Category: Citizenship

Citizenship

Drake Music

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Abi Sinar, a musician with Drake Music, has been working with students at Orchard Brae for the last two years, even throughout lockdowns, in developing the North East Digital Orchestra project. The ultimate goal of the project is to create a digital orchestra for school leavers and young adults, enabling them to develop their musical skills and create new music using a range of inclusive music technologies.

Pupils who have been involved in the project have been supported by Abi to develop their musical skills using a variety of accessible instruments and have created this video for you to enjoy, where they play Ode To Joy as well as their own additional compositions to the song.

Many thanks to Abi for her support and in making the film. If you would like to find out more about Drake Music and their work, please follow the link below:

https://drakemusicscotland.org/

Red Nose fun in 15

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This week Room 15 have been busy learning to play Boccia in class. It has been so much fun getting to play all together as a class. We’ve been taking turns and practising our throwing skills and trying to get as close to the white ball as possible. 

On Friday, we celebrated Red Nose Day by making some squishy red noses of our own. We filled bits of tights with red pom poms and then glued on some googly eyes and wool to make them look funny! Some of us used really big eyes, some used small and some used a mixture! Then we made some red gloop to play with. It was so sticky!

Christmas Jumper Day 2021

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To celebrate Save The Children’s Christmas jumper day, the pupil council challenged classes to make real Christmas jumpers using as many recycled or sustainable materials as possible.  Room 12 used it as a learning opportunity to “respect other people’s choices”. And I’m sure you will agree the results are fabulous. 

Up-cycling in Room 16

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Room 16 have been preparing their up-cycled Christmas jumper for Christmas Jumper Day next week. We made a Christmas tree template and stuck it onto our jumper then used our hands to paint on with green for the tree, red and yellow for the baubles and lights then we used a pom-pom to bad some gold sparkly paint for the star on top. When we peeled off the template we could see our beautiful tree!  It gave us the opportunity to practise turn taking as we had to work one at a time on our jumper. We are excited to display it for all our friends to see and to see the other classes creativity with their eco-friendly jumpers.

Halloween Activities

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The first pupil council activity this term was based on Halloween activities.  Each class carved a pumpkin for the pumpkin patch display.  Well done to Room 9 for having the strongest muscles to carve out a traditional Jack’o’latern from a neep!  We have also been growing pumpkins in the playground since before the summer holidays.  They look fab.  Each class were asked to choose a song for the Halloween virtual disco.  

Next month we will be considering “What’s your favourite thing about November?”  Is it the feel of wooly hats or listening to the fizz bang pop of fireworks?  Maybe its the smell of baking Christmas cakes?  

Rotary Shoebox Appeal 2021

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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.

Thank you once again for your amazing support.

 

DolphinFest 2021

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RSPB Scotland is excited to announce registration is open for DolphinFest 2021

DolphinFest will help celebrate Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters by giving locals to the Granite City and communities further afield, even more opportunities to engage with, and be enthused by, local marine wildlife with a host of online marine-themed events for people to get involved with.

Running from 7-11 April, DolphinFest is a celebration of the amazing marine wildlife around Aberdeen and the North-East coast, especially the bottlenose dolphins which are seen regularly from Torry Battery, and aims to encourage people to help protect it. It will also celebrate the end of the Dolphinwatch project which has been running in Aberdeen since 2013.

Thanks to support from EventScotland as part of the Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21, and the involvement of organisations and individuals across Scotland, the Festival has a wide range of online events from pub quizzes to talks, music and storytime.

Paul Bush OBE, Director of Events at VisitScotland, said: “We are delighted to support DolphinFest as part of Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21. Scotland offers the perfect stage to explore our natural environment and this year’s festival provides an opportunity to enjoy online events and learn about the marine wildlife of Aberdeen and the North-East coast.”

Registration is now open for the mostly free-to-attend festival and the full programme can be viewed on the RSPB Dolphinwatch webpage. Leading up to the Festival people are being encouraged to show their excitement for DolphinFest and their love for the marine environment by decorating a dolphin or marine animal and putting it in their window.

Sadie Gorvett, RSPB Scotland’s Community Engagement Officer, who is organising the festival said: “I am so grateful to EventScotland for giving us the chance to run DolphinFest this year. With the disappointment of so many events having to be cancelled in the past 12 months, I hope DolphinFest will be something people can look forward to. It won’t be quite how we had imagined, with it now being online but, thanks to the support of so many organisations and individuals, the programme of events looks to be just as exciting. I hope DolphinFest will inspire people to get out in their local areas to experience the incredible marine environment and wildlife we are lucky to have, not just in Aberdeen but across Scotland.”

The Festival will include a series of take action talks and live Q&As from a range of organisations, a young conservationists webinar with inspiring young speakers, suggested wildlife walking trails, a series of storytime sessions with TV presenter Rory Crawford, recorded tours and videos from amazing marine locations such as St Cyrus and the Scottish Seabird Centre, activities and games with the RSPB’s Wild Challenge, Aberdeen Science Centre and The Locked Door and quizzes by Aberdeen University Marine Society and Goose’s Quizzes.

Throughout the Festival people will be encouraged to not only enjoy the marine environment on their doorstep but to take action to protect it by taking part in the Big Blue Clean Up event, with Turning the Plastic Tide offering their top tips for safe litter picking. 

DolphinFest is part of Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters 20/21 where Scotland continues to celebrate its coasts and waters with a programme of activities and events which will shine a spotlight on these vital elements of our landscape.

The festival this year will also celebrate the end of Dolphinwatch, a project led by RSPB Scotland in Partnership with Aberdeen City Council and Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC) and funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) and Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters – celebrating the water that makes the country’s landscape so special and loved.

Running since 2013, the project included the popular Dolphinwatch viewing which brought thousands of locals and tourists to the iconic Torry Battery to see dolphins and latterly a schools’ programme, community talks and DolphinFest. The project was supported and funded throughout the years by a number of other organisations.

The full programme is available to download at rspb.org.uk/dolphinwatch along with a special DolphinFest colouring in sheet. Most events are free and do not require booking, but people need to register for the festival at https://rspb.eventsair.com/dolphin-fest/reg-form/Site/Register

Tickets for Treasure Quest must be purchased separately from thelockeddoor.co.uk. Details of other events that require booking or have charges are available in the programme.

You can also keep up to date and share your dolphin colouring in at facebook.com/RSPBNorthEastScotland