Author: Amy Dunnett

Learning In Primary

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Well, we’ve finally reached the end of a very cold and very snowy week in the Primary Department and given the weather conditions lots of you have loved having the opportunity to take your learning outside.

You’ve shared lots of photos and videos and we are delighted to share some of the things you have been busy learning this week.

Snowman Challenge

It’s not often we have so much snow and you have all been extremely creative in building and decorating your own snowman. It’s also been a great way to get you hands moving as you squashed, squeezed and moulded the snow. Brrrr!

Colourful Creations

Some pupils also took part in some very cold and colourful outdoor art and science this week.

We were very impressed with how you made ice marbles using balloons filled with coloured water as well as using food colouring to create artwork in the snow.

You also been busy exploring art indoors too. It’s been a great opportunity for you to work on making choices, developing your motor skills and creativity and just possibly getting a wee bit messy too!

Learning Through Outdoor Play

The weather this week has provided lots of opportunities for you to play outside and even when you’ve been playing, you’ve still been learning!

You have been able to explore the snow using your senses, feeling how cold it is against your skin, how the air smells different, how it feels to walk through it and how wet it is when it melts, especially when you forget your wellies and waterproofs!

It’s been amazing to see all the sledging you have done throughout the week, both at home and at school. Some of you have been learning to use your core strength to sit on the sledge while you are being pulled along. Others have been working on their sharing, waiting and turn taking skills when there weren’t enough sledges for everyone to have a go. It’s been fantastic to see how some of you have become more confident as the week has gone on and are now able to try sledging down a hill all by yourself!!

Karen’s Creative Challenge

Karen has set a new challenge for you…pouring! Have a look at her video below and maybe you can have a go over the long weekend. We’d love to see how everyone gets on.

However, many of you are still enjoying practising the skills from the previous challenges, especially tower building.

Life Skills

The weather has been good for helping you to practice and develop your independence in dressing, especially putting on your boots, jackets and not forgetting your cosy hats, scarves and gloves!

You’ve also been busy working on other independent life skills such as setting the table, shopping and lots and lots of yummy baking!!!

We can’t wait to see what you get up to next week even though it is the long weekend so no school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, we’re sure you’ll still be having fun and learning!

Letter to Parents/Carers – 12th February 2021

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We have had a very interesting week with the snow and cold temperatures. The delayed start time allowed the necessary snow clearing efforts to be completed. Many a snowman has been built this week.

There is an Online Safety talk happening live on Facebook on 24th February beginning at 7pm.

Here is the event page  – Online Safety Facebook Live | Facebook – it links through so that you can get it in your Facebook diary if you are interested and then join live from there.

Can I encourage you to send any questions you have about social media apps/ online safety to this email address so they can answer them on 24th Feb –  info@cybersafescotland.org

All staff working in school now have access to lateral flow testing. This will commence from Sunday 14th and will be carried out twice weekly. This is in line with all ACC schools.

We await confirmation from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on Tue 16th Feb that the phased return to schools will start from Mon 22nd Feb. We have our plans in place ready to implement when this is confirmed.

We have reached half term so next week we will have the Monday holiday and then the double inset days on Tue & Wed.

I see in the forecast that a thaw is on its way so the snow will soon be melting. Mixed feelings as I know it provides hours of fun form many members of our school community. 😊

I hope you all have a pleasant and safe half term break. I will share updates next week regarding phased return to schools as soon as they are available.

Take care.

Kind regards

Caroline

Outdoor Education Activities

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Given the current weather situation, here are a few snow and ice activities for you to try at home!

Ice Sun Catcher:

Snow Games:

This website has some great activities and games for you to enjoy playing in the snow

Active for Life – Games To Play In The Snow

Winter Scavenger Hunt:

Science Experiments:

CBeebies – Ice Cool Skates

BBC Bitesize – Ice Sculptures

BBC Bitesize – Snow, Ice and Water

Science Sparks – Ice Decorations

Snow Volcano Experiment

Ice Luminaries:

 

Mark Making:

Another great website which gives you different ideas on mark making activities in the snow.  

