Category: Community Learning

Community Learning

Whole School Assembly

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This morning we held our monthly whole school assembly with a focus on celebration and Rights Respecting Schools. This month, we looked at Article 31 ‘ I have the right to relax and play’.

We looked at the different activities people to to relax as well as types of toys we can play with and learnt some Makaton signs to support this

Here is a copy of our assembly slides, if you want to share them with your child at home.

We did it! Orchard Brae achieves Silver RRSA!

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We are delighted to share that today we had our Silver Accreditation visit with UNICEF to look at how we’re progressing our Rights Respecting School work. Our assessors enjoyed learning about the work that we do in Orchard Brae and the opportunity to meet with some pupils (thank you Room 19), parents and staff. A huge thanks to everyone that joined us virtually or in person.

Please enjoy the video that we shared to highlight some of our work.

We’ll share more about our next steps in future as we are keen to continue progressing, going for Gold in the longer term. For now, we’re delighted to have recognition as a Silver Rights Respecting School: Rights Aware.

We Are All Unique

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Back in August, the Home Economics department started work on an exciting project to showcase our school in a vibrant and innovative way. By celebrating the unique styles and individuality of our students, we have highlighted the beauty of our diverse community. Each student crafted their own small square, and when combined, these squares create a stunning patchwork that represents our differences while illustrating how they harmoniously come together to form something truly remarkable – much like our school itself.

Every square is a true reflection of each child’s creativity, with personalised choices in colours, designs, and even fonts. This artwork, titled “We are OB 24/25,” beautifully encapsulates the essence of our collective spirit and individuality.

Whole School Assembly

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Today we held our monthly Celebration and Rights Respecting assembly. It was great to say ‘well done’ to so many pupils for their hard work and efforts which included graduating from the MOVE programme, independent walking, building confidence and relationships, as well as developing life skills and enterprise!

We then focused on our right of the month from the UNCRC, which is number 27 – ‘I have the right to a proper home, food and clothing.’

We looked at the changing seasons from summer to autumn, and how this brings about changes in the weather and the types of clothing we need to wear. We also looked at how the change of seasons leads to harvest and the variety of foods available in autumn.

Here is a copy of our assembly slides, if you want to share them with your child at home.

Social Snack

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Today we held our first Social Snack of the school year. We were delighted to have pupils and staff join us from across the school and everyone had a super time socialising and eating together. It was great to see pupils from different classes spending time together and mixing with other pupils that they might not come across within their normal school day.

Pupils were actively encouraged to come and choose their snack from a selection of cereals, fruits and toast and where possible, independently prepare them.

Social Snack will be a regular event, being held monthly and we can’t wait to see how it grows over the year – we just need to work out who’s turn it it’ll be for the washing up!

Pour a Cup of Kindness With Room 17

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8 May was World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day.  Globally the Red Cross delivers lots of humanitarian assistance including first aid.  Room 17 pupils have also been doing some first aid and have been working towards their Basic First Aid SQA.  

To celebrate the success of Room 17 pupils and World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day we had a  ‘Pour a Cup of Kindness’ coffee morning.  We invited Room 17 parents and our friends from Howes Hoose to join us.  We also had a visitor, Colin, from the British Red Cross.  Colin presented all the pupils with a First Aid Certificate.  We also had fun with some tea cup photo props. 

Howes Hoose try grass cutting!

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Lately the pupils in Howes Hoose have had a go at taming the grass in their garden. Everyone was very keen to take a turn and enjoyed getting dressed up with all the safety equipment, they all looked very official! Everyone listened carefully to instructions and carried out the job safely. A few pupils had already tried out grass cutting at home and were able to show off their skills. There will be plenty more work needing done in the garden to neaten it up before the Summer Holidays begin!

Friends of Orchard Brae 5K Run / Walk

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We’re delighted to report that we’ll be hosting the Friends of Orchard Brae 5k Fun Run once again on Tuesday 11th June 2024. This is a fun, friendly event and runners of all abilities are welcome, as are walkers. Please do not worry about your time – we will have a tail walker at the back to ensure you all get home safely and nobody finishes last!

Greene King Brig O’Don Restaurant have kindly agreed to host registration for us again. This will be ‘open’ from 5:30 pm to 6:15 pm, although to help us you can pre-register by completing the Google form online: https://forms.gle/iE23ovdu5Girrhhq9 Please note the minimum age for participation is 11 years, under 16s must be accompanied by an adult as the route does run alongside roads.

After registration, we’ll walk together to the starting point in Seaton Park. The route is stunning, all the more so on the beautiful evenings we’ve had for previous events. All being well we’ll get another fine evening. Whatever the weather, fun and good banter is pretty much certain with the crowd of friends we’ll have along.

Post event, we’d encourage you to head back to Brig O’Don for food or refreshments as thanks to them for supporting us again.

The event is free to enter although donations are welcome. Online donations can be made at: https://www.justgiving.com/page/clare-russell-1715452972789?utm_medium=fundraising&utm_content=page%2Fclare-russell-1715452972789&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=pfp-share

Any queries, please give Clare Russell a shout!

A Little Spot Of Kindness

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Last week in assembly, we celebrated Random Acts of Kindness Day. We learned a new Makaton song from Singing Hands about being kind.

We also read a story about spreading kindness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kTsQKccuyY&t=6s

Following the assembly, classes were set a challenge to complete as many Kindness tasks as possible over the week. Lots of classes took part and we were delighted to have 2 winners – Room 9 and Room 16. They won a set of kindness books and colouring set.

We’ve also been noticing other acts of kindness across the school from both staff and pupils. Keep an eye out for some special tokens of recognition coming your way and keep spreading the kindness!

Howes Hoose at the Gym 

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The S6 pupils in Howes Hoose have been enjoying using the local gym facilities in Sheddocksley. The pupils are excellent at independently scanning their gym cards when they arrive. They have been trying out a variety of the gym equipment and building their confidence and stamina. The treadmill and bikes are definitely the favoured choices! It is fantastic to see our young people out and about accessing their local community.