how to participate and engage in relaxation sessions as part of promoting their Health and Wellbeing.
During these sessions, we have explored using a range of activities and equipment to see which we prefer to help us relax.
This has included pulling the class blinds down and using sensory lights and blankets to change the lighting, yoga mats and PE mats to change the sensations of what we are sitting and lying on, and there is also relaxing music and imagery on our interactive board.
Some of our pupils have also enjoyed having a hand massage or a leg massage while others enjoyed the opportunity to just be on their own to help them calm and relax.
You may be aware that our recently retired ‘Headie’, Caroline is currently walking the West Highland Way with her daughters as part of a joint fundraiser for Friends of Orchard Brae and Remember My Baby and she has shared these photos of their journey so far!
It certainly looks like they are having a great time on their adventure and so far have raised almost £1500 which will be spilt between the two charities.
If you would like to sponsor Caroline and her family on their journey, please follow the link below:
Following on from a very different, and I’m sure at many times very difficult, year for us all, here we are at the start of another school year. We would like to offer a very big and warm welcome to all the new families who have joined Orchard Brae School, whether that be in the nursery, Primary 1 or throughout the other school years. We would also like to extend a warm welcome and our support to Elaine Thomson in her new position as Head Teacher.
Before we look ahead, I’m sure that you would like to join me in giving the wonderful staff at Orchard Brae School a very big thank you for all they have done in keeping us, and our children going last year and for making learning so much fun. They worked tirelessly in carrying out the many additional tasks that the COVID risk assessment procedures asked of them, often going above and beyond the call of duty. I was often quite jealous when I heard just how varied and exciting my daughter’s school day had been!
After a rather slow start last year, primarily due to home schooling, Orchard Brae Connect (the Parent Council) held online workshops on Makaton signing, Sensory Processing and one from Sleep Scotland. We also held our first ever online coffee morning which was almost as good as our face to face ones!! Thank you to all of you who attended these events.
We hope to hold more online events this year; if you haven’t ever tried one we would be delighted if you could join us. They are very informal and everyone is always very welcome. If you have any suggestions for topics for the workshops please just let us know, but as a start to the year there will be an online Postural Management training course on Wednesday 8th and Thursday 9th September from 12:30 – 14:30pm, please see the attached flyer for more details.
Orchard Brae Connect met regularly online throughout last year but managed to have their last meeting face to face outside in the school playground. This gave us the chance to say a very fond farewell to Caroline and to give her our joint leaving gifts from Connect and Friends. We presented her with four apple trees, two of which have already been planted by a few of the children at school, and two of which we hope Caroline might find a place for in her garden at home. We also gave her a plaque to go along side Caroline’s trees at school and a framed picture that you can see her holding in the photo below. We would like to thank Caroline from the bottom of our hearts for all that she has done since Orchard Brae School opened in 2017. We’re sure that you will all agree that she has been an absolutely incredible Head Teacher and that we will miss her very much. We would like to wish her a very happy, and very well deserved, retirement.
Looking ahead we will be holding our AGM on Wednesday 15th September at 6:45pm, at which point the Committee Members for the next school year will be elected. We would be delighted to welcome any new members, so if you would like to get involved please just let us know. I will be stepping down as Chair after four years, but am positive that someone will be found to fill this very enjoyable and rewarding role. I would like to thank all the Connect members for their huge help and support, it has always been a real team affair!
With best wishes from all of the Orchard Brae Connect committee.