Mark Making

Storytime:

10 Sparkly Snowflakes written by Tiger Tales

Snow Penguin written by Tony Mitten

Snow Penguin written by Tony Mitten

Singing Hands: Winter Clothes

Art Activities

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What Happens When We Add Water To Flour?

This week we are continuing to use flour to create our artwork by exploring the different consistencies we get when we add water! Get ready for some messy fun and as always, the process is the main focus rather than the finished artwork.

Remember to warm up your hands and eyes beforehand using some of the exercises we’ve practised before! This activity has been split into three levels focusing of different skills and levels of ability. Choose the one that is right for your learner but feel free the experiment and explore!

Stage 1: At this stage we are looking for the pupils to show a simple response or reaction as the explore the different consistencies of this week’s flour art. With hand over hand support from an adult, mix flour and water together to make a thick paste. Try using your hands to manipulate the paste. Can you squash and pinch it? Can you roll it? Why don’t you try seeing if you can use different objects to roll your paste. Now add more water and turn your thick paste into a thin, runny paste. Explore the sensations of allowing the paste to dribble through your fingers. Does it feel hot, cold, sticky, slimy? What words can you find to describe how it feels? Using your hands to make some prints with the paste on paper. You could always add some food colouring to the paste to make some colourful prints!

Stage 2: With appropriate support, mix the flour and water to make a range of pastes with different consistencies. What happens when you add a little bit of water? What happens when you add lots? Which consistency do you like best? Use your hands to manipulate and move the paste around on your surface. Which consistencies can you pinch, squeeze and roll? Which consistencies are best to dribble and push? Use different objects to make marks and impressions in the pastes. Be as creative as you like but you could try forks, spoons, sticks or toys? Do they leave the same impressions in each paste or does the paste react in different ways? Try creating some artwork using the different pastes you have created. You can use your hands or objects to make marks and why don’t you add some food colouring to make your artwork really stand out!

Stage 3: For this stage you will need a clean surface, a mixing bowl, a piping bag or sandwich bag, paper and paint or food colouring. This activity will need to take place over two sessions to allow for drying time.

Mix your flour and water into a smooth paste with a similar consistency to icing. Carefully spoon the mixture into a piping bag. If you don’t have a piping bag, you can use a sandwich bag and carefully snip off a little piece of the corner to create a nozzle. Squeeze the paste onto your paper to create a pattern and leave somewhere safe to dry. Once the paste is completely dry, use your paint or food colouring to colour in the spaces in your pattern. Make sure not to use to much paint or else your hardened flour paste will start to dissolve! Leave to dry and then gently rub off the flour paste to show your pattern. You could try creating your artwork on different backgrounds to investigate which works best. You could try cardboard, fabric or even a cardboard tube if you want to try making a 3 dimensional piece of art! You can also try adding glue to your flour paste if you want to make your pattern permanent.

If you can take some pictures of your floury explorations to share that would be wonderful so please feel free to share any photos or videos via your child’s teacher, through Google Classroom, or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary)  adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk. 

Home Economics Activities

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This week we have a couple of different recipes for waffles for you to try making at home. What will you put on yours – bacon, maple syrup, jam or maybe something else? Have a go and why don’t you let us know what your favourite toppings are.

Belgian Waffles

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/belgian_waffles_34066

Cheat’s Waffle Recipe

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/griddle_pan_waffles_62298

We would love to see how you get on with you Home Economics activities so please feel free to share any photos or videos via your child’s teacher, through Google Classroom, or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary) adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk. 

Learning In Primary

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We have come to the end of another busy week in the Primary Department and it has been fantastic to see all the different learning that has been taking place both at home and in school.

Exploring Art

This week our Art teacher, Diane, set us the task of exploring and creating art using flour. Lots of us took part in the messy fun, exploring flour with our senses, developing our motor skills through sprinkling the flour and creating artwork using flour and objects.

Karen’s Creative Challenge

Karen didn’t manage to set us a new challenge this week but we’ve still been having a go at the last two challenges and practising our tower building and throwing skills.

Life Skills

We’ve had another busy week working on our life skills.

We’re becoming more independent in some important life skills, such as cleaning, looking after our things and one pupil impressed us with how well he is managing to independently move around in his wheelchair!

We’ve also been busy making lots of yummy treats, crushing, mixing, chopping and stirring ingredients and no doubt enjoying a wee taste along the way!

Birthday Celebrations

A few pupils have celebrated birthdays this week, but one pupil in school had a party along with his friends in class. The cake looks like it was a hit with everyone and the birthday boy enjoyed watching some special birthday messages from the staff team.

Working Hard

Once again we’ve been working really hard on improving our skills and learning new things.

We’ve worked on your communication and literacy skills, focusing on developing our use of core vocabulary boards and switches to make requests, sharing our favourite stories, improving our writing skills and pencil control as well as working on our attention and listening skills and following instructions.

We’ve also had fun developing our fine motor skills through arts and crafts, working on pencil control, making and decorating our own musical shakers and printing as well as through sensory play.

We’ve also been learning about the world around us by using our senses in lots of different ways. We’ve enjoyed time exploring sensory activities, making music and following rhythms, working in the sensory room and playing together and co-operating using the magic carpet!

One class even took part in some fantastic science this week making their own lava lamps using oil, coloured water and alka seltzers!

It’s been great to see how much you’ve enjoyed spending time with your friends from class even when you’re apart, participating in familiar activities and taking part in live teaching sessions.

It’s definitely been another very busy week in the Primary Department and there has been lots of fun and lots of learning taking place. So relax, have a wonderful weekend and we can’t wait to see where our learning will take us next!

Letter to Parents/Carers – 5th February 2021

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Dear Parent/Carer,

We have had a very fast moving few days this week since the First Minister (FM) made her announcements on Tuesday. As I am sure you know the FM gave details of a proposed phased return to schools from Mon 22nd Feb which will be confirmed on Tue 16th Feb. It is hoped that all school based Early Learning and Childcare (ELC), P1-P3 and a small number of S4-S6 pupils (who require to complete practical elements of their SQA courses) will return from the 22nd Feb. This is all dependent on the continued downward trend of the Covid 19 virus numbers in the community. The FM also mentioned an increase in numbers of children and young people with ASN may also return. As yet the government has not given any further guidance to local authorities as to the detail around the statement made about ASN schools so I am unable to expand on this further. Please be assured that as soon as I have any further detail, I will of course be sharing this with you all. In the meantime, we are busy planning for the proposed return of ELC and P1-P3 pupils and identifying S4-S6 pupils that require to complete practical elements of their SQA courses. Details of this will be shared with relevant families as soon as possible.

In the readiness for a phased return to school all staff within Orchard Brae have been offered the Covid 19 vaccine and have completed application forms this week. I know that some colleagues have already attended Teca and have received their vaccine. All staff in schools across the city are also being given access to twice weekly lateral flow testing. We expect the test kits to be arriving in school from Mon 8th Feb onwards. We are in the process of setting up the necessary facilities so that colleagues can be issued with the test kits and carry out the tests from home. These are two very significant moves with regard to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of pupils, their families and the staff team and I hope helps to reassure yourselves.

Covid 19 case numbers continue to improve in the NHS Grampian area which covers Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray. Both City and Shire numbers are now below 100 cases per 100 000 and Moray is not far behind. Colleagues from Health Protection Scotland continue to stress the need for us all to be careful and stay within the guidance set out by the Government which is to remain at home unless our journey is absolutely essential. NHS Grampian continue to be one of the best performing Scottish Health Boards with regards to Vaccine roll out which is very encouraging to know.

I recognise how hard a second lockdown has been for our whole school community, especially for you as families supporting your children at home. However, we do now have some very positive steps towards the return to school for pupils and the continued roll out of the vaccine. We are all working hard to follow the guidance set out by the government which we can see is beginning to have a positive affect and is starting to reduce the levels of the Covid 19 virus in the community.

The Scottish Government issued guidance this week specific to our setting and which has been very welcomed. I am pleased to say that we already had in place all the necessary steps that were detailed in the guidance. Attached to the guidance was a link to online resources for parents and families which I have placed below.

Learners with Complex Additional Support Needs: Resources and guidance for parents to support their child’s learning at home – Wakelet

Here’s hoping the wild weather settles soon. Please do not hesitate to contact school with any questions you may have. Take care everyone.

Kind regards

Caroline

Letter For Parents And Carers

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Please find below a letter for parents and carers from Eleanor Sheppard (Chief Education Officer) following yesterday’s announcement from the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, about the proposal for phased school returns.

Art Activities

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What Happens When We Sprinkle Flour?

This week we are continuing to explore and create artwork using flour. If you don’t have flour at hand, it can be substituted with other food items such as semolina, cornflour or cous cous. As always, the process is the main focus rather than the outcome and we would be delighted to see any photos from school or home!

Remember to warm up your hands and eyes beforehand using some of the exercises we’ve practised before! This activity has been split into three levels focusing of different skills and levels of ability. Choose the one that is right for your learner but feel free the experiment and explore!

Stage 1: At this stage we are looking for the pupils to show a simple response or reaction as the explore flour art. With hand over hand support from an adult, explore the flour and how it falls as it is sprinkled onto a surface. Try sprinkling it in different ways, such as with your hands, a sieve or a spoon. How do you have to move your hands to sprinkle the flour? Does it work best if you move from side to side or up and down? Get creative and see if you can find the best way to sprinkle flour and even if there are any other objects to sprinkle with!

Stage 2: With appropriate support, sprinkle the flour onto a suitable surface – it doesn’t have to be inside, maybe you can find somewhere outside that works well for you. Once you have sprinkled your flour onto the surface, make a simple pattern in the flour. You could use your hands or other objects to make your pattern. You can even get creative and try sprinkling the flour into a pattern!

Stage 3: For this stage you will need a clean surface and a variety of different objects. You could try kitchen utensils, things you have found in nature, toys or even just odds and ends such as string.

First you will need to make sure that your workspace in clean. This activity works really well with contrasting colours so think about using dark coloured paper or even a baking tray for your surface. Arrange some objects onto your surface to create a picture or pattern. Once you are happy with your layout, you can sprinkle your flour over the objects using a sieve, a spoon or even your hands. Carefully remove the objects from your surface to see the contrast and the pattern you have created!

As an alternative or extension activity, you could use glue to create a picture or pattern on paper and sprinkle with flour. Again, think about using contrasting colours for your background to make your flour pattern stand out.

If you can take some pictures of your floury explorations to share that would be wonderful so please feel free to share any photos or videos via your child’s teacher, through Google Classroom, or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary)  adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk. 

Home Economics Activities

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This week we are making Vegetable Chow Mein to celebrate Chinese New Year and we have a few different recipes for you to try. You don’t have to stick to the vegetables in the recipes, you can be creative and try something new or use vegetable that your family like or whatever you have in the fridge!

You also might enjoy watching this short video on the Story Of The Sugelan Dragon before you start.

Vegetable Chow Mein

Easy Chow Mein For Kids

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/easy_chow_mein_for_kids_81406

CBBC Chow Mein

https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/watch/bp-jeremy-pang-chow-mein

Kids Meals Go Global Vegetable Chow Mein

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACdMiR47LWc

We would love to see how you get on with you Home Economics activities so please feel free to share any photos or videos via your child’s teacher, through Google Classroom, or email Amy Dunnett (Principal Teacher Primary) adunnett@aberdeencity.gov.uk.